If you want to play this on PC, read the end of my review.
"People don't forget, nothing gets forgiven" is a fitting line to describe this game's narrative, one that is built around legacy. Legacy is what dictates the major players in Red Dead Redemption for the actions they take, whether it be in spite of, in retribution of, or to redeem themselves from. When finishing Red Dead Redemption, I came to understood the imperfect character of John Marston. He is similar in style to characters like Niko Bellic and Michael De Santa when looked at broadly. A flawed person trying to move on, but whereas Niko and Michael are drawn into crime by necessity, John is drawn into it by force for his wife and son. In such a way, it's pretty easy to empathize with him and go through the same feelings he does throughout the storyline.
The setting in particular only accentuates this. John as a character feels more grounded in the juxtaposition of a fairly realistic dying west filled with a cast of characters colorful in personality. The degree of difference between going from the beginning McFarlane Ranch, to the borderline industrialized Blackwater, or the untamed wilderness of Tall Trees is stark to the say the very least. The map has it's own sort of language. It provides further insight to the narrative without being a bit too on the noise. It is very easy to see what you'll encounter in Mexico when just visiting every city. In addition, the characters are made to a degree that they are almost caricatures and in some cases a biting satire, with some being a bit more obvious than the other. However, the dialogue executes it with a degree of earnestness reminiscent of the old 3D GTAs. It is unabashedly a spaghetti western, but the writing team has added a degree of percipience that you may not always find in those films.
Gameplay itself is good enough, as the main allure of this game will be the setting and narrative. The missions at first can be a bit slow, as with many Rockstar games, but once the second and third act come around there is a good variety to all the missions and the pacing ramps up quite a bit. In between, you'll have smaller things like challenges for exploring the world via picking plants, hunting animals, finding treasures along with some shooting challenges. The last few ones for hunting and shooting can get a bit tricky. There is also minigames like Poker, Blackjack, etc which can be a bit of a time sink if you get distracted. I found myself getting quite a bit into Liar's Dice and Poker. The AI in the former can get a predictable however.
For an older title the game still looks good apart from some frame drops and aliasing issues. Given the supposed troubled development it is unsurprising, but you might find yourself annoyed once or twice with it. Face models and the soundtrack are specific technical highlights. The soundtrack in particular fits this game like a glove, I really can't think of anything wrong with it. Face model capturing and expressions are little more natural than GTA IV, and the VA is superb with great performances present in even the most minute characters.
To say the very least, RDR is an incredibly engrossing game from start to finish. Every detail put into it is kept with a degree of genuineness unmatched within the generally limited western genre.
As of Nov. 22 2020, if you want to play this on PC you need a pretty decent computer and be willing to sacrifice random encounters, treasure hunting, and some traversal aspects when doing Xbox 360 emulation. I did this and played the PS3 version for stuff I missed out on. Unless you're fickle for these relatively smaller aspects i'd say it's worth emulating if you only have a gaming PC.
"People don't forget, nothing gets forgiven" is a fitting line to describe this game's narrative, one that is built around legacy. Legacy is what dictates the major players in Red Dead Redemption for the actions they take, whether it be in spite of, in retribution of, or to redeem themselves from. When finishing Red Dead Redemption, I came to understood the imperfect character of John Marston. He is similar in style to characters like Niko Bellic and Michael De Santa when looked at broadly. A flawed person trying to move on, but whereas Niko and Michael are drawn into crime by necessity, John is drawn into it by force for his wife and son. In such a way, it's pretty easy to empathize with him and go through the same feelings he does throughout the storyline.
The setting in particular only accentuates this. John as a character feels more grounded in the juxtaposition of a fairly realistic dying west filled with a cast of characters colorful in personality. The degree of difference between going from the beginning McFarlane Ranch, to the borderline industrialized Blackwater, or the untamed wilderness of Tall Trees is stark to the say the very least. The map has it's own sort of language. It provides further insight to the narrative without being a bit too on the noise. It is very easy to see what you'll encounter in Mexico when just visiting every city. In addition, the characters are made to a degree that they are almost caricatures and in some cases a biting satire, with some being a bit more obvious than the other. However, the dialogue executes it with a degree of earnestness reminiscent of the old 3D GTAs. It is unabashedly a spaghetti western, but the writing team has added a degree of percipience that you may not always find in those films.
Gameplay itself is good enough, as the main allure of this game will be the setting and narrative. The missions at first can be a bit slow, as with many Rockstar games, but once the second and third act come around there is a good variety to all the missions and the pacing ramps up quite a bit. In between, you'll have smaller things like challenges for exploring the world via picking plants, hunting animals, finding treasures along with some shooting challenges. The last few ones for hunting and shooting can get a bit tricky. There is also minigames like Poker, Blackjack, etc which can be a bit of a time sink if you get distracted. I found myself getting quite a bit into Liar's Dice and Poker. The AI in the former can get a predictable however.
For an older title the game still looks good apart from some frame drops and aliasing issues. Given the supposed troubled development it is unsurprising, but you might find yourself annoyed once or twice with it. Face models and the soundtrack are specific technical highlights. The soundtrack in particular fits this game like a glove, I really can't think of anything wrong with it. Face model capturing and expressions are little more natural than GTA IV, and the VA is superb with great performances present in even the most minute characters.
To say the very least, RDR is an incredibly engrossing game from start to finish. Every detail put into it is kept with a degree of genuineness unmatched within the generally limited western genre.
As of Nov. 22 2020, if you want to play this on PC you need a pretty decent computer and be willing to sacrifice random encounters, treasure hunting, and some traversal aspects when doing Xbox 360 emulation. I did this and played the PS3 version for stuff I missed out on. Unless you're fickle for these relatively smaller aspects i'd say it's worth emulating if you only have a gaming PC.
2 Comments
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it.
Nottutum
3 years ago