GamesRelay

Name: Red Dead Redemption

Red Dead Redemption is a spiritual successor to Red Dead Revolver, the 2004 third person shooter which was rescued by Rockstar Games after Capcom halted development on the title. In a similar way to their popular Grand Theft Auto games the new title in the series doesn't directly follow on from the previous and their are no returning characters, the setting however remains the same; the Wild West.

John Marston rides into town, not riding a horse, but aboard a train; Marston is a former outlaw who used to ride with a vicious gang who would routinely rob banks, kidnap people, and generally make a nuisance of themselves. Having thought himself retired from that life Marston has settled down with a family leaving his nefarious ways in the past, or so he thought. The government have tracked him down and ordered him to hunt down and kill the leaders of his former gang; he reluctantly agrees after his family is taken away and threatened, soon after he is sent to the county of New Austin to find one of his old friends who goes by the name of Bill Williamson.

Marston's arrival in New Austin couldn't be more glorious, the game opens with him sat aboard a train listening to the various conversations around him which reflect the attitudes of people at the time. It's set in 1911 and the Americans are feeling pretty proud of themselves having conquered the land from the native savages and bringing their religion to the masses. As Marston takes in the conversations of the Americans success the camera pans both in and around the train and you won't be able to take your eyes off it, it's pure eye candy; it's obvious from the start that this is a very, very, pretty game. The old west has never looked so good, as the camera flicks in and out of the train to reveal the lush landscape the detail just pops out of every nook and cranny.

Stepping off the train, Marston wastes no time in making his way to Fort Mercer where Williamson is holed up with his current gang. Williamson however isn't in much of a talkative mood and definitely not in the mood to reminisce with his old acquaintance, his patience is quickly lost and it's not long before Marston is shot and left for dead outside the gates to Fort Mercer. He's not there for long before a local rancher, Bonnie MacFarlane, happens across Martson and takes him to the town doctor; she pays for his treatment and nurses him through his recovery back to full health.

Once he's back on this feet Marston's story properly begins along with the gameplay. If you're at all familiar with the GTA games then you're going to be off to a good start as it follows the same kind of basic gameplay; Marston must get help in his quest to kill Williamson, it's a third person sandbox game and along the way you'll meet various folk who are willing to help but who'll no doubt have some job they want doing before they can for whatever reason. It's through these missions that you'll learn the basics of the game, how to shoot your guns, ride a horse, and perform basic actions within the game. The controls aren't difficult to learn, they feel natural, and controlling Marston is relatively simple as you take your first steps into the world. Particularly useful is the introduction of the 'Dead Eye' system, this is for shooting, which once activated slows time down allowing Marston to take aim on his enemies at an advanced rate, this will eventually level up and allow you to automatically target enemies by placing markers on them, making things even easier.

Before you know it you'll be progressing the Wild West story by meeting up with the people who you will need to help to get inside Fort Mercer to launch your attack and bring an old west style of justice to Williamson. These missions vary in both length and complexity, sometimes you're simply required to win a race or help fool some of the locals into believing a health tonic can really work, while at other times you're asked to participate in a full scale assault on a bandit infested area. It's best not to go into too much detail with the missions as it'll spoil the delight you get from the game, you're never going to know what kind of situation you're walking into next which makes it all the more appealing.

Much of the game sees you riding on horseback from one place to another, the horses are of course living breathing entities so you need to look after them properly or you won't be getting a long as you should, work it too hard over rough terrain and the horse will buck you off onto the floor. As the horse gets used to its rider then it'll become more loyal and its stamina will also increase so you can work it harder. You'll often need to get off your horse and it may wander off if left alone for too long; it's not a problem though as a quick whistle and it will come running back no matter where you find yourself on the map. Horseback isn't the only way to travel, each town has a stage coach that you can employ to take you from one side of the country to the other, or if you like you can set up a camp in a suitable area which will also give you the option to save the game or fast travel to a given location you've found and mapped; you can even set your own waypoints which is an excellent feature.

The characters you meet along the way are almost always colourful and will invariably make you work to get their help, there are times when this begins to grate a little bit, you'll do what you think is a major part of the story only to find that it wasn't what you thought it was; for example, there is one section where you want to find a mounted machine gun to use on the assault on Fort Mercer, so you launch an attack on a mine to get the gun, once its been retrieved you'll then realise that you've not actually gotten any bullets for it and you have to go on another mission to get the ammunition you need, sometimes this mission structure is perfectly understandable, but on a lengthy play session it can become a bit of a teeth-grinder.

It'll become apparent as the story continues that some of the character models have received more loving than others, that's not to say you'll find many faults with the graphics, but occasionally when you're watching a cut-scene you can't help but notice how good Marston looks compared to his companions. On the subject of the cut-scenes, there's more trouble in paradise, occasionally the sound levels lower to such a level that you struggle to hear what's being said; no doubt this is the sound engine thinking that the characters are farther away than they are and adjusting the levels accordingly, but it's often not the case. It doesn't happen a lot and you can't really stop it, it's a bug that appears almost at random; hopefully it's something they can patch further down the line.

Throughout the huge landscape of the Wild West you'll encounter a variety of different towns, each with their own inhabitants, shops, saloons, and even games to play; should you feel like a break from hunting Williamson then there is a lot more you can do to keep you entertained in the outback. The games you can play vary from town to town, some offer card games such as Poker and Black Jack while others will offer you Blind Dice and Horseshoes; don't worry if you're not sure on how to play these as each offers a tutorial beforehand. It's not just games you can play, you'll come across strangers that need help with little or big jobs, these can be treated like a side quest and completed as and when you find yourself near a particular location, or you can go all out to get them completed and treat them as a proper mission. Again these can vary in the amount of things you need to do in order to complete them and serve as an interesting way to explore the surrounding territory. As if all that wasn't enough there is a ton of other events that fire off as you ride through the country, you'll come across people who've been robbed and need your help to retrieve their possessions, damsels in distress will run out into the road only to fool you into an ambush, or if you come across a wild horse you can take the time to tame the beast by lassoing it and then breaking it.