Red Dead Redemption

Grab your spurs and your six shooters.

John Marston has an opportunity to make up for his previous life.  He has to bring his former gang brother to justice.  But this is no simple task, and life has a way of making what should be a short journey from a train station to a fort into a long and winding tale.

Recommended Age Minimum Age Available On... 14 12 Xbox 360, PS3 Overall Fun Length Frustration   Violence Sexuality Substances Gambling 8 10 2   6 5 3 4 Mods Religion Anti-Law Community Sports Magic Miscellaneous 0 2 5 0 2 0 3

CARMINE'S NOTE: After further consideration, we decided to bump the "Sexuality" rating up from 3 to 5.  The sexual content included below has not changed, neither has the age rating for the game.  We just thought, after reviewing the content included, that this game's sexuality was a bit more prominent than we originally considered.

1.     Gameplay

• Overall Fun - 8

This review has taken far too long for me to write, so for those reading this I apologize.  This is one of the very few good western games I have ever played and, while I may not enjoy it as much as some of the real fans, I must make it clear that this game is an amazing period piece with great mechanics and a solid story.  It might not make it into my top 10 games list, but I certainly wouldn’t fault anyone else for putting it into theirs.

Shooting the rope out at the last moment.

There’s a serious challenge in creating an open world game that doesn’t include the familiar shapes and flow of a major city, but the developers of Red Dead Redemption manage to not only pull it off but also create a unique vitality in the wide open expanses of the Wild West.  This isn’t a set of empty canyons and a few cacti, it’s an experience that is teeming with life and activity.

The game isn’t as chaotic as Grand Theft Auto, which is a great thing.  It’s more than just a western clone, it has its own distinct feel with its own unique systems.  The stories and missions play out well and keep the player engaged for the entire very long experience.

You probably shouldn't be out here, grandma.

The game does an excellent job of making you feel like a renegade in a land that caters to renegades.  Sure, you can choose to be moral or immoral, help your community or live for your own desires, but in the end you’re just another man with a gun in a land where everyone and everything is out for itself.

That being said, the travel systems in this game did more to discourage exploration than encourage it.  The only system of fast travel were the stagecoaches that I could hire, and those could only be picked up from major points of interest.  So you could quickly go from a major location to anywhere in the wilderness, but getting back took a long time.

It might be a desert, but this landscape is stunning.

I would have also really appreciated a PC version, but that’s just a matter of preference.

• Length - 10

This game is very long.  Even if the player is rushing through the story it will take at least fifteen hours.  If a player takes their time and plays the game properly, there can easily be thirty to sixty hours of solid gameplay.  I did replay this title in order to write this review, but I’m not sure I’d see that as typical for most players.

Even that aside, there are plenty of side activities to complete and a ridiculous number of challenges.  For those looking for a lengthy experience, this is your kind of game.

• Frustration Factor - 2

There were a number of different side activities in which the player could partake.  Some of these, like Liar’s Dice, were actually a lot of fun.  Some of them, like poker and blackjack, were controller-throwing-ly horrible.  Seriously, I know video poker and blackjack are designed to favor the house, but this is a video game.  When I sit down with fake money trying to make more fake money I expect to actually make more fake money.  Why do I have to be reminded that Vegas is the succubus of my wallet?

I could discuss the fast-travel mechanics in this section too, but they weren’t really frustrating, just discouraging.

2.     Parental Notices

• Violence - 6

Violence is the most prominent factor in this game, but it’s interspersed with long sections of travelling and doing other side activities.  The player can shoot enemies with a small variety of firearms, but pretty much every weapon has the same effect.  Hits will result in a small puff of blood but little else.

I preferred to try and snipe enemies from longer range.

It's a bit more noticeable at closer ranges, especially if the player uses the "bullet time" mechanic.

...but sometimes you can't help getting up close and personal.

The player can shoot and kill animals as well.  After killing them, the player can skin them for their hide.  The carcass from the skinned animal will remain on the ground.

Animal pelts are a valuable commodity.

Gore is relatively rare in this game but noticeably present in a few missions.  For example, one of the random missions the player can find while exploring results in the player finding severed human limbs in the wilderness.

The obvious violence pretty much ends there, but there were a few other types of violence that are worth mentioning.  The player can use a lasso to rope other people.  If he’s on horseback, he can then drag these people along.  The people will remain stuck in the lasso until the player stops moving.  This can kill them, but usually they seemed to get up relatively unscathed.

She tried to set a trap for me. I barely escaped alive.

• Sexuality - 3

Sexuality is a factor in certain sections of this game but is overall not much of an issue.  The most noticeable examples of sexuality were in a few of the missions in Mexico.  The game presents many of the Mexican leadership as hypocrites who spout powerful lines about the freedom and greatness of their country, but then only act in their own selfish interests.  Sometimes this leads the men to sleep with women.  On at least on occasion, the player catches one of the men in the act.

Oh. Well this is awkward.

This is not a normal occurrence and even in those few times when other missions deal with romance or imply sex, it is never seen nor discussed in any detail.

• Substances - 3

Many characters can be seen smoking and drinking in this game.  The most obvious is John Marston, the main character.  Occasionally when the player loads into the game or stands idle for a bit, John will put a cigarette in his mouth and light it.

Smoke 'em if you've got 'em!

While that activity may be an entirely passive experience for the player, the player can actively choose to drink alcohol.  If the player drinks too much, Marston will get drunk and stumble around as he walks.  The effects wear off relatively quickly.  I found no positive benefit to drinking.

It just seems like a waste of money.

John Marston also completes some missions with a man who is almost certainly a literal "snake oil" salesman.  His elixir doesn't do anything that he advertises.

Scratch that, this stuff is a waste of money.

• Gambling - 4

There are a number of different gambling-related activities in which the player can partake.  Some of these are straightforward and still played today (i.e. poker, blackjack).  Some were totally foreign to me (i.e. Liar’s Dice).

Coke Buckley, you two-timing snake!

As I described before, these events really aren’t designed to be sources of income.  The only one that I could win with any sort of reliability was Liar’s Dice.  This was by far the most entertaining of the games since it just involved learning a bit of the NPCs’ line of thinking.  Even finding the highest maximum liar’s dice table and knowing that I could win 90% of the time, it still wasn’t a great source of income.

Video poker is always rigged.

3.     Other Factors

• Mods - 0

There are no modding tools available for this game.

• Religion - 2

For the most part, religion isn’t much of a factor in this game.  There are some religious structures in the game, but the player can’t just go to church on Sunday.

I don't think it's in service anymore.

There was one side mission where the player meets a woman who believes whole-heartedly that the power of God will heal her of her illnesses.  She is presented as a religious extremist who chooses to ignore what would actually make her better even when it’s staring her in the face.

Religion or no, some people are just plain crazy.

• Anti-Law - 5

John Marston, the main character, is an outlaw.  He is tasked by the FBI with bringing his old outlaw partners in for prosecution.  This is the critical piece of the main plotline and drives the main story for the rest of the game.

Sooner or later, your past catches up.

The player can choose to approach the game in a lawful manner or choose to ignore laws completely.  The game gives plenty of freedom in this regard but does make it a bit difficult at times to be lawful.  Shooting enemies while avoiding the deaths of innocents is a somewhat difficult task at times.  The game does discourage unlawful behavior by having the game call in bounty hunters to try and kill you if you start to perform unlawful actions.

• Online Community - 0

There are no multiplayer elements in this game.

• Extreme Sports - 2

Extreme sports is a minor factor in this game.  Most of the “sports”-related elements in this game just involves riding around on horses and getting involved in shootouts on horseback.  However, the player can (and, in at least one mission, will have to) hijack trains from horseback.  In order to do this he rides up next to the train then jumps from the horse to the train at speed.

The player can also participate in a few other activities that should definitely be considered extreme sports.  Taming a wild horse by riding it until it's broken is one such activity.

Is this how you're supposed to break a horse?

• Magic - 0

Magic is not a factor in this game.

• Miscellaneous - 3

Beastiality

There is a mission where a man named Jeb asks you to find Lucy, the love of his life.  Evidently she’s run away and is lost in the wilderness somewhere.  It turns out that Lucy is a horse, and Jeb has a romantic attraction for this horse.

Prostitution

Prostitutes can be found around the various saloons in the game.  The player can never make use of any of their services.

Evening, ladies.