FOR a genre that lends itself so well to video games it’s surprising that more developers haven’t offered up their take on the wild west.
Shoot outs, kidnapping, saloon brawls, duels and damsels in distress, they’re all part of what would make an outstanding open world title.
Thankfully for gamers Red Dead Redemption takes on just that subject and has been developed by a company with a reputation for producing outstanding games – Rockstar.
Known primarily for the Grand Theft Auto series, this time Rockstar has turned its hand to America’s wild west at the turn of the century with spectacular and engrossing results.
Previews for the game were nearly all accompanied by the description ‘Grand Theft Auto on horses’. Now that probably does the game a disservice but if you’re looking for a snapshot description it’s probably the closest you’d get.
Your character, John Marston, is the typical Rockstar protagonist – a man with a dubious past but bound by a strong moral code, ie, no-one gets shot who doesn’t deserve it.
Now poor old John has been asked by Federal Agents to track down his former gang leader Bill Williamson or face terrible consequences for his family. That’s the basis for the main story line, and leads you into a world of wacky characters and expansive locations.
The cast is outstanding, from the crazy grave robbing Seth to the brilliantly pompous ‘miracle cure salesman’, Neville Dickens, it’s full of entertaining characters that add plenty of comedy and drama to the proceedings.
The missions are the usual mix of shootouts and races wrapped up in the game’s engaging storyline – nothing groundbreaking but as always spot on and great fun.
For me this is the finest Rockstar game on this generation of consoles. GTA 4, although a technical marvel, lacked the staying power of it’s predecessors and the Episodes from Liberty City were great fun but all too brief.
The most staggering thing about Red Dead Redemption is how well the GTA genre lends itself to the wild west. With GTA 4 you had a huge and beautifully detailed city which unfortunately had far too little in which to do.
This time round Rockstar have avoided that feeling because of the massive amount of side quests and challenges to keep you interested.
It’s amazing how enjoyable just riding round the desert on your horse is. That and the fact that the developers have truly triumphed in terms of the environment and how it looks. You can spend hours helping strangers, hunting for treasure or animals or just exploring.
The desert, plants and wildlife are visually outstanding and the success of Red Dead Redemption might mean developers don’t feel that open world games should be tied to urban locations.
Read Dead Redemption is the finest game yet released on the PS3, eclipsing GTA 4, Unchartered 2 and God of War 3.
Put simply, you name it Red Dead beats it.