Red Dead Redemption was a blast, with numerous side quests, activities and just a big open sandbox world to play in. Great game mechanics and design made it fun, a great story is what made it memorable. The pacing of the story doesn’t ever hit any major lulls and the character of Marshton is sympathetic enough you end up rooting for him, since after all he’s a good guy who just wants to be back with his family. And in trying to get back with his family he ends up being jerked around by the government. After jumping through endless hoops from the government they betray him. The ending of Red Dead Redemption is one of the sadder endings in a video game. The true ending occurs in 1914, and while there is a shot at setting things right, it ultimately feels hollow and unsatisfying. This sounds like a knock against the game, but in reality it is a testament to how powerful the narrative of Red Dead Redemption actually was.
Calling Red Dead Redemption Grand Theft Equine is a dumb joke, even by my standards, but the GTA influence is as visible as the scars on John’s face. The game is played in a large open world map that spans part of Mexico and part of the western American frontier, divided into three regions that are unlocked as the story progresses. John’s actions can influence his fame and honor which have an impact on how townspeople react to him. Helping innocent people fight off bandits may improve his reputation but gunning down those same innocent townsfolk will have the opposite effect. Like GTA titles there is a wanted system, where if John decides to commit crimes he can attract the attention of the law and depending on how far he wants to take it this may escalate into military involvement. John can surrender to the law men, kill them all or simply high tail it out of there until the heat dies down. The problem with the last two options is the law might give up on John but that just means they’ve decided to send a bounty hunter after him so they don’t have to deal with him themselves.
Red Dead Redemption is simply one of the best games available for the seventh generation consoles. It did receive a zombie-themed expansion pack called Undead Nightmare, which was a fun novelty but didn’t resonate the same way the base game did. The Grand Theft Auto San Andreas Bigfoot reference was rather humorous, though. It clearly uses the Grand Theft Auto games as a template but ends up finding its own identity through the setting, characters and storytelling. Red Dead Redemption 2 is one of the most highly anticipated games of 2018, and with the quality of its predecessor, Star Wars Outlaws it has big boots to fill.
Likewise, some interactions with characters may have effects (or repercussions) that may not immediately take effect, but pay off later on in the game. In one instance, I encountered a pair of men out on the road that had escaped from prison and let them go on their way; I wound up encountering them again many hours later in my travels, and when sparking a conversation with them, I ended up hearing about the hardships that they endured on their own since I first saw them escape.
That was just one of the few examples where the game’s setting really honed in on the idea of Red Dead Redemption 2 delivering a world that looks and feels dynamic, and yet there were still plenty of other moments that genuinely had me surprised at the depth of interaction that it offers. Random encounters on the road in particular always feel like they offer some new interesting twist or story moment to remember, like when I helped a man wrangle in his horse and lassoed it back to him, or intervening as a woman was about to about to be attacked by a pack of wolves.
Both Red Harlow/John Marston fit the narrative perfectly; both were men born of the west and knew only a certain way of life. This solidified their stories even more. While Red Harlow sought to seek out the killers of his parents, John sought out closure for a life he had perpetuated on to himself. These stories have western tale written all over them and succeed by showcasing these separate tales in realistic ways, while still playing in to the western tropes people know and love. While there were some bigger set pieces show casing these tropes, i.e. certain shoot outs, they kept the west relatively tame. Especially Red Dead Redemption.
There is a linear story path to follow, but there are plenty of side opportunities to engage in. Each region has a few forts that need to be taken over, much like the same style as the battle at Fort Mercer. There are many characters that require assistance from John and these quests are usually entertaining. One quest involves a man with an undying love for his woman and another series of events from a quest giver involves a man who really gets under John’s skin in the last quest he gives. Random events happen throughout the world such as highway robberies, hangings and other random encounters with strangers, making the game world feel alive. Rockstar games are known for their sense of humor and some of their dark humor naturally crept into Red Dead Redemption. One of my favorite achievements I ever unlocked happened in this game. A few years ago my girlfriend was hanging out at my apartment and I decided to show her this game (she may have bought it for me for a birthday present but I can’t remember). I thought it would be funny to lasso a girl and leave her on the train tracks, like a mustache twirling silent film villain. As the locomotive turned the damsel in distress into a much gooier state of existence, an achievement popped up on screen. It’s good to know that my sociopathic tendencies aren’t so unusual that the developers weren’t able to anticipate my behavior.