Review: Red Dead Redemption

[King of the Sandbox]

My only criticism of Red Dead Redemption is that the controls are clumsy. Not only is it too hard to get your character to walk through a door without looking like a drunken idiot, but the cover system is far too sticky. I would prefer it if you automatically vaulted over low cover, slid under obstructions and swerved to avoid the edge of a door frame, etc. Here is my idea of how the controls should have been:

LT draw weapon / target / (melee & block with LB)
LB hold:magnetic cover / tap: slow horse / hold: stop horse
RT punch / (push without gun equipped) / (use equipped weapon with LT)
RB tap:sprint / hold:run / tap:gallop / hold:trot / hold: match speed of nearby companion

(Y) mount/dismount horse or vehicle / interact with vehicle
(B) insult / focus on important event / reload weapon if drawn
(A) tap:jump / hold:climb / (tap:roll with LT) / tap:hitch / hold:rear
(X) tap:draw/holster / hold:weapon wheel

LS movement
RS rotate camera (select weapon from wheel with (X))
(LS) tap:crouch / hold:go prone / hold:stand up
(RS) look behind (dead eye with LT)

(Up) zoom in - ultimately to an over the shoulder camera view
(Right) right shoulder aim / (next weapon of a selected type within weapon wheel with (X))
(Down) zoom out - ultimately to scenic view without mini map or reticule
(Left) left shoulder aim / (previous weapon of a selected type within weapon wheel with (X))

(BACK) tap:whistle for horse / hold:show "named HUD waypoints" for your team in multiplayer matches.*
(START) satchel (includes pause menu on one of it "tabs")

Swapping the controls around like this makes it far easier to move fast on horse, or on foot. It is stupid to make Sprint / Gallop be (A) as it forces you to take your thumb off RS which is used to influence direction just as much as LS. Far better to make drawing your weapon be unergonomic as then those players who are more dextrous at shifting from RS to (X) and back again will end up "quicker on the draw". Selecting the weapons with (X), LS, (Left) and (Right) will discourage you from examining your inventory whilst exposed.

*I'd enjoy multiplayer more if the mini map only showed your team mates and those enemies that had been targeted by your team in the last 3 seconds, rather than those eager to respawn / sprinting / firing weapons. This would make it less important to have well-organised team chat that described the location of threats and is something that works well in Battlefield: Bad Company 2. The waypoint notion is obviously inspired by Halo 3 and serves to overcome a mini map in which blips always seem to be around the circumference in a way that doesn't tell you much about where the bulk of your team is when you respawn.

Finally, taking five shots to the chest to kill an enemy seems rather excessive. Making it more 'lethal' is ok if the cover system never irritates and sprinting isn't awkward to activate and penalised by putting a blip on the mini map - it should be up to the other team to spot you.

P.S. It may seem churlish to nit-pick one of the most innovative, technically astounding, games in recent years, but I am dismayed that all this effort has gone into recreating the flavour of a Wild West adventure so well only to be slap-dash about the ergonomics. Control schemes matter immensely to ensure an immersive experience is not ruined by the "disability" imposed on the player by having to mediate all of their actions via an inherently disabling gamepad.

It really didn't cross my mind. The controls felt natural to me, but then again, I'm used to third person shooters, so... /shrugs

 

[standokan]

I really love red dead redemption but don't have a platform for it, kinda sad actually.

 

[PrototypeC]

I hates multiplayer, so I don't care. But I gotta say, for this game I have to break my tradition of being as much a good guy as possible in these kinds of games. Why? Because if I get caught killing a lot, there'll be a huge price on my head. Nothing says Western badass like a great big bounty on my head.

"Leeroy Jones, $100... Roy Brown, $500... PrototypeC, $50,000?! He must be a devil amongst men!"

Then of course the man who kills me will get a song written about him.

 

[Hazy]

Red Dead Redemption stands as a shining example of why Rockstar is, and has always been one of my favorite developers. The amount of effort they put into each and every one of their games is undeniable.


I am proud to say they have outdone themselves once more. The West may be dying, but you'll hear no complaints from me.

 

[superbatranger]

okay yeah I'm definitely wanting to try this game out

Same here, but then I remember that it costs over 100 dollars here. Import taxes can suck it. They're preventing me from enjoying this game.

 

[GrinningManiac]

I will get this!

Also, DAMNIT, MR. PITTS, WHAT THE F*CK IS AN "'ERB"?

It's got a H for a reason you damned colonial!

 

[dochmbi]

Sounds fantastic, the only problem is that every time I try to use a controller knob to aim, I feel gimped, like having an arm bound behind your back.

 

[Impluse_101]

A western game thats actually really really good.

*Insert Halleluyuh music here*

 

[TheXRatedDodo]

I'm actually going to have to dispute that just roaming around is the most fun to have in this game.

I come from a school of gaming where the best experience I can possibly have is a good story, told well and paced to perfection. Open world games are largely a "make your own story" type of affair, but as brilliant as the random interactions with other people and the environment are in Read Dead Redemption, I still feel like the actual missions outshine everything else.

I mean yeah, I probably have split my time something like 60/40 between missions and everything else respectively, but the way everyone's going on about the amount of stuff there is to do in this game, you'd think it would be 60/40 in favour of the everything else side. I don't think there is actually as much to do here as people say there is, or maybe that's a flaw with my own creativity in playing the game.

Either way, I'm just playing devil's advocate and RDR is the most fun I've had playing a video game since GTA4 came out. GTA4 was the only open world game that I could dick about in for 12 hours at a time and not get bored ONCE, whereas with this game the most I've managed is a 6 hour sitting with a few bored spots, but for some reason it doesn't seem to matter.
This game is far more than the sum of its parts to me, and I suppose that's the point, and it's one of the finest pieces of art to grace this generation of games thus far.

Gets a solid 9/10 from me.

 

[PlasticTree]

Hmm, kind of a dilemma. The (3d) GTA games never did it for me, but I'm not sure whether that's because of the style or because of the actual gameplay. And I think I'll love the style and atmosphere of Red Dead Redemption.

Anyone who had a similar experience with GTA, who can tell me whether he or she likes Red Dead Redemption?

Also, I suppose this game has about the same amount of content as a regular sandbox game?

 

[Moloboen]

I ordered a ps3 just so i could play this game can't wait!

You know it's on the 360 and the PC right?

No its not on the pc yet and I dont have a xbox. Pluss a friend got it and I taught I might play with him

 

[Darth_Dude]

I ordered a ps3 just so i could play this game can't wait!

You know it's on the 360 and the PC right?

No its not on the pc yet and I dont have a xbox. Pluss a friend got it and I taught I might play with him

Oh ok, my bad.

 

[A Weary Exile]

Fantastic single-player. I've just arrived at Mexico...and don't have a SINGLE CRIME on my in-game crime stats menu. I'm as honorable as they come.

I hate the online, though.

Everyone just kills each other in free roam...and there's no "Friendly fire off" option. Even playing with friends, we accidentally pistol whip each other to death in close quarters fights against bandits.

And the actual multiplayer modes are...terrible.

Although, I do like how your character auto-runs in MP. I'm sick of holding A for pretty much the entire game to run...GTA IV did that, too. Pissed me off.

I hate the people online. A bunch of trigger-happy, uncooperative morons, the whole lot of 'em.

The singleplayer is brilliant though. I've just gotten to Mexico as well (And I am now sporting a very fashionable poncho ) and I'm loving every minute of this game's singleplayer. All the little things that make up the atmosphere (Like the silent films, the newspaper vendors, hunting game, breaking horses, collecting flowers, etc.) make it a very enthralling experience.

I'm actually going to have to dispute that just roaming around is the most fun to have in this game.

I come from a school of gaming where the best experience I can possibly have is a good story, told well and paced to perfection. Open world games are largely a "make your own story" type of affair, but as brilliant as the random interactions with other people and the environment are in Read Dead Redemption, I still feel like the actual missions outshine everything else.

I mean yeah, I probably have split my time something like 60/40 between missions and everything else respectively, but the way everyone's going on about the amount of stuff there is to do in this game, you'd think it would be 60/40 in favour of the everything else side. I don't think there is actually as much to do here as people say there is, or maybe that's a flaw with my own creativity in playing the game.

Either way, I'm just playing devil's advocate and RDR is the most fun I've had playing a video game since GTA4 came out. GTA4 was the only open world game that I could dick about in for 12 hours at a time and not get bored ONCE, whereas with this game the most I've managed is a 6 hour sitting with a few bored spots, but for some reason it doesn't seem to matter.
This game is far more than the sum of its parts to me, and I suppose that's the point, and it's one of the finest pieces of art to grace this generation of games thus far.

Gets a solid 9/10 from me.

I completely agree, even in sandbox games I usually spend most of the time doing story missions, and that's great because RDR's story missions are a blast. I do side missions on occasion, usually as a little breather in between story missions, but it's usually not until my second playthrough that I go side mission nuts.

On a somewhat related note: I was not expecting some parts of RDR to be so brutal, like the mission at Ridgewood farm when

Spoiler

those bandits slaughter that whole family and there's someone hanging naked and headless in the barn.

Definetley didn't expect that.

 

[Terrified Android]

I have to hand it to Russ, I'm usually not the biggest fan of his reviews, but he is certainly getting better and this review was pretty decent over all. funny too! :0)

 

[TransMando]

I have really been enjoying this game. I think it is my favorite Rock Star game by far.

 

[The Random One]

After spending a 'night' through to the break of dawn clearing a bandit hideout, I realised what this game reminded me of...

Oblivion.

...only with guns and a far larger, multiplayer, environment.

I thought Fallout 3 was Oblivion with guns! :-3

I'm interested. I once thought the idea of a Grand Theft Horse would be a funny prank, but if it works, it works.

 

[ucciolord1]

This kinda sorta looks like what Gun should have been.

 

[SLy AsymMetrY]

Great review. Even without the mention of the lasso, which doubles the pleasure to be had in this great game.

 

[AfroTree]

A western game thats actually really really good.

*Insert Halleluyuh music here*

*ahem*

and..yay RDR <3

How i love it so

 

[AngryFrenchCanadian]

What, nothing about the multiplayer side? This is where the fun's at after you finish the singleplayer!

Overall, RDR is a very, very good game, and an AMAZING "Old West" themed game.