Couldn't disagree more with this article. The only thing, in fact, that you got right about this game (other than the base description of the events) is that it is not an RPG. Now listen close, 'cause this is important. RPGs aren't about stat advancement, they're about the ability to make choices that define and alter your character, the story, and the world around you. Mind, by that definition the FF games aren't RPGs, but they aren't, so I'm okay with that.
I've been table-top role-playing for some 12 years now, and as I am able to get more consistent access to my preferred hobby and gaming style, the more I have come to despise these games that claim to be an RPG or have RPG elements. The only element that actually matters is choice! All we get with the FF, GTA, and RDR is a chance to watch a movie with some game-play elements thrown in to make sure that you are still paying attention.
Now that I'm done with that little rant: 1) You can't stand around on a moving train and shoot stuff, and 2) if a posse is gathered to run you down, you're not going to jail to spend time, you're going to be lynched, shot down, or taken to a jail where, later, you will be hung right and proper. Very much game over. So, you want to talk about suspension of disbelief being broken, just as much will be broken here as in GTA4. More, in fact, because the world, otherwise, does feel very "real," so every time something that just shouldn't happen does, it becomes all the more jarring.
Also, Zero Punctuation is right. This is a bad game. In fact, all of the GTA games tend to be, but this one even more so. As a game, RDR is actually two games. First and foremost, you have the missions and the story, which has a very distinctive tone and characterization. Then you have the free-roaming game, where you can go anywhere, do anything, and kill anybody (so long as it isn't anything that will alter the story, 'cause your not allowed to do that).
The problem with this is that what you do in free-roam often is completely at odds with what you do in the missions, especially if any sense of tension is being created by the plot, and then you go off and kill buffalos for three hours. And, time just stands still? Mind, this, and similar complaints, aren't just aimed at RDR individually. They are a problem that is endemic to most games that attempt to create a "non-linear" or "open" world. A game where you are stuck on the rails, going from level 1 to level x, where you beat the final boss, may not have the openness of the other games, but it doesn't have any pretense to options that don't exist, and it does have the advantage of consistency.
I've been table-top role-playing for some 12 years now, and as I am able to get more consistent access to my preferred hobby and gaming style, the more I have come to despise these games that claim to be an RPG or have RPG elements. The only element that actually matters is choice! All we get with the FF, GTA, and RDR is a chance to watch a movie with some game-play elements thrown in to make sure that you are still paying attention.
Now that I'm done with that little rant: 1) You can't stand around on a moving train and shoot stuff, and 2) if a posse is gathered to run you down, you're not going to jail to spend time, you're going to be lynched, shot down, or taken to a jail where, later, you will be hung right and proper. Very much game over. So, you want to talk about suspension of disbelief being broken, just as much will be broken here as in GTA4. More, in fact, because the world, otherwise, does feel very "real," so every time something that just shouldn't happen does, it becomes all the more jarring.
Also, Zero Punctuation is right. This is a bad game. In fact, all of the GTA games tend to be, but this one even more so. As a game, RDR is actually two games. First and foremost, you have the missions and the story, which has a very distinctive tone and characterization. Then you have the free-roaming game, where you can go anywhere, do anything, and kill anybody (so long as it isn't anything that will alter the story, 'cause your not allowed to do that).
The problem with this is that what you do in free-roam often is completely at odds with what you do in the missions, especially if any sense of tension is being created by the plot, and then you go off and kill buffalos for three hours. And, time just stands still? Mind, this, and similar complaints, aren't just aimed at RDR individually. They are a problem that is endemic to most games that attempt to create a "non-linear" or "open" world. A game where you are stuck on the rails, going from level 1 to level x, where you beat the final boss, may not have the openness of the other games, but it doesn't have any pretense to options that don't exist, and it does have the advantage of consistency.
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