Zero Punctuation: Red Dead Redemption

[NJ]

The animals in this game are so insanely hellbent on haunting you, you're scarred for life.

"Cougars? Whe--*cougar'd*"
"Grizzly bears are loud, big and can tilt over your car - You bli--*RAAWWUUHHRRR*
"And just when you think wolves trek in packs, they trek in billions. *skins 65 more corpses*"
"How about them boars then eh? Well, I got ba--*gets run the fuck over by a boar*"
"Then there's domesticated dogs that wander around town that walk infront of hors--*crush* Whoops."
"Also, bunnies. Yeah, cute? THERES MILLIONS! Mass breeding!"

*sobs*

 

[SonicKoala]

Hm, he spent the overwhelming majority of the review hating on the game, and then at the end we hear the words "beautifully written and beautifully atmospheric" - have to say, didn't see that coming. Regardless, it really seems like this game is worth checking out.

You haven't been watching Zero Punctuation for very long have you? With the exception of Portal, even if he really likes a game, he'll still spend the majority of the review tearing it apart.

Yeah, only been watching it for about 2 years or so. So yeah, relatively unexperienced on the subject. Thank you for your profoundly pointless reply, though, I really appreciated that.

I'm fully aware of his review style, he just hadn't made the slightest mention of the story, apart from a small jab at the beginning - to later call the writing "beautiful" was a tad surprising.

And thank you for that sarcastic and mildly insulting reply to a perfectly innocent post. I really appreciated that.

I was not trying to insult you, you know. There are new viewers constantly, and at a glance it's perfectly impossible to tell who's been watching for 2 weeks and who's been watching for 2 years.

Sorry about that, I apologize for the unnecessary sarcasm. I had just replied to someone who had blatantly misinterpreted what I said, and I was feeling a little peeved. I can understand where you're coming from - a big part of my reply was how it was the first time I'd ever been on the first page of the comments section for a ZP video, so I felt compelled to say something other than the generic "great review as always" thing. Once again, sorry - the anonymity of the internet occasionally brings out the dick in me =D

 

[Dr. Danger]

Yeah, only been watching it for about 2 years or so. So yeah, relatively unexperienced on the subject. Thank you for your profoundly pointless reply, though, I really appreciated that.

I'm fully aware of his review style, he just hadn't made the slightest mention of the story, apart from a small jab at the beginning - to later call the writing "beautiful" was a tad surprising.

Oh, god. He really didn't.

Now I'm thouroughly disappointed. With as much story changing and scenery shifts, I should have expected more out of this review. It sounds like he didn't even finish the game. Naughty, naughty since he said it was only ten to fifteen hours if you only do the missions. There wasn't even talk of the awkward stranger quests.

Sigh, and to think I had waited for this.

 

[Enfold]

If you play until the end of Red Dead Redemption you'll understand the title.

 

[ExplodingSim]

Maybe If they make a PC version of this I'll buy it. Based on your review and others, it looks decent enough, but not decent enough to make a run to the game shop. And Hopefully they'll do a better job optimizing it for the PC.

That being said, in the beginning of the review, when you were bitching about GTA IV DLC, did you even play those games? I mean, in The Lost and Dammed they completely re-worked the Motorcycle physics so that it's near impossible to fall off. I mean, even when you run straight into a wall you still stay on most of the time. And in The Ballad of Gay Tony, they didn't have that many Helicopter missions. Yes, there were a few, and yes the controls are tricky, but still. Now, I know these games are far from perfect, but it seems like you didn't even play either of them.

 

[DoomBlackDragon]

Yeah the bug part of the review was very funny. I almost feelt like I was going to but my guts open. Great job Yahtzee. Seems like it a decent to good game. Sence it not on PC I think I will play it safe and rent it.

 

[Quorothorn]

Synchronously enough, I got the chance to play this game for somewhat over an hour today. Spot-on review as far as I can see: the video combined with my own short experience has succeeded in putting this game on my list, which I wasn't expecting.

 

[Zing]

Hurrr, What's fast travel?

Massive fail.

 

[Quorothorn]

Jesus ZP I just don't know what you want from games these days. You cry out for proper sandboxing and when you get it you criticise it for being a timesink. As for complaining about mountain lions doing what mountain lions do. I.e. hunt in packs and attempt rip you open?! You gave your horse a goddamn name for goodness sake - how much more sandboxy can it get?!

Oh, and I really haven't experienced any of the glitches or bugs that are so vehemently described in this review despite playing for about 20 hours. I really think they're overblown.

Erm, mountain lions are not pack hunters. I can only immediately think of one large feline that regularly hunts in groups, and pumas aren't them.

They ARE, however, excellent ambush predators, so coming completely out of nowhere and OM NOM NOM-ing on your inattentive collarbone is perfectly appropriate...except for the fact that mountain lions do not actually attack adult humans. But oh well, almost every video game universe is predicated on the assumption that everything that is not an NPC ally hates the protagonist down to their novelty leather riding boots as if said protagonist had personally butchered their parents and turned them into a nice pastry (which, given RDR's skinning mechanic, is not entirely implausible in this case).

 

[Randvek]

Sigh, Yahtzee liked the sailing in Wind Waker? Inexcusable.

 

[F8L Fool]

Time sink really does sum up this game quite nicely. Everything seemed to be pretty pointless. I mean it's very awkward game design seeing how you frequently have to spend two minutes riding across the map one way to kill some people, which takes one to two minutes, then ride all the way back? So it's like a 2:1 traveling to killing ratio.

I know that certain sections you can skip ahead, but come on, it's just redundant to constantly be traveling vast distances and listening to people lecture you on the way.

There was also no back story about what he actually did prior to this, why his posse left him, how they left him for dead (what context), how he survived, how long after his son was born that they broke up, how the government found him, and so on. There's just so much that they alluded to in order to add depth to the character, that just left me scratching my head.

After the second act the game just felt like a joke. The entire ending act could've been reduced by 90% and still left the same impression, that, or it could've been condensed into one cutscene + one battle.

The game had its moments, but you can only do the same task so many times before it loses its luster. The game lost its luster for me about half way through.

 

[Danallighieri]

Great review, pretty funny, ain't had any bug problems myself mind ye *waits for sod's law to kick in and the bug apocalypse to kick in*

 

[scott91575]

i think he was a bit nit-picky i found no bad glitches like the ones he mentioned. aside from one infinite load screen.

so is John Marston a manly man or a Macho man is what i want to know

snip

well actually there was a PS2 era western named Red Dead Revolver that needed a publisher Rockstar bought the rights and published the game so Red Dead Redemption is in a way a sequel and the red dead part is just the name of the series

here is the wikipedia page
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Dead_Revolver

This.

Wow, I am amazed someone would go through the effort to try and explain the meaning of Red in the title. Red was the name of the main character in the first game. Rockstar carried over the name as a spiritual successor. Geez, take off the tin foil hat.

 

[JIMMYXD]

Hehe... purple monkey dishwasher.......

 

[Syllvenwood]

well i have over 50 hours in the game and it isnt any less fun than the 1st hour unlike GTA4 which got boring. The story is on par with a decent western movie and the multi player is fun and he must not have ever looked at the journal cause there IS a point to almost everything you do awesome game

 

[systemaddict]

If you play until the end of Red Dead Redemption you'll understand the title.

That has nothing to do with it. It's spiritual successor to Red Dead Revolver. Completely different story and characters...but it's Rockstar tipping their hat and hoping to cash in on anyone that remembers that game.

 

[Andronicus]

Somebody needs to make Green Spleen Submarine into a game. Like, right now.

OT: Sounds good for a laugh, I suppose. Still not convinced enough to rush out and buy it though. Maybe I'll rent it one day, if I have the time.

 

[JdaS]

Awesome. Spot on from beginning to end. It's not often that Yahtzee reviews something I've bought/would buy. When he does though, I can't stop laughing. Damn mountain lions...

EDIT: I do wonder, however, whether he's actually played The Lost & Damned. The thing about characters getting flung off their bikes VERY easily, when, in this particular DLC your ass is literally glued to the seat. Just wondering.

 

[cmdrmonkey]

His review was spot on. RDR is a tired GTA4 rehash set in the old west with the same broken controls and boring, repetitive missions. I really wish I had watched this before wasting $60 on this turkey.

 

[likalaruku]

The glitches alone provide hours of entertainment, just like in Oblivion.