Platform: Xbox 360

Developer: Rockstar San Diego

Publisher: Rockstar Games

Release Date (NA): May 18, 2010

Genre: Action / Adventure

Nerd Rating: 9.5 out of 10

Note: This review is of the vanilla version of Red Dead Redemption.

Oh Red Dead Redemption…I’ve had some great times with this game. This was one of the many games that my brother recommended and lent me to play. I don’t know how he does it, but he’s always picked out some of the best games, with this one not being an exception. We both enjoyed it so much that we even played it for my Mom, who’s a huge fan of old westerns and she was blown away by just how beautiful it was. So to say that I enjoyed this game is clearly an understatement.

One of the many activities you can do in-game includes hunting down bounties to bring in alive or dead.

Red Dead Redemption is the sequel to Rockstar’s Xbox game Red Dead Revolver, but features different characters and situations. If you’ve spent some time with the seventh generation consoles, specifically the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, you’ve probably heard this game being referred to as the “best game of the generation.” If you keep up on the latest news on the Xbox One, you may have even heard that Red Dead Redemption had been the most requested Xbox 360 game to be made backwards compatible. People love this game! And considering that it is one of the most expensive games ever made, it should be shouldn’t it?

John Marston will find himself challenged to duels by other gunslingers from time to time. You can win the duel by either killing or disarming your opponent.

The story of Red Dead Redemption revolves around protagonist John Marston, a renounced outlaw, who is forced to hunt down his old accomplices for the US Government to get his kidnapped wife and son back. Marston’s journey to find his old friends takes him to the far corners of the American west, including Mexico. Red Dead Redemption’s plot may seem simple, but it truly is gripping, making the player care about the safety of the Marston family. And athough the final act is a bit short, it pays off with the ending which has been noted in numerous top 10 lists, for specific reasons…

Red Dead Redemption also features the interesting Dead Eye mechanic. Dead Eye is essentially an ability that Marston has to slow time for precise lock-on targeting. It comes in really handy during missions with horseback combat, as it can allow you to shoot down enemy mounts without having to deviate from whatever route you’re taking. However, Dead Eye is limited but refills over time. At first glance, it may seem like Dead Eye isn’t really that unique of a gameplay mechanic, but the way it’s used for in-game duels makes it feel more organic than that.

The in-game world of Red Dead Redemption is constantly moving, with trains traveling around the map to NPCs with set schedules.

Aside from the single player mode, Red Dead Redemption‘s online multiplayer is also pretty popular. In Free Roam, players can freely roam around the entire in-game map, with most of the main game’s activities intact. Multiplayer also gives you the option to play as any character you want, with any mount, as long as your rank is high enough to have unlocked it. On a personal note, unlocking the buffalo mount was the highlight of my multiplayer experience.

Rockstar has also released several DLC packs for free to add more content to it, including co-op missions, more games, characters, etc. Playing through the multiplayer mode will allow you to steadily rank up, which gives you access to more characters, mounts, etc. Rockstar has also kept the online multiplayer pretty active by holding special XP events every so often.

Red Dead Redemption‘s combat is satisfying and will leave you feeling like a real wild west gunslinger.

Since this is a Xbox 360 game, it’s worth mentioning the game’s achievements as well. The achievements for the vanilla Red Dead Redemption game are pretty varied. You have ones for reaching certain points in the single player story, but there are also some creative ones, such as an achievement for kidnapping a woman, tying her to the railroad tracks, and watching her get run over. Like most Rockstar games, the achievements in this game really challenge you to explore what you can do in this game as much as possible.

In Red Dead Redemption, we see that Rockstar is clearly at the top of their game. The developer of the Grand Theft Auto series and L.A. Noire has truly captured the Wild West in a story about one man’s attempt at redemption. Red Dead’s writing is just fantastic; even minor characters are fully fleshed out and wonderfully voice acted. And like the GTA games, the game is packed with things to do from in-game challenges to mini-games such as Liar’s Dice. The attention to the smallest details is Rockstar’s skill, and they do it well.