I'll admit that after I completed my first mission in Red Dead Redemption, I came away unimpressed. And this was coming from a person who absolutely loved GTA 4. There was all this hype over this game being GTA in the wild west. And for the most part, that's accurate. I loved GTA 4 so much that I was unable to try something new with the same formula. But after a slow start, Red Dead Redemption has easily become a contender for Game of the Year. Why? Well, maybe Rockstar is a God at making games, or maybe the story, gameplay, and atmosphere all come together to make a beautiful recreation of the 1910s Western US and a fantastic western game above westerners that tried, but failed.
Red Dead Redemption, if you don't already know, is a tale of redemption for a former gang member by the name of John Marston. His job is to help the government eliminate his former gang members in hopes that he will be able to go home and live with his wife and son. As John's story takes you through the undeveloped wild west, to the heartland of Mexico, and back to the modern city of Blackwater, his story becomes more and more convoluted and much more than just ridding the West of a few bad guys. For John, his family is the only thing that matters and he goes through many struggles in order to see his family. And just when you think you have the story figured out, get ready for a surprise you probably won't expect.
The story is just one part of Red Dead Redemption that makes it so special. The atmosphere of the Wild West at the turn of the century just makes the story all the more meaningful. For fans of GTA 4 (like me) who loved the bright lights and fast cars and something happening at every corner will definitely be disappointed when they first play Red Dead. For me, it was a major turn off, until I got engaged in the story. It's hard trading in a car for a horse, but they will grow on you too, and I soon realized there is more than enough content for me to be playing this game long after it's over. The locomotive trains, dusty trails, Mexican Shanty Towns, and the cobblestone streets really set the old west vibe and once you let yourself enjoy this change, Red Dead becomes magical.
Red Dead Redemption's gameplay, unlike it's story and setting, is completely similar GTA 4, which, after playing two games with controls like these, it's time to move on. If you are planning to just play through the single player story, it wouldn't bother you in the least bit, but if you are a completionist and like to play online (both of which I did), you know these controls are flawed. John Marston controls very stiffly, and unlike Uncharted 2, I felt like I was having trouble "trying" to get him to move smoothly. The cover system is still out of wack, which doesn't bode well in a gang hideout when 20 guys with shotguns are gunning on you. The shooting system is solid, but there needs to be changed, which in turn, led me to use the new Dead Eye system more than I needed to. Dead Eye is basically Red Dead's Bullet Time system and it works quiet well, if not helping you cheat a little bit. But, it works in a western game and I'm glad it was an option. Many people had a problem with GTA 4's car controls, which I thought were just perfect (it was realistic), and again, horse riding isn't exactly "fun", but it's realistic. Every horse has stamina, and once your meter turns red, you need to let up. To be honest, it's not the ideal way to travel (as it takes too long to travel from one town to another), and I would usually just "fast travel" by using my camp site.
Another thing that I touched on earlier is that there is just SO much stuff to do in this game. You can complete objectives to earn new outfits, challenge yourself as a "Master" Hunter, Survivalist, Treasure Hunter, and Sharpshooter, go on stranger missions, similar to GTA 4's strangers (even if they are mostly fetch quests), raid gang hideouts around the West, become a bounty hunter, and the list goes on. You can even play a game of poker and blackjack, as well as arm wrestling and Five Finger Fillet (and let's not forget Liar's Dice). I just recently attained 100% at about 40 hours in, so that puts in perspective how long this journey of a game is. And the best thing is that you can do most of this stuff from the beginning, so if you grow tired of Red Dead's fetch quest missions, you have an option to do what you want.
Online multiplayer in Red Dead Redemption is something that has been coveted ever since they announced a free roam mode where you can ride around with friends and do stuff similar to what you do in single player. And I'm probably not the first to tell you it's not that intuitive or fun. I found getting into a friend's lobby and jump from game to be too complicated and after playing the competitive modes, like deathmatch and "Capture the Bag", I came away with a "who cares" attitude. While I liked the team duels at the beginning of every match, that alone does not give a reason to play this as frequently as a Call of Duty or (in my mind) Uncharted 2 multiplayer. Online multiplayer, much like the single player, is full of glitches varying from a horse flying in the air to people disappearing and people exploiting glitches to gain unearned xp (how you level up, from 1 to 50).
Aside from an almost (in my opinion) unneeded online multiplayer, Red Dead Redemption delivers on every front, giving players a great narrative and atmosphere that immediately needs to be experienced and good enough controls to have fun while doing it. With a wealth of extra content that no other game rivals, Red Dead Redemption is the definition of "The Complete Package" and needs to be played. GTA 4 will always have a place in my heart, but I will always look back on Red Dead and think "I had a great time with that game". And it's genuine.
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GB: "With this feature, we talk about 15 games on the PS3 that should be remade for the PlayStation 5."
The head of Nightdive Studios has posted that The Darkness is on their list of games they want to do, so hopefully something comes from that
Little Big Planet 1 and 2 deserve a mention, IMO.
Good call on Motorstorm, a game released 2 gens ago but still looks and feels so good. Motorstorm 2 and Motorstorm RC were gems as well. They followed up the Motorstorm games with the brilliant Driveclub, which still manages to put modern racing games to shame. Imagine closing down a studio as talented as that ... (!) Incredible.
A little 'arcade-gem' back then was The Last Guy, a top down 'follow the leader' snake-like game where you had to find and lead survivors to safety during an alien invasion, on terrible looking 'Google-earth' maps. Graphics were poor, even back then, but would love that same gameplay with modern maps and graphics.
Street Fighter 4, once it finally had a full roster, was quite good, but it was always an ugly game, sadly. Imagine bringing that back while using the current SF6 engine.
Good suggestions, I'd be in for
LittleBigPlanet
LittleBigPlanet 2
Motorstorm: Pacific Rift
Motorstorm: RC
God damn I love motorstorm so much
At the time I had a low-mid range sony 40” tv, The latency to the controller was waaaay too high, would to play a modern version
In saying that later I got a 3d lg tv and playing the 3d motorstorm in my bedroom with the environment crumbling around the track, was something special, specially compared to what others were playing at the time, will always remember that
Some good choices here and Resistance: Fall of Man is my most wanted PS3 remaster/remake. Not sure about their claim it was Sony's answer to Gears of War though.
I’d rather have sequels than remakes. Look at Dead Space 1 Remake. Would’ve been cooler if we got a new entry and it failed with sales sealing the fate of a sequel rather than just replay the same game and it fail in sales and we never get a new entry.
Remakes are great for things like PS2 and earlier games to really get a crazy new graphical coat, but I think we should ease up on all these remakes and actually do sequels.
Yeah for sure, sequels would be ideal. But in the current market environment where many big publishers are risk-averse, I'd rather get a remaster or remake that a developer can do on a budget that will be approved, rather than nothing for an IP.
I rather they remaster and port over to PC and current gen all the games permanently stuck on PS360. Those games don't need remakes, they need to be given a chance to live again outside of their confined consoles and then give a few proper sequels. Like Sleeping Dogs, Motor Storm, LA Noir, should get another entry.
Yeah I'd be fine with remasters of PS3 games too, they don't have to be remakes.
Whispers of a potential remake or remaster of Rockstar's classic cowboy epic Red Dead Redemption have intensified.
PC gamers never got RDR1 ... of course gamers are ecstatic.
hell, bring other old titles to PC too, like Killzone 2,3 & shadowfall, infamous 2nd son, MGS4, Uncharted trilogy, TLOU 2, Halo 5, Fable 2, Bad Company 1, Bloodborne, Demon souls, Army of Two, etc ...
PlayStation games probably also no longer have a convenient way to play either with the game on a console Sony isn't willing to emulate it's a bit of a forgotten game like GTA IV
Only be exited if it's a Remake.
If not, then it's likely another crap remaster like the GTA3 remaster.
Supposedly the studio behind GTA remasters is no longer working with Rockstar, like they arent involved with them at all anymore so im curious whos working on this remake if its true.
Hell yes.. I recently went from gaming on Switch OLED to doing all my gaming on my laptop and I definitely wouldn't mind blasting through Killzone on it. Also want Gears 2 and 3 on it as well. All available on Steam would be a mighty blessing as well.
The earliest rumours due this remaster must go back like 10 years basically when the PS4 came out this however is the first time I've felt confident saying it's happening
Eh, I'll believe it when I see it. Also I don't see a remake happening, maybe a remaster, but no way a remake.
Yea, they've never even properly remade a GTA game yet, as much as I'd love to have a RDR remake. Hopefully we'll be proven wrong, but I'm not going to hold my breath.
I actually just started playing the original again for the first time since it originally released. Not sure when this remaster is supposed to be out, but maybe I should just wait.
Good review!
Thanks!
But I wonder who disagreed with you? Lol.