Red Dead Redemption: Hour Two

The Evil Pacman here:

So I picked up Red Dead Redemption tonight at midnight, halfway on a whim, halfway being convinced by my good friend Kirsten, and I'm gonna be giving coverage as I go along with the game in order to convince you to check this amazing title out.

I remember renting Red Dead Revolver a few years back for the PS2 and loving the game and story. It was fun and Rockstar did a good job capturing the wild west feel of a game. So hearing about this title, I expected this game to be even better with Rockstar's reputation for creating games with free-roam worlds. What I didn't expect was an Oblivion sized map, amazing draw distance, smooth controls, and a perfect feel to the wild west world.

The story is about John Marston, and he gets set up by federal agents to pick up his holster and revolver and hunt down his former friends, now turned criminals. His knowledge and vast vocabulary shows what kind of person he is right from the beginning and how he handles himself brings you into the character very well. Upon arriving on train to your destination, you start off on your first mission finding your friend, now leader of a notorious bandit group, and try and talk him out of his situations. Doesn't end up well for John thats for sure. Won't go into detail what happens but he ends up in the nearby town working off a small debt he owes.

When I head back into the first town after completing a few missions, I noticed a few mini-games (Poker and Five Finger Filet) and a silent movie cartoon that had a Rockstar feel to it all over. It seriously made me laugh out loud as I watched it. I also hunted wild animals (yes, you can kill bunnies, birds, deer, snakes, and anything that moves really) and skinned their dead carcasses for anything I can sell at the local shops.

The one thing that made me feel very good about the game is the Horseback riding and the smooth controls. It was so easy to shoot and aim while going fast, and its easy to know when your horse is tired and how to keep the horse from going fast. And if you're following someone, all you have to do is hold A and it will keep you at their pace. It all works so incredibly well.

But this is the end of my review, I don't want to spoil too much of the story, but I will continue playing and let you know how everything else works, especially when I start Multiplayer mode, which is a whole another game.