Red Dead Redemption
Crazy as it sounds but I have never played a full Rockstar game. GTA, Red Dead, Manhunt, Bully, you name it I haven’t beaten it. The one I have played the most is GTA IV but I got stuck on a mission and rage quit. But with the release of Red Dead 2 out I felt it was about damn time for me to actually try my hand at the original. So this week’s blog is going to be dedicated to my playthrough of the game so far. Next weeks? Well hopefully I will have beaten it by then. But if not you will get another update!
Red Dead Redemption was Rockstar answering a question no one knew they wanted to ask. What if you made GTA into an old western? I vaguely remember the hype for this game before it came out and that a lot of the games press was skeptical of the idea. But once it was released it was smash hit and became both a critical and financial success for them. It was released on May 18th 2010. Anddd at the time of writing this it is just hitting me that the game is almost 9 years old… Well that was my daily dose of feeling old. Anyway let’s dive into my first week of gameplay.
I started playing Red Dead 1 almost exactly 1 week from the date this blog is being released, this past Saturday. First impression. This game still freakin holds up. The controls are probably the most dated aspect of the game and from what I’ve heard they haven’t really changed too much in Red Dead 2 either. I really do not like how you have hold or mash the “X” button (“A” button on XB360? Im playing it on my PS3) to run. I also don’t like how the characters move. You don’t feel 100% in control of your movement. There is an awkward turn radius for everything you control, whether it’s the main character, a horse etc. Probably the worst thing to control and maneuver with is any cart or wagon. It’s so easy to over commit to a turn and cause you to drive off the road and fuck up whatever mission you’re on. But other than the controls the game still plays well!
Probably the most striking aspect of the game that still holds up are the graphics! The character models and the building textures aren’t too great. However, the lighting and environment just looks stunning still. Obviously not as good as the new game but I was still pleasantly surprised!
WARNING! SPOILERS AHEAD!? So I don’t know if this really needs a spoiler warning for a game that is almost 10 years old now but none the less I wanted to throw that out there since this last bit of the today’s post I wanted to talk about the story I’ve played so far! As of me writing this (literally the night before being posted) I have just made it into Mexico and it appears that I have completed the Landon Ricketts quest line. I’m really enjoying the story so far. Marsden is a great main character. The way Rockstar has written him makes him a little ambiguous in terms of is her a good or bad guy? This allows the player to decide what type of character he is going to be. I almost always plays the goody two shoes type of guy so I like how he can be an outlaw with a heart of gold. I’m not entirely sure who is keeping his wife and daughter captive? Maybe I’m missing something but he seems to be intentionally vague on that. It could be the government? Or possibly remnants of his old gang?
In any case. So far I am enjoying this game and I look forward to keeping you all posted with my progress!