This was a game that I didn't expect to get into. I actually got it by chance from a coworker who was getting rid of all of his Xbox 360 games. I knew that it was a Triple A title, but I never thought much of it. Then, I remember hearing a coworker of mine who was a very laid back Radiologist at my old job, talk about how he cried at the end of it. Another friend said the same. This completely caught me off guard, because these weren't those kind of dudes. I decided to get into the game and finish it.
After I started, I quickly got distracted and disinterested. I had just finished one of the many Assassin's Creed games- as I follow the series. It felt like Red Dead was going to be tedious, so I was hesitant to put time into it. It started really quick story wise. Your wife and son are held hostage by the government in exchange for handing in the outlaws you used to run with. Trying to leave that life behind, you find yourself immersed in it. In a gun fight, you're hurt badly, and the first person who you meet, saves you. It's a farm girl and her father. You get a residence to stay, and opportunities to work around the town and with the farm and local police. I got into a complacent pattern of working the local jobs and got away from the story. Then, months later, I decided that I was going to finish the game.
In this game, the developers made no apologies. It is literally the wild open west. Early in the game, you venture out into the lush environment, over valleys, through foliage, and mountains, meeting people and wanderers along the way. You can literally wind up mauled to death by mountain lions or wolves if you happen to wind up on foot near them. To be honest, the game could have done this more. I happened to get into a gun fight with a few outlaws one time, and my horse was killed in the process. I tried to make it to the nearest town on foot, and a mountain lion came out of nowhere. I didn't have an arsenal at that time, and wound up getting hit while trying to pull out my firearm. I was killed and got a game over. It was shocking and a bit frustrating, but that very rarely happens in the game, and it could have been done more.
You can take a bounty on someone and hunt them down, as well as try to break into gang bases and take them out. These battles are always intense. You can also become an arm wrestler or poker player and take on the champions in the several cities. You can also get a job as a horse herder. You chase down the wild steer on horseback, and then lasso them. After getting a hold of them, you hop on their back, and ride them until they are under control and then lure them back to the herder. It's tough, but very rewarding. This as well as herding cows or bringing them out to graze is part of how the game is a real simulation that doesn't try to cater to the gamer.
Words cannot describe the immensity of the landscape and how beautiful it looks and sounds. The game covers a large area of the Texas area and across the border into Mexico. It feels even bigger than that. The soundtrack is amazing, but feels a bit sparse. I'll never forget the music that plays after you get through an insane battle with Mexican rebels as you come across the border with your Irish friend. After surviving that fight, you get a horse left for you and begin riding to the local town to see a legendary Outlaw for help. The song that plays there is straight out of one of those underrated Indie movies. I wish there was more of that.
The dialogue of Red Dead is what really won me over more than anything. It is so well written. It's gripping at times, and hilarious at other times, like when the Mexican general talks about the laziness of the Mexican people. I honestly never laugh out loud these days at all. Nothing is funny enough to make me. This game actually had me rolling in laughter several times. That says a lot by itself. You get betrayed several times by people who have no real reason to do so. It's frustrating.
As the game rounds to a close, what really shocked me was how it was ended. Not to spoil, but the end of the game, to me felt like an epilogue. It was amazing to see the introduction of the automobile though. When you go up against your old gang mate, I thought that was the end of the game. It was certainly deep enough into the game to be. I was surprised how the game dragged on. The scene where you and him square off was gripping, and you go through an insane amount of fighting to get to that point. I was literally exhausted by that point in the game. It didn't see it as something that would make everyone cry, although it could have that effect. But then the game transitions to the hero going back home to his family, and you spend quality time with them, going hunting and a raising cattle. But then drama returns for some weird reason I still don't get. The government who messed you over time and again, finds a reason to come and hunt you down randomly, when you did all then asked months ago. I can only image that it's a money-hungry, bounty issue. Then when his house is attacked, you're in another gun fight, with a different outcome. That's where the end begins. I made the mistake of reading a walkthrough, which mentioned something about revenge. I was still shocked to see the main story like that.
The actual epilogue of the game, is what gives you closure. It felt bitter sweet. The game still has much to do after the end, and it was a unique title that was worth the wait. One thing that's been on my mind and inspired this review is the fact that there aren't gripping stories these days in movies or games much. I finished Uncharted Golden Abyss for the Vita around the same time, and while it was amazing in many of the same ways, the story premise wasn't like the old classics I love. I remember games like Metal Gear solid that talked about the issues of nuclear warfare and foreign relations, or Deus Ex: Human Revolution which talked about the issues of imbalance when good intentions meet with power in the hands of imperfect humans. Games like that meant something, and I wish games like that would still come out. This game isn't a 10 in that regard, as the story is sort of cliche' Western, but it's effort in execution is nothing short of classic. 9/10
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