Red Dead Redemption

Rating:M

Score: 9.5/10

The Grand Theft Auto series is known by many for a lot of reasons. It's a huge open sandbox-style game (meaning you have a large world with missions given in a non-linear fashion), but a large amount of people connect the name with a game that is overly violent and racist. Either way, it was quite the game for being the first of its kind. Now, the same developers took it to the Wild West. Interesting choice, does it play as well as the developer's other big series, Grand Theft Auto? This game is available for the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3.

You are John Marston, cowboy at heart despite coming from a big city. You're past is unknown and misty, but you're on a mission to take down Bill Williamson. Your mission goes poorly, and you’re given hospitality by the nearby locals. You take a shine to the scenery, but you haven't forgotten your mission.

The game is based on an honor system, where good deeds give you good honor and bad deeds give you bounty. When people know you as a good hero, they'll ask for help frequently, but praise you well. When you're the dangerous outlaw, people will run from you and the only greeting you'll get is the end of a rifle. While the good deeds are usually more of a pain, it relaxes the townfolk and makes for a relaxing travel through towns. Otherwise, going to town is as good as suicide.

The prairies aren't much safer. Criminals lurk around every corner, and there are always people needing to be saved. For the less heartfelt, there is plenty of loot to steal and lots of people to take hostage. It can be a cold prairie, and you need to do what you can to survive.

But you're never alone! Your trusted horse will take you to the gates of hell and back without complaint, but you can get a new (faster) horse by going around the prairies and taming a wild one. Considering most of the game is spent riding from place to place, having a fast and reliable steed will do you a lot of good.

Another friend of yours is your trusty gun. Any encounter can usually be solved with the use of some gunpowder and a careful trigger. This being the Wild West, you can get challenged to duels, filled with the nail-biting high tension of classic movie duels. Most good gunslingers can shoot a man dead in a duel, but expert gunmen can shoot the gun right out of the man's holster before he even gets a chance to blink.

Along with duels, other minigames can be played. Poker, darts, animal hunting, bounty hunting, and many others can be explored in the vast land. If that fun doesn't appeal, the land is big and random enough to provide lots to do. You can ride for just a few minutes and find a public hanging, or a robbery, or even stumble across a gang hideout. The amount of random things to do makes the game feel almost as full as the Grand Theft Auto series games, which were all set in a city. Although it doesn't feel as populated, it very well makes up for it in the fact there's more to do and see.

This game has been out for a year already, what's the hold up on the review? Well, this game has been known, well known, for its glitches. The game I tried before I found this working copy had a glitch where my horse would travel underground unexpectedly and freeze the game. No amount of cleaning the disc could solve this, so it was unplayable. It's hardly the only glitch I found in this game, and not even close to the huge list of glitches gamers have noted.

So, with that in mind, why such a high score? When the game is working correctly (which is most of the time), it's a game like no other. An addictive game about the Wild West done right in every way sounds amazing at first, and it works very well. The cover-based shooting leaves quite a bit to be desired, but it's still fun with the slow-mo Dead Eye ability. It's very wild, for any wanting to tame it.