After years of quiet buildup and mounting hype, Red Dead Redemption arrives as the most immersive Western game ever made — and possibly Rockstar’s finest. It began unceremoniously as a few images presented by Sony as Rockstar’s “Western game,” but over time, it gained a name, went multi-platform and built an enormous amount of hype. The game isn’t going to change anyone’s life just by playing it, but it promised to deliver the most immersive and entertaining Western video game to date — and on that score, it succeeds. It’s a sprawling experience that both amazes and intimidates with the scope of its ambition.
Welcome to New Austin
Set in the fictional region of New Austin in 1911, the game chronicles the twilight of the Old West through the eyes of John Marston. He is a former outlaw who has settled down with a farm, a wife and a child—until an emerging proto-FBI organization takes his family hostage, promising their release only if he eliminates his former comrades from his old gang. There’s nothing particularly innovative about John Marston’s story, and in many ways, that’s exactly how it should be. His journey unfolds across the iconic landscapes and activities of the Old West, and trying to inject novelty for its own sake into such a setting would have felt inappropriate.
The game’s graphics engine is an updated version of the RAGE engine previously seen in Grand Theft Auto IV, but in this case, less is definitely more. The absence of complex buildings and street layouts allows the RAGE engine to render vast, detailed landscapes filled with classic Western elements — tumbleweeds rolling by, and seas of cacti stretching across the desert.
Some graphic glitches typical of Rockstar Games persist, such as occasional draw-in, pop-up, and physics bugs caused by objects or characters “spawning” incorrectly as you approach. Still, the atmosphere is beautifully rendered. Light, in particular, is an impressive achievement — the game captures the brilliance of sunrises, the harshness of high noon and the rosy glow of sunsets, complete with shafts of light that “halo” characters when the camera is positioned to block the sun behind them.
There’s no comparing the visuals in Red Dead Redemption to those in console exclusives, with the PlayStation 3 version running at a sub-HD resolution of 640p (the same as GTA IV). However, the game’s massive scale and thoughtful art direction more than make up for the lack of technical prowess.
Rockstar San Diego has also shown strong direction when it comes to sound design. Once again, iconic Western sounds punctuate the score — harmonicas, whistling, bells, and horns evoke Arizona-style deserts or Mexican canyons. The music is austere and minimalist, perfectly complementing the game’s vast, empty spaces.
The voice acting ranks among the best in any video game to date, with excellent performances and dialogue that feels authentic. The sound effects are a treat, especially for those with an ear for classic Westerns in film and television. Familiar effects — cougar roars, gun ricochets and the infamous Hollywood “Wilhelm Scream” — are scattered throughout, surprising seasoned audiences with their recognizable cues. Each weapon has also been given a theatrical boost to its signature sound. No, it’s not realistic — but it sounds the way audiences expect it to, shaped by decades of Old West depictions in popular media.
The Best Western Game Made To Date
Red Dead Redemption takes place in a massive pastiche landscape that is 1/3 plains of the Midwest, 1/3 arid American deserts and 1/3 Mexican plateau It is the biggest Rockstar game yet, surpassing both GTA IV and GTA San Andreas in size. That massive size makes for a fertile playground and Rockstar San Diego has managed to capitalize on it. Mechanically, it’s not inaccurate to say “This is just GTA with a Western coat of paint slapped on it,” but that doesn’t do justice to design streamlining and reverence for the setting that has gone into Redemption.
“Red Dead Redemption is a complete package.”
As with most Rockstar Games, players are free to follow the storyline, or simply wander about the landscape looking for things to do. Despite deserts and plains being huge, seemingly empty areas, there’s a lot to see and do. Rockstar San Diego has created an actual ecosystem of living creatures, so forest are populated with bears and cougars, and in the desert, vultures can be seen flying overhead while armadillo wander through the brush, and all animals can be hunted and skinned for money. There are also random encounters that run the gamut from ambushes to helping strangers to simple contests like shooting the most birds out of the sky.
The real meat of the game is the story mode, which spins a classic Western tale that — as the title suggests — is largely about redemption. It’s here that the game’s only real flaw appears: the narrative clearly wants John Marston to be a heroic figure, but it must reconcile this with the reality that players may occasionally — or in some cases, constantly — indulge in homicidal rampages.
There are honour and fame meters in place to inform players of their notoriety and reputation within the world, but even the most bloodthirsty slaughter can be quickly forgotten by paying a fine or using a pardon letter when a bounty is placed on Marston’s head. There’s also the familiar open-world quirk of the game’s “star” acting as an errand boy — taking on tasks for just about everyone, with little acknowledgement of how strange that is for a man supposedly on an urgent mission.
The multi-player side of things is a definite improvement over GTA IV, but not without technical problems at the time of this writing. Players can team up in a “posse” and roam the entirety of New Austin and Mexico either fighting other posses or co-operating in team based missions, thus fulfilling childhood fantasies of riding into the sunset with friends and actually being able to shoot thing However bugs such as disappearing weapons, characters and even enemies need to be addressed in order to make multi-player truly shine.
Red Dead Redemption is the complete package. A compelling story with well-crafted characters is grafted onto a distinctly familiar — yet evolved — open-world system. But Redemption‘s greatest triumph is its complete respect for its setting. This is the best Western game on the market because it does more than any other to make you feel like you are in the Old West. The setting isn’t just a backdrop — it’s the main feature. Minor flaws can’t detract from the fact that this is one of the most engaging and entertaining games of the year. Except for those who absolutely loathe Westerns, it’s a must-have title.
