Red Dead Redemption Review

Thanks to the Grand Theft Auto (GTA) series, gamers tend to have high expectations for the game studio Rockstar Games. That’s what made Red Dead Redemption a strange move. It was a departure from the regular car stealing, rocket launcher, plane flying chaos in the GTA series. Thankfully things worked out great for this game.

Despite being originally released in 2010, the game can still be played on PS5 by streaming it from the PS Plus collection. If you’re using an Xbox Series console, you’re in an even better position since it’s available for purchase as a digital game and offline play thanks to the Xbox backwards compatibility. This review was done by purchasing it for Xbox Series X (for a reasonable $29 CAD).

There is an assortment of other side characters. Some you’ll despise, some you’ll like and some that are downright hilarious. Each character has a unique personality and aren’t just cookie cutter NPCs. They bring their own personality which helps make this game’s digital world more engaging.

One of the best things about the characters is that during escort or travelling parts of a mission, they’ll engage in a lengthy dialogue with John. While these aren’t cinematic cutscenes they were still enjoyable to chill back and listen to, especially with some of the quirkier side characters.

The same can be said about enemies. While enemies don’t have much screen time, when they do you get a quick idea of what they’re like. Some villains are somewhat simple minded, while others are downright ruthless and pure evil.

Combat & Upgrade System

The combat system is incredibly easy to use. It allows gamers to quickly dive into a gun battle with quick precision just like in the old west.

One of the best things about the combat system is the Dead Eye system which slows down time and allows you to get more accurate shots in and help you win dual matches.

The action parts are great fun since it’s just an all-out shoot out most of the time. There are a handful of times you’re required to use stealth to complete a mission but often those missions will end with a gun battle.

There isn’t a huge assortment of enemies as they usually have pistols or rifles but it’s the sheer number of enemies you need to fight per gun battle that can sometimes make things tough. In some cases, enemies might get a hold of some stronger gun power which makes things a bit more challenging too.

The enemy AI isn’t the smartest though, as they’ll sometimes run right at you to get a better shot or stay parked in a single spot the entire time which makes getting a shot on them sometimes easy. However, since this game was released in 2010, this isn’t surprising that the enemy AI isn’t the best.

There are options for upgrades, for example your weapons. You can purchase new ones but honestly, I beat the entire game without purchasing a single new weapon. I was able to beat the game by simply taking guns from defeated enemies.

One of the annoying things about game mechanics was horse riding. At times, the horse will be out of control and go in the wrong direction. This isn’t often but it’s annoying when it happens.

Environment & Graphics

It’ll take you about 15 hours to complete this game if most of your focus is on the main story and a bit of time spent on side missions.

That’s one of the great things about this game, there are plenty of things to do. There are side missions such as finding kidnappers, playing poker, horse races, breaking in horses and more.

The game takes place in southern USA and North Mexico along the border. A good chunk of the game takes place in a desert but thankfully some parts eventually take place in swamps, fields, farmland, and a city.

In traditional Rockstar Games fashion, the map is huge open world environment, and the size is impressive given that this game was released in 2010. Even on horseback it takes a while to get around, although I found out early in the game that you can setup a camp easily and teleport to major points of interest. There are other modes of transportation for fast travel that John can access for a small purchase, but I choose to use the free camp method.

Even though the game was released in 2010, it was graced with a graphics upgrade in 2018 for Xbox One. If you plan to play this game on a Xbox Series console as I did, you’re in luck as the graphics upgrade is still implemented into the game.

From character design to environmental appearance. Even the motion of fast horse riding looks greatly captured for a game this many years old.

The interesting thing about cut scenes is that all of them use in game graphics, there aren’t any cinematic cutscenes. This works great for two reasons; the graphics are pretty good even by today’s standards and it keeps the game feel more fluid since it looks consistent the entire time. Sometimes changing between in game graphics and cinematics cutscenes work well and sometimes it can throw off the flow of a game.

Multiplayer

There is an online multiplayer mode, but it seems broken. Some people are posting on the internet that it works just fine and have even posted videos on YouTube showing how many people still play it online in 2022.

However, the other half including myself can’t get it to work. It seems rather random when it may or may not work for someone. No matter what I try I can’t get it to work and yes, I do have a Live subscription. I’ve tried all online options to get connected, rebooted my console, checked for updates and so on, but still no luck.

If you’re looking to play this old gem of a game, don’t expect a masterpiece experience for online play, your experience may vary.

Sound

The audio track is one of the best parts of the game. While it’s rather somber at times, when action sequences take place, the soundtrack will play music reminiscent of decades old western type movies (think the days of old western movies starring Client Eastwood).

The voice acting from John works perfectly for his character. Even though he’s the strong quiet type, when he talks, his voice matches perfectly to his rough looking demeanour. When he’s forced into lengthy discussions with other characters, his attitude adjusts perfectly to who he’s chatting with. He’ll be more polite and patient with Bonnie and quick witted and insulting to some of the more eccentric characters.

Side characters are voiced perfectly. The first local sheriff you meet is noble and has a strong means of justice while other law enforcement is dumb witted or cliché robotic type like the government agents.

However, it’s the more vocal side characters that are the most fascinating. Even though they annoy John to no end, for the gamer they’re incredibly amusing due to their ridiculous personalities, wild ideas, and humorous dialogue.

Villains are no exception to the great voice acting and dialogue. While some of them have only minimal dialogue, in the short interactions you get with them, some of them show you simply how evil they can be. It’s great work by the game studio that we love to despise the enemies rather quickly.

Conclusion

Even in 2022 this is a rock-solid game. Get it? Rock solid, Rockstar studios… Okay, I’ll stop now.

With a rough gruff protagonist and that amazing trigger finger skills of his, which is one of his many skills, you’ll enjoy this game.

Of course, it helps that the map is huge and there are various types of regions to explore.

One of my personal favourite items of the game are the side characters. Whether they be evil scum or some of the quirky amusing ones that help John.

The lack of multiplayer mode working properly is a slight putdown. While some might say it’s not important, the fact remains that you need to pay to play this game, and the multiplayer mode is still an active feature that comes part of the paid package, except it doesn’t work properly. Again, not just for me, but for other people posting on online forums too.

Despite the imbalanced multiplayer connectivity experience and sometimes wonky horse controls, this is still a game worth playing if you never had the chance to.