After a quiet few months in gaming I am delighted to report that Red Dead Redemption arrived this morning! It's a day early but I'm not complaining, once again big thanks go to amazon.co.uk for making this all possible.

So, after work today there was only one thing on my mind, friends wanted to meet for a drink, I said no, parents wanted to go out for chinese, I said no, my evening has been devoted to one thing only - being a cowboy! I must admit that me and RDR didn't get off to the best of starts. Within seconds I was gunned down in the middle of town all because I shot a boy off his horse! In my defence it was a damn nice horse and I wanted it, then again perhaps poaching horses right outside the sheriffs place isn't the greatest idea. It didn't take long to get used to the controls, they're almost identical to gta 4, a few minor tweaks makes the snap-aim slightly more challenging and obviously you can't handbrake a horse but anyone who's played gta 4 will feel at home with these controls.

So far I have shot bandits, saved a whore, rescued horses, rescued a rancher, rescued a ranch! and broken in several horses and I have to say that I am completely lost. Lost, yes, but not in a bad way. I like the feeling when you're a few hours into a game and have no idea what to do next, it adds to the immersion. Do I go hunting? Do I brake in a few more horses? Should I go collecting bounties or should I continue to try and get into the female leads knickers? The possibilities are endless.

RDR has impressed me. Travelling from place to place can be a bit tedious but every now and then a side mission will pop up. I've already helped a woman get a caravan back, saved a devout christian from being killed by faith and shot a guy in the back of the head who tried to steal my horse. This is a nice touch from Rockstar who clearly realised that travelling back on forth risked the gamer becoming bored so found a way to keep every journey interesting. I feel I am only on the cusp of what this game has to offer but so far all signs are pointing to this being a stellar addition to Rockstars impressive catalogue and if the game continues to impress as I get more fame, more honor and undoubtdly more bad-ass then its undoubtedly a canditidate for game of the year right alongside ME2.