RDR is like a Sam Peckinpah film, but as much "The Ballad of Cable Hogue" as "The Wild Bunch".

User Rating: 9.5 | Red Dead Redemption X360
By howardorr | Review Date:
It would be easy to dimiss "Red Dead Redemption" as "Grand Theft Auto" with horses and ten gallon hats. But Rockstar San Diego has in fact created a more heartfelt world than the rather parodic and cold world of Liberty and Vice cities. In other words, RDR's world is as much focused on the wild-eyed temperance preacher standing outside the saloon as much as the crazed and whoopin' drinkers inside. It's handling of characters -with some notable and unfortunate exceptions- is sympathetic. Most of all, it gives the impression of a lived-in world that is both old and new, tired and vibrant, and with room for both the myth of the charismatic gunslinger and the lonely and crazy people that the brutal society of the West created.

RDR improves on the template of GTA not only in terms of its superior and softer characterisation. Although the story is the same old tale of a wronged charismatic central character taking on a bette noir from his past, mission structures tend to be a little more varied, with the slo-mo Dead Eye mechanic a cool nod towards the films of Sam Peckinpah and Sergio Leone. Side-quests can vary from collecting flowers, to going after wanted criminals, to hunting the various exquisitely detailed wildlife -varying from birds to coyotes and skunk- dotted about. These side-quests give a sense of the richness of RDR's envirnoments. The whole honour system adds a motivation to really behaving like a good guy, as well. Furthermore, Rockstar's decision to set the game as late as 1911 means that we are always being given a concrete setting for the birth of our own world.

Although I'm not a big fan of online multiplayer, there are enough game modes to keep anyone entertained for many hours; the online free roam mode is excellent for just messing about and shooting innocent characters without worrying about the consequences to stats, too.

But the biggest improvement in my opinion over the rather needlessly detailed and cynical world of GTA is RDR's absolutely stunning score. Sparse musical accompaniment often refers in fragments to Ennio Morricone's famed scores for Leone's films and the more sweeping arrangements for Anthony Mann and John Ford's famous Westerns. It gees up effortlessly for fight and chase sequences, before ebbing away to occasional splashes of impressionistic and moody pizzazz. Most of all, the music perfectly illustrates how RDR so often favours feel, shadow, landscape and melancholic observation over the pyrotechnics of violence, flamboyance and simplistic story development. The music is so much about what represents RDR's lasting achievement.

This does not mean RDR is perfect. Although characterisation is generally very good, is there any need for a sneaky, alcoholic Irishman? The cover system can be a little unwieldy in tight situations, but RDR is not the first game in history to have this problem, and it certainly won't be the last. But the game works so beautifully, with so few snags, that you really have to nitpick to find serious faults. Plus it must be emphasised that RDR looks phenomenally good, at least on the XBOX360 version I've played: amazing detail to the various character models and environments, with very little pop-up. It gives a sense of scale, dynamism and -most of all- possibility to the game world.

"Red Dead Redemption" is an exhilarating and smooth ride of a game. It has the most beautiful sunsets I've ever seen in a game. It is a Peckinpah film made by Leone, a Howard Hawks western with the conscience and heart of Jimmy Stewart. And I'll settle for that.

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