Review : Red Dead Redemption – The Wildest West Experience is here
Gameplay
Between the main and side quests, the gameplay is largely concentrated around exploring and shooting, both of which feel satisfying enough. Exploration is as easy as grabbing a horse or stagecoach and setting off in a direction of your choice. A thoughtful feature allows you to keep pace if riding in a group. The game world is dynamic and ensures there is constant activity happening in your proximity. For e.g. – you may find an injured sheriff seeking assistance to capture escaped prisoners or civilians seeking rescue from bandits or animals. Succeeding in these optional random quests brings money, fame and honor while also keeping you engaged in the lonely landscape. Besides horses and stage-coaches, the beautiful and authentic looking railway is also a convenient mode of travel (rooftop travel advised!).
You can also fast-travel between discovered locations, and apart from safe-houses, can camp anywhere in the game world for a quick save & ammo refill. The HUD and in-game mini-map are carried forward from GTA with some modifications. The overall game map is sketched beautifully with detailed geographical and wildlife pointers. In case you like to explore with an agenda, feel free to follow one or more ambient challenges across various levels or pursue objectives to attain rewarding outfits for John.
Speaking of the other aspect, i.e. shooting, you can use pistols, knife, rifles, snipers, shotguns, gatling guns and explosives for combat, apart from a fun-to-use lasso which can tie down both horses and humans (for capturing them alive). A slow motion Dead Eye mode allows multiple targeting for efficient kills, besides making the whole affair a visual treat. Just shoot-out an enemy horse’s legs in slow motion to watch the horse and rider tumble at high speed (movie style!) and you’ll realize what we are talking about! Between generous checkpoints and Dead Eye however, the game feels forgiving and with the ability to take cover & regenerate health, combat never gets very difficult.
If you are not in a mood for shooting or riding, head over to a game of liar’s dice, poker, blackjack, horseshoe, five finger fillet, arm wrestling or just pick up a night-watch or horse-taming job. Most of them are fun and present an opportunity to earn (and sometimes loose) money. Many settlements have general stores to replenish supplies, gunsmiths to renew firepower, doctors to buy medicines and tailors to buy achieved outfits. The game’s fauna ranging from Armadillos to fearsome Grizzlies can be hunted and skinned for trading purposes as well.
Since West is a hard place to earn honest money, feel free to loot the bucket-load of dead bodies you will regularly leave behind to recover ammo and money. The law however, is not blind to injustice on the living. Indulging in criminal activities will evoke strong reaction from law enforcers and will result in a bounty being placed subsequently on your head. As your fame grows far and beyond, you can overhear yourself as the topic of people’s conversation or read your exploits in the local newspaper. Your positive or negative actions will have far reaching consequences on how people react to your presence. Since the path to fame is usually riddled with jealous interludes, expect to be challenged for a Duel by aspiring cowboys seeking instant fame at your expense. Duels are quite thrilling as they are played out entirely in slow motion and you may choose to target the opponent’s head to kill him or shoot out his gun & let him live to earn more fame. These ‘consequence’ and ‘fame’ elements are embedded very well and succeed in making you feel a part of RDR’s living, believable world which is reactive and rewarding at the same time.
Some erratic gameplay issues, though very less, do crop up to spoil the fun. John may continue getting shot even when taking cover. He may take wrong cover and waste precious seconds to recover and line up a shot – getting pulped in the process. Falls and jumps over object may not be as expected and the camera angle can get quite frustrating on rare occasions where you may fail to see upcoming obstacles while shooting and end up stopping dead against them when the need of the hour is to flee! Worry not, for even if these quirks get you killed faster than expected, the checkpoint system shall save the day by ensuring you do not replay long mission sections.
Audio
There is something about Rockstar folks which deserves genuine hats-off applause, and that is the ability to leverage music and sounds for immersive gameplay experiences. Whether it’s the subtle chords in the background, an ecstatic song as you head home, a mere change in sound of horse trots across various surfaces or a pounding score during combat, RDR is like a an opera as far as audio is concerned. The sound effects are extremely well composed and the voice work of many characters, besides John Marston, is a treat to hear! The authentic tunes derived from Western settings create an effective ambience that will suck you inside in no time.
Multi-player
RDR exhibits multiplayer modes for both co-operative and competitive game-plays. The unique Free Roam mode is quite fun since it allows many players to lead out their lives on the same world map. Players may choose to team up to achieve common goals (clearing gang hideouts for example), or turn on against each other for supremacy. As you gain experience points in free roam, better equipment and weapons become available. Beyond free roam, five competitive modes are available to experience western adventures online. Whether you opt for the traditional group standoff, gold bag capture or turf defense, there is endless fun to keep you occupied for many days. The Rockstar Social Club, a free online community, offers additional challenges and leader-boards for further replay value.
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