Gunslingers in the wild west have been the subject of many memorable video games such as Gun, Custer’s Revenge, Lethal Enforcers II and probably another one or two are in there somewhere. What is generally considered the most celebrated is 2010’s Red Dead Redemption, or Grand Theft Equine as it’s commonly referred. Like one or two other Rockstar titles, Red Dead Redemption was met with near universal acclaim and is still fondly remembered almost a decade later. The upcoming sequel is one of the most anticipated titles of 2018, and with that release just around the corner it seems like a good time to look back on the tale of John Marshton.
I remember when my Dad brought home my first PlayStation, along with Final Fanstasy VII. I was so excited to be clutching that monster case containing 3 discs. In a Open World Games Missions where discs are becoming a thing of the past in favour of digital downloads, it seems crazy to think that any game created after 2010 would need anything like. This was not the case for L.A Noire on Xbox 360. Rockstar had put a lot of effort into their facial technology for this game, which was groundbreaking at the time, and it meant that actors would act scenes from the game to give a realistic feel to interviews in game, allowing us to judge their responses based on facial movements. This amount of data meant that the game had to span three discs on the Xbox format as they could not hold it on a single disc, unlike PlayStation who adopted the Blu-Ray disc format. Gamer’s became upset with having to swap discs throughout the game, questioning whether this technology was worth spending mass amounts of money on when facial animators could have done a similar job. We all enjoy a smooth running game experience and this is exactly what Xbox players didn’t
There is a linear story path to follow, but there are plenty of side opportunities to engage in. Each region has a few forts that need to be taken over, much like the same style as the battle at Fort Mercer. There are many characters that require assistance from John and these quests are usually entertaining. One quest involves a man with an undying love for his woman and another series of events from a quest giver involves a man who really gets under John’s skin in the last quest he gives. Random events happen throughout the world such as highway robberies, hangings and other random encounters with strangers, making the game world feel alive. Rockstar games are known for their sense of humor and some of their dark humor naturally crept into Red Dead Redemption. One of my favorite achievements I ever unlocked happened in this game. A few years ago my girlfriend was hanging out at my apartment and I decided to show her this game (she may have bought it for me for a birthday present but I can’t remember). I thought it would be funny to lasso a girl and leave her on the train tracks, like a mustache twirling silent film villain. As the locomotive turned the damsel in distress into a much gooier state of existence, an achievement popped up on screen. It’s good to know that my sociopathic tendencies aren’t so unusual that the developers weren’t able to anticipate my behavior.
Each and every GTA instalment has their fair share of lovable, but stupid characters. You know, the ones who cause more trouble than they’re worth, but we can’t stay angry at. Well, in GTA IV , they started to put a heavy social element into our main character’s life, helping to create a very realistic world in which you can hang out with the associates you’ve met along the way. This meant that a number of social mini-games became available to us. That being said, there was nothing more irritating than being constantly badgered by Roman about bowling, so much so that his irksome requests became somewhat of an internet joke. Think about it, you’re in the middle of a mission and your car is being peppered by bullets. You’re fully concentrated on taking down the enemy, only to be interrupted by “HEY COUSIN, IT’S ROMAN.” It’s absolutely infuriat
Earlier, I mentioned how important Native Americans were to Western culture and how excited we are for the possibility of them sharing center stage. Another character that doesn’t get enough play in the Western genre happens to be the female outlaw. In the closing scene of the teaser trailer, it seems as though the left most rider happens to be a lady. Their clothing is brighter than the other and her body structure seems to lend itself to a more feminine figure. A lot of players feel as though there isn’t enough diversity when it comes to protagonists in video games. Having a leading lady that also happens to be a badass would be a great, but not necessarily a new addition to the Red Dead series. There have been plenty of awesome females in the franchise, but it would be great to finally play as
Member the games you used to play? We member. The basement at the Hardcore Gamer office has a section known as the Crust Room, with an old grey couch and a big old CRT TV. All the classic systems are down there collecting dust, so in an effort to improve the cleanliness of our work space, we dust off these old consoles every so often and put an old game through its paces, just to make sure everything stays in working order. We even have a beige computer with a floppy disk drive.