Red Dead Redemption

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Red Dead Redemption "I left the gang when the gang left me..." — John Marston Protagonist(s): John Marston Genre(s): Action-Adventure Rating(s): BBFC: 18/PEGI: 18 ESRB: M CERO: Z USK: 18 ACB: MA15+ OFLC: R16 Platform(s): Xbox 360 PlayStation 3 Xbox One Xbox Series X/S Release: Red Dead Redemption Xbox 360 PlayStation 3 NA: May 18, 2010 PAL: May 21, 2010 Xbox One (also available for Xbox Series X/S) WW: July 8, 2016 Undead Nightmare Xbox 360 PlayStation 3 WW: October 26, 2010 Xbox One (also available for Xbox Series X/S) WW: July 8, 2016 Game of the Year Edition Xbox 360 PlayStation 3 WW: October 11, 2011 Xbox One (also available for Xbox Series X/S) WW: July 8, 2016 Engine: RAGE Developer(s): Rockstar San Diego Publisher(s): Rockstar Games Country: United States United Kingdom Series: Red Dead Predecessor: Red Dead Revolver Successor: Red Dead Redemption 2

Red Dead Redemption is a western-themed action-adventure video game developed by Rockstar San Diego and published by Rockstar Games. It was released on May 18, 2010 for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. It is the sequel to the 2004 game Red Dead Revolver. Later an DLC titled: Undead Nightmare was released six months later followed by the Game of the Year Edition was released in 2011. In July 8, 2016 it got backwards compatibility support for Xbox One (also avaliable for Xbox Series X/S).

Sypnosis

The game is set during the decline of the American frontier in the year 1911 and follows John Marston, a former outlaw whose wife and son are taken hostage by the government in ransom for his services as a hired gun. Having no other choice, Marston sets out to bring three members of his former gang to justice.

Why It Received Redemption

1. Large open-world map that takes place between Mexico and the United States with tons of memorable locations.
2. John Marston is an amazing, compelling and iconic protagonist.
3. Amazing old western-styled soundtrack composed by Bill Elm and Woody Jackson.
4. Large variety of weapons and equipment to use.
5. The game has an "Honor" morality system that affects how NPCs interact with the player.
   • It awards something if you reach the highest or the lowest honor.
     • If you reach the highest honor, a nun appears and gives you the Obscuridad del Santo Andres, which is an item that decreases 25% of gunshot damage from your enemies.
     • If you reach the lowest honor, if you whistle, a unique horse breed called "Dark Horse" appears, which has dark skin, has high health and stamina, but is slower than War Horse and the rare ones.
   • The honor affects your presence in the world.
     • Honorable people will react to you positively if you have high honor, but they will react to you negatively if you have low honor.
     • Dishonorable people will react to you positively if you have low honor, but they will react negatively if you have high honor.
   • It will also receive discounts from stores around the world.
     • Reaching high honor, you will get discounts in all stores in the world (except Thieves' Landing).
     • Reaching low honor, you will get discounts in Thieves' Landing.
6. Many animals live in certain realistic locations.
7. Great graphics and visuals for 2010 standards and still looks great to this day.
8. Plants can be used to craft rare items.
9. The Dead-eye feature slows the time and you can mark the X targets on the enemies to do a fast kill-spree.
10. A large multiplayer mode that isn't filled with microtransactions unlike its sequel counterpart.
11. There are 22 different kinds of activities to do.
    • Arm Wrestling - The player can test Marston's strength and skill in a game of arm wrestling, and wager cash on the outcome.
    • Blackjack - The player can wager on Blackjack games in saloons. The objective of the game is to beat the dealer by getting 21, or as close as possible without going over.
    • Bounty Hunting - The player can take up bounties and will have the choice of taking the outlaw either dead or alive. The choice will affect the honor of the player. To take an outlaw alive, players will need to use the lasso to hogtie the criminal and place him on Marston's horse. Live bounty targets give double the money reward than dead bounty targets.
    • Camping - At any time, players can establish their own camp in the wilderness or join another camp. Stories will be exchanged if joining a camp, sometimes referencing Marston's exploits.
    • Cattle Herding - Make money herding cattle on horseback.
    • Cinema - Players can watch a film in their free time.
    • Crimes - From murder to mayhem, players can get in trouble with the law.
    • Drinking - Players are able to purchase drinks in saloons and bars.
    • Dueling - NPCs challenge the player in an attempt either to make a name for themselves or to exact revenge.
    • Five Finger Fillet - Players will need to rhythmically tap the controller to guide an on-screen knife between each finger splayed upon a wooden table. As the "Five Finger Fillet" wagers increase, so does the difficulty, making it trickier to stay on beat and keep Marston from slicing open a finger.
    • Gang Hideouts - Areas where outlaw gangs reside away from populated settlements. The player can fight these gangs.
    • Horsebreaking - Similar to Horse Taming, but allows the player to earn money.
    • Horseshoes - A game of skill involving the throwing of horseshoes at a stationary target.
    • Horse Taming - Lasso a wild horse and attempt to break it.
    • Hunting - There are 36 species of animals that the player can hunt. After an animal has been killed, it can be skinned, and the resulting items are sold or traded to merchants.
    • Liar's Dice - A gambling game where each person gets five dice and has to guess the number of dice on the table that show a certain number. If wrong or caught bluffing, the player loses a dice. This continues until either he or his opponents lose all of their dice.
    • Nightwatch - Nightwatch involves the player protecting a settlement from various criminals.
    • Plant gathering - Gather plants to generate income and complete Survivalist Challenges.
    • Poker- The player can take part in Texas Hold 'em poker games.
    • Robbery - The player can point a weapon at an NPC and demand money; robberies cause a loss of honor. The player can also do robbery missions for a man in Chuparosa.
    • Safe Cracking - Find a safe and crack it to take the valuables inside.
    • Train robbery - Get on a train and steal from the passengers on board.
12. There are also Ambient challenges: Master Hunter, Sharpshooter, Survivalist, and Treasure Hunter.
    • ​ Master Hunter Challenges - Hunt specific animals (sometimes in a specific manner) and earn rewards.
      • Successful completion of Master Hunter: Rank 5 will unlock the Buffalo Rifle for purchase from a Gunsmith. Successful completion of Master Hunter: Rank 10 allows the creation of vittles after skinning an animal.
    • Sharpshooter Challenges - Shoot specified targets (sometimes in a specific manner) to earn rewards.
      • After Rank 5, the player receives an increase in ammo when using chests in safehouses and camps. Once players reach Rank 10, the player's Dead Eye meter builds up faster as he kills enemies and unlocks the Legend of the West Outfit, which doubles the capacity of the Dead-Eye Targeting meter.
    • Survivalist Challenges - Collect specific plants in a challenge to earn rewards.
      • Upon completing Survivalist: Rank 5, the active duration of the Survivalist Map is doubled, from 20 minutes to 40 minutes. Upon completing Survivalist: Rank 10, Marston can also brew Tonic while collecting herbs.
    • Treasure Hunter Challenges - Find all treasure maps and chests to get gold and rewards.
      • Once challenge Rank 5 is reached, the player will be able to use any stagecoach for free. Once the final challenge rank is completed, the player unlocks the Treasure Hunter's satchel which allows twice as many consumables to be carried.
13. Many odd jobs and stranger missions that flesh out the world.
14. Random events from Grand Theft Auto IV returns in this game.
15. Excellent voice acting, especially from John Marston.
16. The ragdoll physics are amazing, thanks to using the same Euphoria engine as GTA IV.
17. Gritty and very well-written story about the dying Wild West going into modern times, revenge and as the title says "Redemption".
18. John Marston's death at the end of the game was incredibly shocking, tragic, heartbreaking and a very memorable scene, this ending is considered one of the most profound and brilliant conclusions to a video game.
19. The Undead Nightmare expansion pack is considered one of the best expansions of all time, featuring an entirely new non-canonical single-player campaign that follows John as he tries to find a cure for the highly infectious undead plague that has spread across the frontier. Including new enemy types such as zombies, sasquatches, new weapons and four supernatural mounts to ride called the Four Horses of the Apocalypse.
20. After completing 100% of the game, you will be awarded the Bureau outfit, which gives the player amnesty in Mexico, meaning the law won't touch you.

Bad Qualities

1. You can't retry a failed stranger mission, forcing you to start a new game or reload a previous save.
2. Nigel West Dickens's missions are difficult and tedious, especially The Sport of Kings, and Liars, one of the worst missions in the game.
3. You can't swim in this game unlike in GTA SA and GTA IV. While you can walk through shallow water just fine if you end up in the water over your eyes, you will drown on contact.
4. It takes several seconds to completely skin an animal you've hunted, and unlike other games with hunting like Assassin's Creed IV, you can't skip the skinning cutscenes.
5. You can't play as John Marston anymore once you complete the main storyline due to his death, and you're forced to play as his son Jack for the rest of the post-game unless you save before that mission.
6. Five Finger Fillet is considered a very hard minigame.
7. The PS3 version suffers from an unstable framerate and lower resolution compared to the Xbox 360 version.
8. The game has too many bugs and glitches due to poor optimization.
   • While the visuals look good, there are framerate drops in some areas with a lot of detail.
   • The manimals are considered one of the most notorious glitches of all time in video games.
     • The most infamous manimal is The Donkey Lady, she later appeared as a Easter Egg in Red Dead Redemption 2.
9. The Legend of The West outfit is pointless since your Deadeye doubles after completing the Sharpshooter challenges anyway.
10. The PS4 and Nintendo Switch ports are too expensive, costing about 50$, which is too much considering the little improvements it received, such as the game still running at 30FPS instead of 60FPS, it also removed the multiplayer mode.
    • Not only that, but those ports of the game weren’t well received.

Reception

Red Dead Redemption received "universal acclaim" from critics, according to review aggregator Metacritic. It is among the highest-rated games on Metacritic, and is ranked as the fifth-highest rated PlayStation 3 and seventh-highest rated Xbox 360 game. Brudvig of IGN described Red Dead Redemption as "a must-play" and "one of the deepest, most fun, and most gorgeous games around"; GamePro's Will Herring named it Rockstar's best game to date, a culmination of its previous successes. Simon Parkin of Eurogamer concluded that Red Dead Redemption was "a blockbuster video game: a string of cinematic set-pieces and flawed yet endearing characters nestled within an orthodox narrative structure, seasoned with generous pinches of extra-curricular tasks"

Undead Nightmare received "generally favorable" reviews, according to review aggregator website Metacritic, and was named among the best downloadable content of the year. It won the award for best downloadable content of the year at the 2010 Spike Video Game Awards, and at Shacknews over other notable packs like Lair of the Shadow Broker (Mass Effect 2) and Minerva's Den (BioShock 2). IGN awarded the title a perfect score as a "masterpiece" and editor's choice, while GameSpot wrote that, while fun, the game was not as much a masterpiece as the original. Dan Whitehead from Eurogamer credited Undead Nightmare's nuanced treatment of John Marston as proof of him being "one of gaming's great characters"

The Undead Nightmare DLC expansion became a stand-alone game, with its own physical copy. In 2011, a Game of the Year Edition was released.

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