Red Dead Redemption: Game of the Year Edition Review by: Mynamescox44 - 9/10
Red Dead Redemption Game of the Year EditionRed Dead Redemption is an open-world 3rd person shooter brought to you by Rockstar. It won over 160 Game of the Year awards, and for good reason too. Everything about this game is brilliantly put together. The combat is fast paced, the story is gripping as well as the characters being extremely entertaining, and it offers a huge world to explore with plenty to do. In a sense, it's exactly what the more modern Grand Theft Auto games would be if they took place in the wild west. You can do anything you want, or stick straight to the story, it's entirely up to you, which is something I love to see in games. It being a GotY Edition, it comes with all the bonus content and DLC that was released up to this version being put out, including the hit spin-off Undead Nightmare, where the zombie apocalypse takes place in this games world. Anyways, on to the review!
Graphics 9 / 10 -- The graphics look phenomenal for how much content the game has in it. The tumbleweeds and foliage across the desert look intricate, as well as all of the many wild animals you may come across. The landscapes all look crisp, especially the mountains or forests off in the distance (or up close, just not as beautiful a perspective). The character's are all well designed, look sharp, and their faces show emotion properly for the circumstances, as well as their lips moving in sync with what they are saying. One of my favorite aspects here is the blood spatter when someone's head gets blown clean off. It's a bit of a shame none of the cut scenes feature FMVs or the like, but it doesn't take anything away from the experience whatsoever.
Sound 9 / 10 -- Again, the sound here is incredible. The background music is great, always giving you the right feels for the moment. When you're riding your horse off into the sunset, it plays your classic wild west themed tune, while it picks up the pace during combat or serious events. The sound effects are all great. Everything from the pitter patter of the horses galloping, to the sound of a bullet's ricochet sound spot on. I'm also a big fan of all the wild animal cries in the game, especially when they're slaughtered, as well as the squishy-yet-being-cut sound provided when skinning them (sorry, it's hard to explain). Another great feature is the game provides full voice acting for every character, so there is zero mandatory reading outside of the menus. Personally I think they did a great job choosing the voice actors for each character, as they all sound perfect, be it how fitting they are and how well they performed.
Addictiveness 9 / 10 -- This is an extremely fun game to play, and there should be something in it for everyone to enjoy. If you enjoy running into a battlefield guns blazing, there are plenty of fights to be had. If you enjoy racing, there are horse and horse drawn cart races you can participate in at any time once you make it a little ways into the game. If you enjoy collecting everything a game has to offer, there are tons of plants, animal skins / parts (fangs, feathers, etc) to be hunted down. If you enjoy completing various side quests to help the local populace, there's plenty of work to go around. There's even more to do, but I'll cover that in the Depth section. Basically what I'm saying is there's more than enough to do in this game to warrant multiple play throughs, completely putting aside how fun the core game play itself is on top of that.
Story 9 / 10 -- John Marston is a former outlaw who used to be the worst of the worst. Though he did have a code of conduct, it still involved murder, robbery, and pretty much anything else you would expect from a gang of outlaws. He has left that life behind to raise his son with his wife Abigail. Though there is always seems to be trouble in paradise. One day federal agents show up on his doorstep, requiring his assistance, and it's not exactly a choice. They take his family into custody, and will not allow their return until John manages to hunt down and kill his former gang's leader, as well as said leader's second in command, though there was a falling out between those two as well, so they must be hunted separately. Your journey will lead you over great expanses of the wild west, as well as some of northern Mexico. There will also be plenty of insane, deceitful, or just downright weird characters along the way to keep things interesting. That, and there will be plenty of twists in the story to keep you guessing, especially the ending (oh boy, that's a big one). The story for Undead Nightmare starts out with John's family accidentally becoming infected, so he restrains them inside his house, and sets out to try and find a cure. Little does he know at the time how much is really going on, and what the cause of this plague may be.
Depth 9 / 10 -- It's amazing how much this game actually has to offer. As mentioned before, there are races to take part in, a huge variety of animals (and people) to hunt, and a plethora of side quests to complete. On top of that, there are also bounty hunter missions you can take on, choosing to capture or kill your victims, though bringing them in alive almost always pays double than dead. There are random skirmishes between the police and outlaws, and you can choose to help either side win, gaining you fame or notoriety (yes, your actions will chance how the people see you). On that note, Fame and Reputation are regarded separately, Fame being how well known you are, and Reputation being along the lines of are you known for doing good or bad in the world. There's actually a bandanna item you can wear over your face so your actions will not change your reputation. You can also take part in Poker (cards) to gamble on your hard earned cash, as well as a game called Liar's Dice. There is also the option of robbing certain trains as they travel through the desert, which I always thought was a treat. The Game of the Year edition also features a multiplayer mode for online play with various modes available, not to mention the highly recommended Undead Nightmare DLC, which is a parallel story (though it would seem to take place like a sequel would) about the zombie apocalypse taking place in this game's world. It's very similar to the original game, but has enough differences where it can stand on it's own. In Undead Nightmare you have a handful of side quests to complete, as well as a decent sized campaign. You have to go from town to town clearing out the infestation before it becomes a safe place to rest. Even then, every so often they will come under attack again by the hordes, and you must aid them or the town could be lost.
Difficulty 7 / 10 -- The game isn't too difficult overall, though many parts of it can be challenging. It has a general learning curve for the combat, and teaches you the basics of everything you need to know as you need to know it, which is nice. That being said, for certain parts of the game, it is required you finish a couple horse races (and win) or other miscellaneous objectives which can be challenging without the practice put in behind it. You will also need to learn which weapons work best for each scenario, as trying to use a pistol for long range combat will not work in your favor, and a bolt-action rifle can be too slow when facing a large number of opponents. One of the most difficult aspects of the game are the Quick Draw events. It is your classic High Noon showdown, leaving only the fastest man alive. Despite playing through the game multiple times, I was never quite able to figure out the controls for this completely, leaving me only to hope for the best when it was necessary to progress.
Overall 9 / 10 -- This game a true masterpiece for what it tried to be. Everything comes together almost flawlessly, and it is very deserving of all the praise and awards it has received. I highly recommend this title to everyone who has access to it, and don't mind some foul language or other mature content.
Hope you enjoyed the review :)
Graphics
9 Sound
9 Addictive
9 Depth
9 Story
9 Difficulty
7
User Notice 
