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When Red Dead Redemption came out I wasn't very interested, it looked like GTA in western times to me. Well that was an incredible mistake but one I am glad I made, why? Well you see, I do not have Xbox LIVE and therefore I can not get any DLC for any game I own and since the Game of the Year Edition comes with all the DLC already there it just made it that more great for me! The reason I finally bought the game was because it came with Undead Nightmare and I LOVE zombies, I could have bought the DLC alone but I decided the actual game wouldn't hurt since the DLC might be pretty short.
The Story:
The story for Red Dead Redemption blew me away John Marston (The main character) is an excellent and well made character who seems to always be in the middle of the right or wrong path. He is sent to hunt down his old gang members from when he was an outlaw in exchange for his family that the government has kidnapped. While it may sound simple at first you will soon see that it is nothing close to being easy. I expected the story to bore me, believing that the game would be more focused about sandbox environment and free roam rather than the story, boy was I wrong! This is now my favorite game, John Marston is a wonderful character that I absolutely love, I know I didn't touch much on the story but I am trying to be as spoiler free as possible.
Gameplay:
The gameplay is awesome, I also had a "meh" expectation for the gameplay because it takes place in the west so I thought I'd be using a gun or two but once again I was wrong. There are so many different weapons they all feel different in their own way, the options of weaponry let you have the option of choosing how to approach certain situations for example, you may go into an area with your guns blazing and just take an all out offensive on your enemy or you can lasso them and bring them back to the town to face what they have done. There is also some knives and throwing weapons that can be used for stealth attacks, though I didn't really seem to go into that part of the gameplay much since your usually out in the open and the general enemy would be a tad difficult to stealth kill.
Visuals/Audio:
The game looks amazing, each area has it's own unique look and there isn't a sudden abrupt change, as you move from one area to the next you'll notice the land slowly becoming more similar to the next area, the animals in the game (that you have the option of hunting and skinning so you can make a few bucks) are so much fun and there are so many animals to see and/or hunt. Some may be docile and flee while others may be aggressive and attack you, some animals will even pretend to flee and return when you have your back turned or with a group and attack you. Lets get to sound, now.. Usually I don't pay much mind to the sound, it's there but there is never anything that pops out to me personally. But this game has an amazing soundtrack, and even the sound effects of certain actions are awesome! The voice actors are incredible, the animals are realistic and the music just pulls it all together in a beautiful looking game.
DLC:
The reason I bought the game.. Well, I will admit that the DLC is very fun but I am very glad I didn't purchase it alone because I would have missed out on such an amazing story in the main game and the DLC did in fact feel very short (To me anyway) There are also DLC costume and weapon packs that are already in the game, so that was fun too but I'll focus more on Undead Nightmare here. The zombies are.. Well.. Zombies! I was so pleased to find out that only fire or a head shot could kill them, shooting them in the arm, chest, leg, or anywhere besides the head will not kill them! Isn't that awesome?! I actually found myself not really using guns because it was so much fun to get close up and smack them on the side of the head with a tomahawk. The story is good, not as good as the main one. What sticks out in this is definitely the gameplay, not only do you get to fight zombies but you also get new weapons that you can't get in the main game! Also the animals can become undead which I found to be a nice touch, an added bonus to having animals becoming undead is that your horse can become undead also! My horse was killed by a small horde of zombies and once I whistled it returned to me looking like it had been dead and chewed on. The Undead horse has unlimited stamina but is also a bit more difficult to control as it sometimes will try to steer in its own direction rather than yours. There are also a few mythical creatures in the game that I will let you find out about for yourself.
Pros:
Gameplay, story, visuals and audio is great!
DLC comes free already in the game so you don't need Xbox LIVE
Free Roam + Sandbox environment, what's not to love?
Cons:
Minor bugs and glitches
There is a Multiplayer aspect of the game but I wasn't able to even play it because it requires Xbox LIVE, so keep that in mind.
Now I don't want to scare anyone from this product, it is indeed awesome but personally I had a game freeze a few times, they were NOT often and only happened about three or four times and my game or console was not harmed by it in anyway.
Overall:
If you like westerns, free roam, huge areas for gameplay or anything like that, BUY THIS NOW. It is a great game and in my opinion it is well worth the price since you don't need internet access to get the DLC.
P.S. This is my first review, I apologize if I wasn't very good, I tried my best and just wanted to let everyone know how much I LOVE this game! Have fun!
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I will do my best to give this game the credit it deserves and probably more.
Note: I have just gotten the game of the year version, I have already played through and beat the original version without the DLC. As of right now my review is just for that part of the game, though with how absolutely wonderful it is There is no way it cannot get better with the Zombie DLC addition.
First: I will not ruin the story for anyone, so this review will be about game-play, graphics, add ons and overall fun. This game does not disappoint in any of those categories.I have read many comments from different sites that say something along the lines of, "I was expecting grand theft auto basically in the old west but it was something completely different"( OK THINKING )..... Yes and no is what I have to say to those which means that this game is so unlike any other game, of any kind of genre. it's hard to compare it with any other game. If I were to compare it to anything it would have to be GTA, unfortunately There is no other way around that. If you have ever played GTA and have loved the series and the The open play. Did you enjoy The ability to do as you please, whether on a mission or not? Then you will get the same experience here but in a way that has never been done before...
Do you love westerns? Have you always craved a game that would truly give you the feel that you were really in the old west? A game that gave you the ability to make yourself as you see fit? A game you were able to choose if you wanted to follow the path of law or the path of an outlaw? Look no further, you have arrived and get ready for the most fun you will ever have playing a video-game. This game is produced by rock star, the same producers of GTA and in the same GTA tradition, it delivers with complete open world play. It contains a breathtaking vast expanse of untamed wilderness and border towns.. The graphics are pristine and it just gets better as you unlock more of the open territories, eventually being able to unlock and go to Mexico freely. The landscape scenery is amazing while you watch the sun rise and fall with brilliance
The game-play is simply sweet and it builds off of the same system used in gta, which is the regular storyline that you need to follow to complete the game but also an entire world of side quests. It also has side missions (to gain money), also items,including horses. You also have the option of buying a campsite so that you may save your. You may choose to steal horses to use, which like in gta produces the same result as stealing a car. You will be chased and if your wanted level is high enough, you will be relentlessly chased. The beauty part of this is that you may choose to pay off your bounty anytime you wish, as long as you can make it to town without getting caught first. What is so much better though, is the fact that they have towns that are actually outlaw friendly(1 so if your on the other side of the map then it wouldn't do you much good) so you may choose to pursue a game experience as an outlaw, though you may find the experience lacking. After being shot at and chased constantly, The process gets rather repetitive. You also get less options when it comes to people asking for help. If they are scared of you they wont ask for your help on anything and buying ammo becomes more expensive to you outside of thieves landing..Being an outlaw has it's many perks but it is, in the end, rather exhausting and more fun to play through as a good guy. Also when you are the least honorable you will be treated as a drifter and a mean one, a desperado, You will get a unique black horse with a white face, only awarded to the meanest of mean :)...
The thing I love the most in this game is actually, probably not really stated much, that is you can just decide to enjoy the experience of hunting(For those of you who love this sport) at which point this game gives you so many different animals to hunt in different areas, ranging from a small armadillo, to big game hunts where you may decide you want to bag a nice Mountain lion or wild boar. After hitting your prey with a variety of firearms, from a nice schofield revolver, to weapons ranging from a Springfield model 1892, including a Winchester and Evans repeater.You also can get a really nice sharps model 1874 buffalo rifle which will put down the biggest game or for that matter the best of men! Afterwards feel free to skin and bag your pelts for trade in any one of the different towns, depending on how rare the animal is in that specific area, will vary in how much you will get for it..You also take, sell, boar tusks and snake skins to bird feathers..."Now that's some good stuff" Just to unload your six shooter at some birds in the sky!!!
I cannot state enough how fun this game is and just how much repeat game time there is especially with the zombie DLC, The original game, multilayer and all extra content from Xbox or PlayStation. This puts any elder scrolls or fallout to shame! The other thing that you may enjoy "you cannot have a western game like this without it!!" A good ole fashion gunfight in the street, where the game uses a specific system to quick draw on an enemy, whom starts a gunfight in the street or at cards with you. This will happen more often than not in any outlaw town you enter..
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All of these things I mentioned also give you the ability to open new missions and unlock new abilities. Depending on whether you are completing a hunting challenge, a treasure hunt, or a sharpshooter challenge. The game uses a slow mow, dead eye mode, a system where you may target up to 15 targets "depending on your ammo capabilities" on a specific weapon in quick succession. If you get good enough, you may not miss one.. It's pretty nice when you can ride your horse up to a gang of thieves, down all six enemies, then ride off without a shot on you Now tell me that's not pretty cool!? Hey if you wanted to, you could rope an enemy with your lasso and drag him behind your horse, just to be mean He may die in the process but so what, this is the beauty of this game and the option of doing what you please..
Ladys and gentlemen, I cannot praise this game enough!!! It's the best game of this type ever made if not (some may not consider it that but you have to love the old west)the best period!!! It's a category all it's own to be truthful, a true great american masterpiece
ENJOY!!!
Update:I would have to advise to get the game book to accompany this, as it is endless in the amount of things to do. In some cases, the maps and tidbits will be of utmost importance to achieve 100 percent completion. Achieving 100 percent completion will give you a pinkerton outfit, which allows you to have the authority of being the highest law enforcement agent in the game. This allowing you to have free will, to do what you please, almost anywhere with no consequences. The game of the year edition companion book has a decently thorough review by me also
UPDATE:2 Undead nightmare is even better than I thought ;)...Also see below for a detailed description of benefits and challenges
Another Important aspect of the game is the ambient challenges, treasures and outfit objectives. You may consider doing these all first and the Reason I say that is because certain outfits will help you immensely. The deadly assassin outfit for instance, will refill your dead eye twice as fast..When fighting constantly it will make a big difference.
Master Hunter: When you unlock the Master hunter outfit. It will reward you with you twice the pelts, meat and other items when hunting(While wearing it)..Achieving master hunter will give you viddles to refill health out of your hunted prey, or achieving level 5 gives you the buffalo rifle.
Survivalist: This is tedious, rather they all are in each their own way but purchase a survivalist map to use at the general store, use it once in the area of which your map states that herb or flower will be in. Once at level 5 these maps last longer, then at level 10 you have the ability to harvest plants to make a consumable items to refill your deadeye.
Sharpshooter: At level 5 mastery you will have more ammo within the chests/drawers in your save area, or waking at your campsite. At level 10 mastery you are rewarded with dead eye that replenishes while shooting targets.
These are the most tedious things to do in the game, they take the longest, and some cannot be done till certain areas are unlocked. Though once your whole map is unlocked, like mexico and tall trees then get these done as they will make the game more fun to play through, with the special abilities. If you wait to get them, you will have to go through all this after story mode which may deter you from 100% completion. After the story missions are done, there are no more, so better to use the special things during story mode(It makes it more fun)
One personal piece of important hinting from me(out of experience in the game) is that hunting will allow you to reap the most money benefits in the game. Hunt as much big game as possible, "I spend days just hunting grizzly in tall trees"(tall trees is the most abundant and dangerous hunting ground). "I hunt till I literally have 50-100 grizzly, big cat, boar(Boar will be available to you sooner than grizzly as tall trees is locked at first) pelts. After, I travel to mexico and sell them. The Reasons for this are, they pay the most because they are the farthest from tall trees. Once you sell them, you will have a seemingly inexhaustible supply of money for consumables, guns and ammo..The Lemat revolver and buffalo rifle are themselves hundreds of dollars! In my biggest trip I raked in 13,000 dollars from pelts,meat, and also other sellable parts from the carcass, so it is worth it..Be careful as hunting is as dangerous as it is profitable, more than once I was attacked by two to four grizzlys or 5 wolves. As A matter of fact it will happen often..After such money gains it is just easier not having to worry about grabbing ammo from the dead, or when you save, either way it wont be that much..This also will give you the ability to buy consumables as you please, like moonshine (refills deadeye) or medicine(IMPORTANT! will heal you in the middle of a fight) or horse pills/apples (Also very important as when you need to get somewhere by horse fast or are being chased it refills stamina so your horse doesn't throw you as he will tire easily) very important in the U.S Marshall outfit challenge! SAVE SAVE SAVE! When you have enough pelts while hunting, or Items that you do NOT want to lose if you die, then I suggest you save as much as possible using your campsite because when you die ANYTHING unsaved will be gone! It is really annoying, I forget sometimes...
All above are the hardest thing to do in the game as they also take the most time. When possible, make your game experience more rewarding, it is better to do them early. They may be the most difficult to understand within the book which is why I'm going into such detail, these are the things I wished I knew before starting also
This is my final review and tips, Please Vote helpful if you enjoyed it...Thanks again
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A man is forced by the government to accept a difficult task . A powerful man, who was formerly a popular leader but is now considered a criminal, must be eliminated. Getting close to the target will require a long, arduous expedition to a highly fortified compound. The government must not be connected in any way to the mission. Sound familiar?
No, the target's name is not Kurtz in Red Dead Redemption. But it might as well be. Rockstar has once again taken inspiration from a masterpiece of cinema. In the same way that the Grand Theft Auto series is strongly linked to works by Singleton, Scorsese, De Palma, and Kurosawa, Red Dead Redemption pays homage to Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now.
On the surface, RDR appears to be based on classic Westerns. The game is set in the American frontier at the beginning of the 20th century. There are plenty of references to films directed by John Ford, Sergio Leone, Clint Eastwood, and Sam Peckinpah. The driving forces behind the game's narrative, however, are questions about duty versus honor, confrontations with enemies who may not truly be opposed to what your character represents, and most importantly, the achievement of spiritual redemption by completing a psychologically harrowing journey. Western films often address these themes as well, of course, but without any ambiguity or ambivalence. It's always crystal clear who is good, who is evil, and what is right and what is wrong in these films. In contrast, RDR and AN deliberately obscure their moral viewpoint on the actions of their characters.
Anybody familiar with Apocalypse Now will recognize that many aspects of RDR's story are directly analogous to events in AN. While the characters and motivations of John Marston and Final Boss (no spoilers here) are never as fully developed as those of Captain Willard and Colonel Kurtz--due to both Rockstar's avoidance of Metal Gear Solid-length cutscenes and the limitations of the videogame medium--all of AN's key plot points are present in the game. There's even a minor reference to the sniper execution scene in Full Metal Jacket that helps reinforce RDR's connections to AN. All of this adds up to a rich and compelling story arc, especially considering RDR is a videogame.
Story and influences aside, the bigger question is whether or not Red Dead Redemption is fun to play. The answer is YES. The graphics, especially the environmental effects, are outstanding. There's a good chance you will find yourself just sitting on a horse admiring a spectacular sunset or taking in the dramatic view from a mesa or hilltop and not doing anything else. The controls are easy to learn and quickly become intuitive. Finally, as is the norm with Rockstar, the game's world is gigantic and full of missions, mini-games, and random encounters. A few minor things feel a bit unfinished, such as some missions that involve long journeys without characters saying anything, or unrefined (it's left to the player to figure out how the inventory management system works while playing) but there aren't any glaring flaws overall.
The highlight of the DLC in the Game of the Year Edition is Undead Nightmare. Imagine Resident Evil set in the RDR universe...but with the trademark Rockstar mix of violence, gore, and humor. Make sure you play the main game first; many of the characters make, er, *interesting* reappearances.
Well worth picking up, especially with all the DLC now included on disc.
Honest reviews on Red Dead Redemption: Game of the Year Edition - Xbox 360
I know I'm a little late to the party, seeing as how the game came almost two years ago, but this game is so much fun. Gameplay is similar to GTA4, so fans of that game will enjoy this one. Great story that keeps you interested, tons of story missions and side missions and activities to do. Anyone who hasn't played this game yet, should definitely get the game of the year edition, because you get all the DLC and Undead Nightmare expansion along with the regular game. That's like another $60 or so worth of content if you buy it all separately!
Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Red Dead Redemption: Game of the Year Edition - Xbox 360
This particular iteration of Red Dead Redemption is the best value because it includes the add-ons/DLC as well.
Red Dead Redemption is a shooter that blends in elements typically featured in other genres and/or overlooked by shooters. If you're into grinding out achievements, stop reading reviews and buy this game you'll love it. If you're not into grinding, that's cool too because there's plenty of story to keep you fully engaged without having to farm kills. There's a ton of mini-games within the game (including Texas Hold'em and BlackJack) that are pretty fun and the characters are surprisingly well developed. And as is the case with most games these days, you get to choose whether you play a good guy or a bad guy, and your choices impact the way the game plays.
Overall I give this game a 9/10.
