gamesandtings

(I wrote this in Dec 2018 but it wasn’t published)

It took me 8 years to do but I finally finished the game. I played it when it first released, caught in the hype, hoping to become as enamoured as so many seemed to be. Its pacing, gunplay and overall “emptiness” was enough to deter me from progressing past Mexico.

8 years later and I was back – RDR2 had just released and I thought, in service of playing the latest iteration, the best thing I could do was play the first in order understand and recognise the characters that were to appear in the sequel.

I certainly enjoyed my second attempt at the game compared to my first – finally finished it yesterday. Those previous issues still existed, I do think the game suffers from an inconsistent pace, often repeated missions which rely on stubborn gunplay mechanics married with a world that is quite empty. I don’t mean the vastness of the desert, with little activity between each town. There are things to do, strangers to bump into, animals to hunt and flowers to collect. The criticism is aimed at those that give you missions – characters are established at precisely the moment you’re whisked away from them. Just a few more missions – similar to the tasks for Bonnie’s first few would help create a more “believable” world. The disappointment of not being able to spend more time with them is actually a direct testament to how brilliantly cutscenes are voiced and acted. Even after 8 years – I can easily say its still some of the best voice work I have heard/seen in gaming. Characters from John to Bonnie to Dutch are just brilliantly realised.

It is that desire to see how the story progresses, how the next acted cutscene unfolds that helped propel me through the game. The stubborn gun mechanics relies on dead eye to make it less frustrating to track and kill multiple enemies that are thrown at you. This proved to be an annoyance that I couldn’t overcome in my first playthrough – I actually turned all assists off to make it a more “skillful” experience but soon abandoned it. This time around, I mostly relied on dead eye like it was bullet time, still free aiming to execute the shots I wanted. I enjoyed it but barely.

Missions often saw progression from one area to another, requiring John to shoot everyone around him, to then return to wherever. As dismissive as that may sound, the lack of variety in mission structure and approach is noticeable and a fair detraction that can be leveled against Red Dead Redemption.

But those cutscenes, ranging from comedic to genuinely tender, leave a lasting impression.

I haven’t played the multiplayer not Undead Nightmares (which is meant to be excellent).

For the time I spent in the game, nearing 30 hours, I enjoyed my time thoroughly. The criticisms are heavy ones, but a game worth persevering till its conclusion. Bring on the 2nd.

7 bear skins collected out of 10.