Red Dead Redemption could have been titled Grand Theft Horse. That would have been a terrible name, but totally accurate.
Rockstar Games' latest epic, released Tuesday for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, takes the open-world formula that works so well for Grand Theft Auto and applies it to a wholly different place and time. Now you're jacking horses and firing repeater rifles in the Old West.
You'll find the game's launch trailer and some early impressions below.
The first thing you'll notice about Red Dead Redemption is just how pretty it is. The game's early moments take you on a few horse rides that, not coincidentally, place you in front of some gorgeous vistas, overlooking vast mountains and ranges of cacti. I personally sustain no fantasies about living the pioneer life, but I imagine that a lot of people do. Absent the holodeck, Redemption's massive world might well fit the bill.
Rockstar has done a good job transplanting the familiar Grand Theft Auto feel into a world without skyscrapers or cars. Having spent some time in Liberty City, I know where everything is – there's my mini-map in the corner, with its wildly anachronistic but indispensable GPS; there's my bedroom on the map where I can save my game.
Red Dead Redemption is filled with interesting characters, from Bonnie – the improbably attractive pioneer lady who gives you a place to crash and walks you through the game's tutorials – to the harried, gruff old sheriff tasked with keeping his townsfolk alive and safe from unsavory rustlers. The main characters seem to have that whiff of period authenticity about them, creating what feels like an authentic sort of time-travel experience.
Then again, this is Rockstar we're talking about, so of course the game is hardly without tongue-in-cheek parody – from the occasional bits of over-the-top dialogue to the "movie house," where pioneer folk can watch short-subject films that are every bit as ridiculous as the TV shows on Liberty City's stations.
Red Dead Redemption's charm threatens to draw me back into the game, although I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little intimidated by the prospect. In an age where single-player games are increasingly being streamlined down to brief, 10-hour thrill rides, Rockstar's sprawling 100-hour, open-world epics are becoming increasingly rare – and difficult to devote so much time to.
Staring out across those wide open plains, even virtually, requires a certain kind of pioneer spirit.
Image courtesy Rockstar Games
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