Above: The evening redness in the west.Sometimes, so many people talk about a game that it hardly seems worth adding to the discussion. Red Dead Redemption is such a game. For what it's worth, I thought it was pretty darn good. My review of Red Dead Redemption has been posted at thephoenix.com. It barely talks about the gameplay at all. Those are my favorite ones to write.
4 comments:
"He's not trapped in a game that keeps undercutting the narrative's insistence that he's basically a good guy"
Did you miss the parts where you are forced to slaughter peasant men in order to capture the women as sex slaves for a tyrant? Or the part where you kill the last of the Native American rebels for shady government agents?
It, uh, well, you see...
*blasts off in jetpack*
No but seriously I think it does a better job than GTA of making you feel like the guy's over a barrel, plus the open west makes it marginally easier not to accidentally run over hundreds of people (although I sure did trample more bystanders than I meant to).
Nice McCarthy reference.
I'm new to your blog, I loved your taxonomy--I've been trying to figure out where I stand in relation to games myself, being as I'm more of a story-guy (and an amateur writer, but who isn't, right?).
I haven't gotten Red Dead yet, but it's at the top of my list. I did play a little on a friend's Xbox, and I have to agree that, despite Rockstar's obvious attempts to suggest otherwise, the morality system in this game--and in the story itself--conflicts with itself to the point to where you have to ask if it's even supposed to be there at all.
I mean, you have the options to be famous or infamous, honorable or dishonorable, yet you're forced to work with a swindling elixir salesman in order to advance the plot, or slaughter innocent people, or perform any other radical act under the umbrella defense of "Hey, it's the Wild West." But if I wanna be a good guy (as if I even have the choice--as you said, the plot constantly insists that Marston is a good guy with his feet over the fire) I can't choose NOT to do these things, and that doesn't really square with the narrative, nor does it square with the game's purported morality-system.
Awesome review! I personally loved the game myself, a few issues here and there but not nearly enough to not enjoy the atmosphere.
I played it through the first time, didn't even beat it and already started a new game to see how it goes, haha. Cheers for the review, Mitch!
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