Red Dead Redemption
Gunfights emphasize a gunslinger gameplay mechanic called "Dead Eye" that allows players to mark multiple shooting targets on enemies in slow motion.[8] Players can witness and partake in random events, including public hangings, ambushes, pleas for assistance, encounters with strangers, ride-by shootings, and dangerous animal attacks.Red Dead Redemption uses an Honor system, which is increased by morally positive deeds, such as capturing an outlaw alive or saving a stranger, and decreased by negative choices like murder.Rescued and nursed back to health by local rancher Bonnie MacFarlane (Kimberly Irion), he helps her with several jobs around her farm in return, while formulating a plan to attack Williamson's gang.Marshal Leigh Johnson (Anthony De Longis), con artist Nigel West Dickens (Don Creech), grave robber and treasure hunter Seth Briars (Kevin Glikmann), and an alcoholic arms smuggler known as "Irish" (K. Harrison Sweeney).Returning to his ranch, John reunites with his wife Abigail (Sophia Marzocchi), son Jack (Josh Blaylock) and former gang member Uncle (Spider Madison) to attempt an honest life again.[30] IGN's Erik Brudvig considered the game a commentary on modern political issues such as racism and immigration;[31] writer Dan Houser said the story was not intended as a satire of contemporary America but parallels were inevitable due to the similarities of the time period.[21] Red Dead Redemption explores the impacts of the cycle of violence,[19] most notably represented through Jack's continuation of his father's failures by adopting the outlaw status.[43] M. Melissa Elston found, like other modern media, it attempts to "reframe the violence and simplistic moral dualism of previous pop-cultural representations of the Old West".[51] The game demonstrates the disparities of economic inequality;[52] Sara Humphreys identified a connection between MacFarlane's Ranch and the class conflict of Johnson County, Wyoming in the late nineteenth century.[58] Triana found the game's masculinity to be plural, with the male lead generally pitted against other men, though recognized the dominance of the characters often shifted throughout the narrative.[62] Female representation is mixed; Bonnie MacFarlane is presented as "insightful and resourceful" instead of simply "a woman masquerading as a male figure", though still defers to simple domestic tasks in her father's presence[63] and on one occasion becomes a damsel in distress.[19] Meanwhile, Abigail is presented as "the good prostitute who serves as a handmaiden" and later becomes "the nagging wife", and other female characters exist simply to reflect back onto John, both positively and negatively.[64] Bullet Points's McCarter felt, while the killing of Native Americans is explained in the context of the story, it is "a shaky rationale meant to echo the rhetoric" surrounding the genocide and forced relocation.[66] Margini considered the representation could either be an example of dark satire or "a crafty way of excusing their genocide at Marston's hand", aligned with a wider erasure seen in other Western media.[75] The game's development received controversy following accusations of unethical working practices at Rockstar San Diego, including twelve-hour workdays and six-day weeks, with a lower-than-the-industry-average salary increase.The team organized field trips to Washington, D.C.,[68] visiting the Library of Congress and the National Archives Building, captured a multitude of photographs, and analyzed various classic Western films, television shows, and novels.[96] An early trailer for an untitled Western project by Rockstar Games was shown at Sony's E3 conference in May 2005; it was a technology demonstration of RAGE for the PlayStation 3, and theorized to be a sequel to Red Dead Revolver.[100] The game received an extensive and expensive marketing campaign,[101] during which Rockstar partnered with several companies and media outlets, including IGN, GameSpot, LoveFilm, Microsoft, and YouTube.[107] The following month, Red Dead Redemption: The Man from Blackwater, a machinima short film directed by John Hillcoat, aired in the United States on the television network Fox.[2] Reactions to the announcement were mixed; some appreciated the game's availability on modern consoles, but lamented the lack of visual and frame rate upgrades, absence of a Windows version, omission of multiplayer, and US$49.99 price point.[11] Eurogamer's Simon Parkin called it "a blockbuster video game: a string of cinematic set-pieces and flawed yet endearing characters nestled within an orthodox narrative structure, seasoned with generous pinches of extra-curricular tasks".[31] GamePro's Herring was surprised by John's likability—"one of the more sympathetic antiheroes in recent memory"—and found the secondary characters "interesting enough that they never feel contrived";[11] conversely, Paste's Kirk Hamilton opined the latter, "clichéd and unlikeable", undermined the narrative.[31] GamePro's Herring considered the open world superior to its contemporaries, appreciating the change from Grand Theft Auto IV's "brown, muddy 'realism' filter".[11] GameSpy's Tuttle named the game's environment its most impressive element, praising the ecology and geography,[139] and Eurogamer's Parkin considered the world as dense as Grand Theft Auto IV's Liberty City while maintaining the Western theme of isolation.[8] Game Informer's Bertz found Red Dead Redemption "tranpose[d] the Grand Theft Auto gameplay template onto a Wild West setting".[31] Eurogamer's Parkin compared the combat favorably to Rockstar's previous titles, particularly praising the horseback shootouts, but criticized the "sticky and outdated" cover mechanic.[10] The vocal tracks received praise;[150][151] the scene wherein John enters Mexico was described as "beautiful" by GamesRadar's Matt Cundy due to the use of José González's "Far Away".[169] The Windows version's optimization and customization options received praise, though some found the visual enhancements limited,[170][171][172] and HobbyConsolas's Alberto Lloret criticized the required use of the Rockstar Games Launcher and Social Club.The game's main story is set in 1899, 12 years before Red Dead Redemption, and depicts John's life as part of Dutch's gang alongside Bill, Javier, Uncle, Abigail, and Jack.
Developer(s)Rockstar San DiegoPublisher(s)Rockstar GamesProducer(s)Designer(s)Christian CantamessaLeslie BenziesProgrammer(s)Artist(s)Writer(s)Dan HouserComposer(s)Woody JacksonRed DeadEnginePlatform(s)PlayStation 3Xbox 360Nintendo SwitchPlayStation 4WindowsGenre(s)Action-adventureSingle-playermultiplayeraction-adventure gameRed Dead RevolverAmerican frontierJohn Marstoncycle of violencemasculinityredemptionAmerican Dreamthird-person perspectivefreely roamopen worldWestern United StatesNorthern Mexicohorsebackgunslingerslow motionother charactersonline multiplayercooperativeThe game's developmentmost expensive video gamesits proprietary game engineWashington, D.C.Westernmotion captureoriginal scoreGame of the Yeargaming publicationsseventh-generation console gaminggreatest video games ever madebest-selling video gamesdownloadable contentUndead Nightmarezombie plagueprequelRed Dead Redemption 2Mexicancover systemduelingbounty huntinggamblingnon-player charactersbandanaGrand Theft AutoU.S. MarshalsMexican ArmytelegraphMexican standoffrespawningdeathmatchcapture the flagpowerupsanimal mountsoutlawRob WiethoffBureau of InvestigationDavid Wilson BarnesSteve J. PalmerU.S. MarshalAnthony De Longiscon artistDon Creechcivil warJosh SegarraBenjamin Byron DavisNative AmericansU.S. ArmyJosh Blaylocktragic ironylaw and ordermanifest destinysocial changerepresentation of Native AmericansneoliberaltragedyAristotleKotakuGamasutraGrand Theft Auto IVeconomic inequalitythe class conflictJohnson County, WyomingcowboyTheodore Rooseveltcisgenderdamsel in distressNative American genocideforced relocationGerald Vizenormanifest mannersothernessIndian reservationdark satireDevelopment of Red Dead RedemptionGame Developers Choice AwardsCapcomEarly developmentNew EnglandTorontoprevious hardware