Red Dead Redemption

Red Dead Redemption is a great game, but the PC release is not worth $50. The story is amazing, the characters are memorable, and it's still one of the best western games ever made. However, this is a game that originally came out in 2010, and the improvements don't justify the full price. If you've never played it before, it's worth picking up on sale. At $50, I'd wait for a discount.

"Well, some trees flourish, others die. Some cattle grow strong, others are taken by wolves. Some men are born rich enough and dumb enough to enjoy their lives. Ain't nothin fair." An experience well worth playing through and not talked about enough in the shadow of its sequel game. John Marston's character and story of redemption is one of the greatest in gaming history, right up there with Arthur Morgan. Its one of those story games that has you just sitting there staring as the credits roll, thinking about what you just experienced. John's neverending drive to save his family, to protect them even at the cost of his own life, is admirable and shows the true heart within the troubled man with a troubled past. And this reflects one of the major themes of the game and I think both games: change. As John tells his son, "Every man has a right to change, a chance of forgiveness." And as per the title, I believe John does indeed earn that redemption, that forgiveness for what he's done in his life. Not only does the theme of change come into play in John's story, but also in the world itself. Set in the midst of the Wild West losing its wild, on the cusp of rapid industrialization and government intervention of the early 1910's, RDR forces its characters to come to terms with this sudden change to their way of living; through NPC conversations, political unrest, and physical changes to the landscape, we see this change and the pushback to it, especially in the epilogue which skips ahead many years. Done is the day of the cowboy and the outlaw. The world is moving on, leaving behind people like John and the other members of the gang. Like Dutch says, "Our time is passing, John." Speaking of the epilogue, it has gotta be one of the saddest, gloomiest post-story gameplay ever... You play as Jack Marston and your utterly alone. You no longer have NPCs that u know or help u. Your family is gone, Uncle is gone. Its just you and your horse. There is a constant thunderstorm shrouding the land in eternal darkness as rain relentlessly pours down. There are no more objectives. No post game main missions. No markers on the map, nothing telling u what to do. You end up wandering from the graves where u stood in the rain...riding aimlessly from town to town in the eerie empty plains, the restless sky never clearing. The true ending of the game prompting credits is just another stranger side mission like any other, no main mission waypoint to go to; you must come upon it naturally yourself, and I like that (although Jack, I'm disappointed you seemingly learned nothing from your father, this isnt Red Dead Revenge). The gameplay is very fun and addicting as well. Essentially the combat just consists of shooting with mechanics like Deadeye to assist you and all in all it's not very hard, but it sure is fun. Especially with all the different guns and weapon types you get throughout your journey through the dusty hot lands of New Austin and Mexico. My personal favorite gotta be the Carcano Rifle, I just love a good scope. There are also things like throwing knives and a tomahawk which I dont think I ever once used, but those come later and arent as epic cowboy as firing round after round from your Cattleman Revolver. Also the lasso, which, at some point I tried to raise my honor by only using it to hogtie enemies in fights and not kill anyone...I died many times, wouldnt recommend. In the end tho I did get to the highest honor so huzzah. The riding in this game is also very fun, many of my hours on here where just riding arund shooting animals from horseback on the plains, ignoring the mission. Significantly better with a controller, like most features (except combat). Also, many horses died for me to enjoy this game, I'd just like to give a moment to remember them. RIP, sorry I'm so bad at avoiding cliffs and bodies of water... Onto the next one, hopefully that'll raise my spirits out of the slump that is this sad ending...right guys?