Red Dead Redemption: The Review

Oh look I’m back to reviewing games, and just in time for a big release… Yeah Rockstar’s Wild West GTA landed a few weeks ago which not only destroyed my day one edition PS4, but also shoved me into the world of 4k by splurging on a new tv and ps4 pro.

Lets start off with some honesty; this is my first RDR game I played. I never was interested, but the marketing campaign for this and Sam’s raving, got me hooked.

The Game

The world is vast, like ridiculously vast, and straight out the box you don’t realise it due to the primary linear missions. It’s so vast and detailed you feel like this micro universe can exist without your interference. I shit you not, if you take long to pursue or complete a mission, your companions will start the mission without you. The game god damn lives on with or without you.

The pacing is slow, which is understandable, but it does take long to adjust. This also mean that you need to invest a shit load of time in the game to best absorb the surroundings and narrative.

The storyline is brilliantly written and there is so much to do and see. Every single aspect of the game goes into ridiculous detail; from hunting to crafting to shooting and taking care of your horse. The guys behind this title gave a meticulous attention to detail to every single bloody aspect of the game, which to be is downright insane and mind boggling. This amount of detail and vastness however brings one negative result… glitches. There aren’t much of them, but I didn’t think I’d experience any to be honest, and when you do it’s in the middle of an important quest.

As expected both sound and video quality are ridiculous. Sound is crisp and clear and the voice-over work is immersive. Gameplay and mechanics are very intuitive and manage to keep you hooked from the first shoot off.

This game really blew me away. I experience nothing akin to it, and it blows my mind how immersive a game can be. It ain’t no GTA VI, nor should it be. The pacing suits the environment and theme, so don’t go into it with the presumption or wild expectations of this being your GTA fix. No. This is something else, something unique.

To conclude, this game is the epitome of gaming in 2018. It marks the last leg of the current gen consoles. Multiple blurays for a single title really highlights the limitations of current tech, and honestly I can’t wait to see it to running on a gaming PC.

SGOM Rating: 8.5/10