Red Dead Redemption

Red Dead Redemption is a Western action-adventure game developed by Rockstar San Diego as the spiritual successor to Red Dead Revolver. It was released for the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 on May 18, 2010 in North America, and May 21, 2010 in Europe.

Synopsis
John Marston is a partially reformed outlaw in America in 1911. When federal agents threaten his family, Marston is sent across the American West to help bring down the law. He must kill or capture his former gang members, including his old friend and gang partner Bill Williamson, or his family will pay the ultimate price.

Along the way through frontier towns, deserts, prairies, and mountain passes, Marston is given work as he explores the free-roaming sandbox environments. The game features 36 species of animals that can be hunted including Cattle, Bears, Rattlesnakes, Wolves, Vultures, Bighorn Sheep, Owls, Cougars, Buffalo, and more.

Background Detail
The game takes place in 1911, which is the middle of the 30-year end of the Western American Frontier (also known as the Wild West). As players see in the opening of the game, many new and 'unfamiliar' people are moving into the West on the train. The town of Blackwater has already noticeable modernized differences in architecture and culture compared to the gritty towns like Armadillo and Tumbleweed. Electric line poles are also noticeable along roads. Marshal Johnson is seen fussing with a telephone in one of his mission cutscenes, showing the unfamiliarity with such technology people of his generation and likeness had.

Some people had a hard time accepting this new lifestyle, as many wanted to fight to preserve their way of life. Players can see the frustration many characters in Red Dead Redemption have with the Federal Government and eastern folk. Being so far away from the modern America gave the West a sense of self reliance and makeshift law and order which would be hard to comply with the Federal Government. It was inevitable, as more and more people poured in from the east, that every corner of the American West and Southwest would be populated. It wasn't until the 20's that the untamed Wild West would forever become an icon in American history.

Information

 * Characters
 * John Marston
 * Jack Marston
 * Locations
 * West Elizabeth
 * New Austin
 * Nuevo Paraiso
 * Animals
 * Horses
 * Storyline missions
 * Weapons
 * Outfits
 * Activities
 * Hunting
 * Transport
 * Multiplayer
 * Trailers
 * Achievements
 * Cheats

Story
The story opens with John Marston, a former outlaw of the Dutch Van Der Linde gang, arriving in Blackwater alongside government agents Edgar Ross and Archer Fordham. The agents escort John to a train which is destined for Armadillo, a town located in the territory of New Austin. His goal is to capture or kill his former gang partner Bill Williamson. John's wife and son have been kidnapped by the federal agents and threatened if he does not comply. He heads out and meets Williamson at Fort Mercer; but after some conversation with him, John is shot by Williamson's men and is left wounded. Bonnie MacFarlane and her father, Drew MacFarlane find him, treat his wounds, and provide him lodging in exchange for his help on their ranch.

While Marston works at the ranch, he also spends time helping the people of Armadillo, including US Marshal Leigh Johnson, merchant Nigel West Dickens, alcoholic "Irish" and prospector Seth Briars. When Williamson finds out that Marston is living at the MacFarlane's ranch, his gang burns the barn. After the burning, John recruits Marshal Johnson, Nigel West, Irish and Seth Briars to breach Fort Mercer, Williamson's main base of operations. The "Trojan Horse" strategy works well, but he finds Williamson gone, as he and Javier Escuella have already fled to Nuevo Paraiso a few days before.

Irish takes Marston to Mexico, where they are ambushed on the way in. Marston is forced to work with Colonel Allende, a dictator, and his captain Vincente de Santa. Marston also works with vigilante gunslinger, Landon Ricketts, as well as with the revolution army, led by Abraham Reyes. Allende promises Marston that he will assist in capturing Williamson and Escuella but betrays Marston and tries to kill him. After the attempted murder, Marston joins Reyes and his rebel army. They manage to find Escuella, leaving Marston to capture or kill him and then proceed to attack the villa.

Though Marston manages to kill Allende and Williamson, Luisa Fortuna, Marston's rebel friend, is killed by the Federales in an attempt to save Reyes from execution. Reyes then takes over Allende's villa.

Marston returns to Blackwater. He informs Agent Ross that Williamson is dead and demands to be reunited with his family. Ross tells him that he needs to kill Dutch Van Der Linde, the leader of Marston's former gang. Dutch had joined with the local American Indian population to fight against the U.S. Army. Marston fights against Dutch's gang in the hunt for Van Der Linde. Although the army mistakes Marston for one of the gang, Marston eludes capture.

Eventually, Marston joins with the army in attacking Van Der Linde's hideout. After a long chase, Marston confronts Dutch on a cliff. Dutch explains that both he and Marston have outlived their usefulness in a rapidly progressing world. Faced with the choice of cooperating or being shot by Marston, Dutch commits suicide by falling backwards off the cliff.

Marston also had helped Professor Harold MacDougal, a Yale professor, but MacDougal flees for the east after his Native American guide, Nastas, was shot by Van Der Linde's gang.

Fulfilling his duty, Agent Ross releases Marston's family and they are reunited. The family spends time together at their ranch (Marston Ranch). Starting the ranch again, they acquire cattle from the MacFarlane's and break wild horses for use. Marston also takes his son, Jack, out on several hunting trips. The family's happiness is interrupted when Agent Ross leads a surprise attack of the ranch, killing Uncle in the process. Marston defends the ranch and kills many men. Outnumbered, he tells Jack and Abigail to run while he fends off Ross and the army. Surrounded by the army, Marston emerges from his hiding place in the barn and attempts to kill as many of the men as he can. He hits a few before the rest fire on him and leaves Marston gasping for breath before he slumps over, dead. Jack and Abigail Marston hear the gunshots during their escape and return to the ranch to find the dead body of John Marston.

They recover the body and bury it along with Uncle. In 1914, after three years, Abigail dies. A grown Jack Marston returns and buries his mother beside his father.

Hearing about Agent Ross's whereabouts from a man in Blackwater, Jack Marston tracks down Ross, who is duck hunting in the Mexican side of San Luis River. After explaining whom he was, the two duel, with Jack Marston defeating Agent Ross.

Themes.
SPOILERS!!!

Like Rockstars crime epic Grand Theft Auto IV, Red Dead Redemption has many deep themes. There are many, but there seem to be four main themes.

The first is the battle between an old world facing change from a new world. The Old West in the game is being introduced to technology, gaudy clothing, airplanes, and ultimately civilization. While some, like the folk in Blackwater, accept that change some characters in the game such as Dutch van der Linde Bill Williamson, Javier Escuela, and ultimately John Marston do not accept it. The main two factions in the game appear to be outlaws and the government. Both sides are equally bad, seeing how even though the outlaws kill and steal to live their lives, the government takes money and fills the Old West's heads with empty promises. At the ending of the game, John Marston faces his last target Dutch van der Linde on the edge of a cliff and points a gun at him. Dutch tells John that you can't fight change, and even if the Old West is over, another monster will just be found.

The second theme appears to be a question that falls under the moral choice of good, neutral, and evil. The government agents in Blackwater (minus Edgar Ross and Archer Fordham) believe they are good even though they usually ruin and interfere with the Wild West more than they help it. The outlaws in Dutch's Gang killed and stole from the rich, but then gave to the poor. This raises the question: Is it acceptable to be evil and brutal in the present in order to achieve a better future. And if both sides are evil, then that makes John Marston neutral to good and evil. John has killed hundreds of people, abducted people, and stolen from the government his whole life. But yet, he tries restarting his life with his family and forgetting about the past. He no longer cares which side is right, and that makes him neutral. Of course, the game does not answer this question and it is up to the player to decide if the question is right or wrong.

The third theme of Red Dead Redemption appears to be that there are no clean getaways. John Marston, as said above, lived a life of crime in his younger years, and now tries to put all of it behind him and start a ranch. But there are no clean getaways from your past when you live the life of an outlaw, and the past always catches up with you. To get rid of his past, John must achieve ''Redemption. ''Justify his sins. And he achieves this in the ending when he sacrifices himself to let his wife Abigail and son Jack escape from government agents who have come to assassinate him.

And the fourth and final theme of the game can be found in the Dutch van der Linde page under the Philosophy section.

Gameplay
The gameplay of Red Dead Redemption is vast. The use of guns in the game is very similar to that of Grand Theft Auto 4, another game developed by Rockstar Studios. There are a variety of pistols, revolvers, shotguns and rifles available to the player as the game progresses. Ammo can be purchased in stores across the landscape.

Prices for items vary from which settlement you are in and depending on what you are selling. Players can make money by doing random encounter missions, which present themselves as the player travels. Players can help capture or kill escaped criminals or search for treasure or hunt animals. There are many animals available to hunt ranging from boar, bears, cougars, wolfs, coyotes, and even legendary animals such as Lobo the Wolf or Gordo the Boar.

A change from Grand Theft Auto's system of a wanted level is the bounty system. As players, commit crimes, their bounty increases. Certain crimes raise the bounty more than others like murder of a sheriff do. Players with high bounties will be tracked down by either the Mexican Army or the US Marshalls depending on if the player is in the US or Mexico. Players can surrender themselves to officers at which point they will enter jail. If players cannot pay the bounty, they will be sent on a bounty hunter mission. It is best to capture the bounty alive so the player can get more money to pay off the bounty. If a player can get close enough to a law officer that is currently in pursuit of Marston, they can bribe the officer for a much larger fee than what it is to pay a citizen. This will stop all officers from chasing you but your bounty remains.

Players can get rid of their bounty by going to posts and paying off their bounty piece by piece. Another option that can be used is to give pardon letters, which eliminates all of a player’s bounty. If a player uses a pardon letter on a bounty, which is $5,000, or more they will receive an achievement. Pardon letters are rare so use them wisely.

Development
A trailer of the project was sent to a select number of people at a Sony conference in 2005, promoting the release of the PlayStation 3 system. The trailer was a tech demo of RAGE set in a western setting referred to as Old West Project and a direct sequel to Red Dead Revolver. The trailer circulated throughout the internet. In the April edition of Game Informer, Red Dead Redemption was listed as being for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC. On February 3, 2009, Rockstar Games announced the first official trailer. Resulting trailers showcased numerous characters, gameplay features, and multiplayer modes that will be featured in the final release.

Film
A half-hour feature film was released on FOX TV on May 29, 2010. It is directed by John Hillcoat. The story takes place on the alternate take in the storyline's first act. Shortly after release, the whole film became downloadable officially through Rockstar's official website.

Downloadable Content
Shortly after the release of Redemption, on June 22, 2010, Rockstar released the first DLC, Outlaws To The End. The content includes six new cooperative side missions ranging from raiding a mine and stealing the gold to riding down a river to secure a town's weapon cache. New multiplayer challenges as well as new trophies/achievements are also included. The downloadable content is free for all users on PlayStation Network and Xbox Live.

Also, Rockstar announced four upcoming DLC; in chronological order, Legends and Killers, Liars and Cheats, Free Roam and Undead Nightmare.

Reception
The game has received extremely positive reviews from all over the gaming industry. Aside from a few graphical glitches (noted by IGN), its presentation, sound, and multiplayer have been universally praised. While others such as GamePro have criticized the "occasional pop-in and repetitive missions", they also said it "expertly captures the Wild West", with 1UP giving similar praise and complaints. While several magazines and websites are yet to post their reviews, the average score so far, according to Metacritic, is 95 out of 100.

Trivia

 * The typefont used in Red Dead Redemption is called "Chinese Rocks". You can download the font here.
 * After they've been killed, some enemies will let out a distinctive scream that's been heard in action films for decades. This scream is called the "Wilhelm Scream".
 * Red Dead Redemption is the first sandbox game from Rockstar that allows the player to enter an entirely different country (Mexico) later on in the game.