Red Dead Revolver

Red Dead Revolver is a western third-person shooter video game published by Rockstar Games and developed by Rockstar San Diego. It was released in North America on May 4, 2004 for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox.

Overview
The game's development stalled when it was dropped by Capcom. In 2002, Rockstar Games purchased the game and expanded on it. Changing from an American western to a Spaghetti Western allowed the developers to add more blood and over-the-top characters.

The lead character appears to be an amalgamation of various Western Clint Eastwood-inspired characters from assorted movies, mainly the Man with No Name character, with whom he shares many similar traits. The game reproduces a "grainy film" effect and uses music that is highly influenced by the music of famous Spaghetti Western composer Ennio Morricone.

Story
The game takes place in the late 1880s. Nate Harlow and his partner "Griff" have found gold in Bear Mountain. The two men buy a pair of matching, ornamented revolvers with gold scorpions in the hilts. Griff is later captured by the Mexican military and condemned to be shot as a spy. He offers to give the General, Javier Diego, half of the gold on Bear Mountain if he spares his life, to which Diego agrees. Diego sends his man, Colonel Daren, to kill the owner of the second half of the Bear Mountain claim. Nate Harlow is killed but his son, Red Harlow, grabs the scorpion revolver (heated by a nearby fire) and shoots off Daren's arm. A scorpion is burned into Red's palm.

Red grows up to be a bounty hunter. The game begins with him battling a gang led by Bloody Tom. Hoping to claim the bounty on the gang, he takes the bodies to the town of Widow's Patch. In Widow's Patch, he is attacked by the Ugly Chris gang. He and the sheriff are able to eliminate the gang, but the sheriff is badly wounded, and has to travel to the town of Brimstone for a doctor.

After Red drops off the sheriff at Brimstone, the sheriff of Brimstone asks Red to take care of some criminals for him. After they are killed, he asks for the bounty on the criminals' heads, but the bank manager says to him that the gold wagon has not arrived yet; then he learns that one of the townsfolk, Annie Stoakes, is in danger of losing her farm to the bank, whose manager, Griff, also owns the Bear Mountain gold mine. Remembering that his family was killed over that mine, he goes to talk to her to find out more information. This leads him to the sheriff of Brimstone, where he finds out through the Sheriff's flashback that General Diego and Colonel Daren killed his parents, and that there is a bounty on them.

He later learns during a quick-draw competition, called the Battle Royale, that the governor is Griff, who sold out his parents to General Diego. Griff orders Red to be killed by quick-draw champion Mr. Kelley, but Red kills Kelley and pursues Griff to his mansion. There, Red shoots Griff in a quick-draw showdown. After Red kills Griff, the sheriff offers Red some gold, to which he refuses and replies "It was never about the money". Red instead takes Griffon's Scorpion Pistol.

The story also features minor branches. The flashback in which Griff surrenders to Diego is playable from Diego's perspective. An English duelist by the name of Jack Swift is freed from a cage by Red. Swift proceeds to hunt and kill the members of Perry's travelling circus, a circus turned gang by a psychotic clown. Red's Native American cousin on his mother's side has a series of playable missions. Annie Stoakes, a rancher dispossessed by Governor Griffon, fights for her ranch and an unknown African-American Union soldier, identified only as Buffalo Soldier, defends a wagon of TNT from bandits. All of these characters play a fundamental role in the final assault on Griffon's mansion.

Characters
The game’s protagonist is Red Harlow, son of Nate Harlow and Falling Star, a member of the Red Wolf Tribe. His parents were killed when he was young by Colonel Daren, second in command to General Diego, so that the General could have Nate’s gold. The General found out about the gold from Nate’s partner, Griff, who traded the information about the gold for his own life. He is later known as Governor Griffon.

When Red grows up, he begins to seek revenge for the deaths of his parents. He is aided by Jack Swift (an English duelist), Annie Stoakes (a rancher dispossessed by Governor Griffin), Red’s Native American cousin Shadow Wolf, and an African American soldier from the U.S. Army known only as Buffalo Suckers.

Gameplay
The game allows the purchase of goods at local town stores. Goods range from general store items, which unlock extras, to guns and multiplayer characters. Each individual character has a unique ability which can be activated after so many kills or a certain amount of time. For example, Jack Swift can quickly empty his guns on a single target and Buffalo Soldier can impale men with a flare from a rifle. Guns can be purchased at stores and are chosen before each mission. The game offers a wide selection of shotguns, rifles, thrown weapons, and ,of course, revolvers. Weapon repair plays a minor inconvenient role.

Multiplayer
The game features a unique single-console multiplayer in which participants can collect cards from dead players. These cards can form poker hands and each hand bestows a unique power to that player. For example, a straight or a flush might give a player a collection of acid bottle to throw or flaming arrows to fire. Each character has an ability. One unlockable character, the scarecrow, can light himself on fire and charge enemies.

Sequel
Rumors of a sequel were circulating around since 2005, ever since Rockstar showed a video of an Old West horseback rider running on early PlayStation 3 hardware. The project was only known as "Old West Project".

Altough not a direct sequel, on February 4, 2009, Red Dead Redemption was announced for the Xbox 360 and the Playstation 3.

The spiritual succesor' of Red Dead Revolver, Red Dead Redemption was released on the May 18, 2010 in North America, May 20,2010 in Australia and May 21, 2010 in Europe.