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 (Released on May 4th, 2004). 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 and more.

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 finds Williamson gone, as he and Javier Escuella have already fled to Nuevo Paraiso.

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 McFarlane'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 leave 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, dressed exactly as his father had been, 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 who he was, the two duel, with Jack Marston defeating Agent Ross.

Gameplay
The Gameplay for 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 prgresses. 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 themself as the player travels. Players can help capture or kill escaped criminals or search for treasure or hunt animals. The 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. 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 players bounty. If a player uses a pardon letter on a bounty which is $5,000 or more they will receive an acheivement. Pardon letters are rare so use them wisely. One you can get is earned from the mission in Mexico the great train robbery which you find in the safe at the very end of the mission.

Pre-Order

 * Main article: Red Dead Redemption Pre-Order Bonuses



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.

Known Issues

 * Both versions of the game have experienced several small bugs and glitches, almost in all reported cases hardly Game-breaking but more of the hilarious kind. The most wild example being "Donkey Lady", a rideable woman with a horses face.
 * The Gentlemen's Attire, available for registering to Rockstar Game's Social Club as an unlock is not unlocking for a majority of users and is widly reported. However, Rockstar Support has tweeted that they are aware of this issue.


 * Currently, the bounty for Mo van Barr is bugged for many players making it impossible for them to receive their pre-ordered bonus - the Deadly Assassin Outfit. Rockstar Support has posted in numerous forums that they are working on a fix. Many people are also claiming this as an issue but it happens with every game with pre-order bonuses, you must have internet connection for the Deadly Assassin Outfit. If you dont have internet connection then your code is safe until you get XBL or PSN accounts.


 * A Multiplayer connectivity issue was addressed in a May 22nd patch issued by Rockstar, but continues to persist for some players. Players attempting to connect to multiplayer may receive the following message (after about 50-60 seconds of waiting): "You were removed from your session and returned to Free Roam due to connection issues with other players." (Confirmation notes: ) After accepting the error message, the player may be returned to the loading page indefinitely.
 * There have been reported issues of the game looking very different on the different consoles. The PS3 is said to be more warm and fuzzy but the XBOX 360 is said to be a sharper image.
 * Wading or falling into water above neck level results in instant death. For the most part, this is an avoidable bug: there just isn't a lot of water in typical gameplay areas. That said, careless walking / riding may result in the loss of unsaved progress. In particular, players should take care around the bridged areas in Thieves Landing (near the player's house ). Slipping down the slope, the player finds himself chest deep in a small stream with no way go get back up the slope. The only escape alternative is wading across the stream, which unfortunately kills the player.

Trivia

 * The typefont used in Red Dead Redemption is called "Chinese Rocks". You can download the font here.

Themes in Red Dead Redemption
The game takes place in 1911, which is the middle of the 30-year end of the Western American Frontier(Wild West). The beginning of the end was in 1890 when midwest and east coast newspapers said the West was safe and had lots of land for people to move into. 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 linepoles 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. Most people had a hard time accepting this new lifestyle, and to many, it meant fighting 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 just an icon in pop culture.