About Red Dead Redemption

Red Dead Redemption is an open world action-adventure western video game, developed by Rockstar San Diego and published by Rockstar Games. It was released for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on May 18, 2010. It is a spiritual successor to 2004's Red Dead Revolver.

Most of the game's story takes place in the year 1911, during the decline of the American Old West. The game follows John Marston, a former outlaw, while he sets out to hunt down his former gang members. Marston's wife and son are taken hostage by the government in ransom for his services as a bounty hunter. Having no other choice, he sets out to bring his three former gang members to justice.

Upon its release, Red Dead Redemption was met with high critical acclaim averaging 95% on both review aggregate websites Metacritic and GameRankings, making it one of the highest rated video games for both the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on both websites. It won several "Game of the Year" awards. Reviewers praised the visuals, music, open world gameplay, and the story. According to the NPD Sales Group, Red Dead Redemption sold over two million units in the combined months of May and June.

Gameplay

Red Dead Redemption is an open world game. Players can interact with the environment and engage in combat with enemies, using various firearms. Different breeds of horses are the main forms of transportation, which come in a variety of quality. These horses must be tamed, however, in order to use them. Swimming is not an option, as the protagonist John Marston cannot swim — he will drown if he ventures too far into deep water.


In addition to following the main storyline, players can take part in random events they encounter as they explore the West. These include public hangings, ambushes, pleas for assistance, stranger encounters, "ride-by" shootings, and dangerous animal attacks. For example, if a group of people ride into town firing guns in the air, the player can kill them, and will receive a bonus of honor and fame. Players can also take part in optional side activities including duels, bounty hunting, herb collecting, gambling, and hunting animals for pelts, meat and other various items.

Red Dead Redemption makes use of a morality system where players have the ability to gain positive or negative 'honor'. Some of the ways to gain positive honor include taking an outlaw alive instead of killing him, or saving a kidnapped innocent. Negative honor can be gained for committing crimes including killing or robbing civilians. This works along with another system, 'fame', showing and governing how people react based on Marston's honor status. If Marston has negative honor, lawmen and civilians will usually say obscenities to Marston and feel insecure around him; lawmen will even threaten to kill him next time they see him. If he has positive honor, lawmen and civilians will usually greet him and feel safe around him.[9] As Marston's fame and honor increase bounty hunters think twice about attempting an arrest and people turn away from his criminal behavior. Marston can, however, prevent his honor or fame from being altered with a bandana.


Combat

Combat and gunplay are major parts of the game. Gunfights in Red Dead Redemption are conducted using a third-person system. The player can take cover, target a specific person, blindfire, and free aim. Individual body parts can also be targeted, in order to take targets down non-lethally, who can then be lassoed and hogtied to capture individuals alive. When the player shoots an enemy, the game engine uniquely creates the AI reactions and movements. John Marston can choose from period-accurate weapons including revolvers, pistols, lever or bolt-action rifles, knives, explosives, lassos, mounted gatling guns, shotguns, sniper rifles and cannons.

A combat feature that Marston can use is the "Dead-Eye" targeting system. "Dead-Eye" is used in a bullet time-like manner, allowing the player to slow down time to place a precise shot or paint in multiple shots on the body parts of one or multiple enemies. When the targeting sequence ends, Marston will fire in extremely quick succession on targeted people and objects.

Adopted from the Grand Theft Auto series, Red Dead Redemption has a modified wanted system. When committing a crime such as killing people near others, some will run to the nearest police station as witnesses. The player can bribe them or kill them before they reach the station. If a crime is committed near a police officer, the wanted meter immediately appears along with a bounty count where it increases with more crimes committed. To evade law enforcement in pursuit, John Marston must escape a circular zone until the wanted meter disappears. Despite the chase being aborted, a bounty is placed upon John which will cause bounty hunters to come after him in the wilderness. It is impossible to surrender to these bounty hunters by putting away Marston's weapon and standing still; they will kill him regardless. Only law enforcement in towns and posses will accept surrenders. The police will continue to chase Marston unless he pays his bounty at a telegraph station or presents a pardon letter. When arrested, John/Jack pays off his bounty and is then released. If the player does not have enough money to pay back the bounty, the police will assign bounty.

Plot

In the year 1911, John Marston, a retired outlaw formerly of a gang led by Dutch van der Linde, is taken away from his wife Abigail and his son Jack by government agents. The agents tell Marston that he will be reunited with his family if he hunts down the remaining lead members of his former gang. Left with no choice, Marston travels to the territory of New Austin to capture or kill one of his old friends, Bill Williamson, who now runs his own gang of bandits out of Fort Mercer. Marston confronts Williamson, only to be shot and left for dead outside the fort. A rancher, Bonnie MacFarlane, finds him wounded, and brings him to a doctor to be treated.

After recovering from his wounds several days later, Marston begins repaying the MacFarlanes for their help in the form of several jobs around their ranch. At the same time, he recruits help for a plan to attack Fort Mercer. Along with U.S. Marshal Leigh Johnson of Armadillo and his men, con man Nigel West Dickens, grave robber Seth Briars and drunken arms dealer Irish, Marston uses a Trojan Horse strategy to breach the fort. Marston and the Marshalls breach the fort and massacre Williamson's gang, only to find that Williamson had already fled to Mexico to seek help from Javier Escuella, another member of Marston's old gang. Irish offers to take Marston into Mexico over the river border. Along the river, Irish and Marston encounter Mexican bandits and eventually kill all of them, barely making it into the country.

In Mexico, Marston works with Mexican Army Colonel Agustin Allende and Captain Vincente de Santa, as well as the revolutionaries in the area led by Abraham Reyes. Allende promises to deliver Escuella and Williamson to Marston, but soon betrays him and has de Santa attempt to execute Marston for working with the revolutionaries and killing Allende's men with elder gunslinger and childhood inspiration Landon Ricketts. After escaping execution, Marston sides with the rebels who help kill de Santa and successfully get Marston to Escuella. Following Escuella's capture or death, Marston joins Reyes and his men for an assault on Allende's villa, not only culminating in the deaths of Allende and Williamson, but also Marston's rebel friend Luisa as well when she attempts to save Reyes. Reyes takes control of the surrounding Mexican counties, and vows to march onto the capital with his rebel army. Marston, meanwhile, returns to the city of Blackwater to meet with his government contact, Edgar Ross.

Much to his dismay, Ross will not let Marston return to his family until Dutch van der Linde, who has emerged from hiding, has been killed. While Dutch and his men wage war on the United States Army in the area, Marston has several run-ins with Dutch who manages to elude capture each time. Marston eventually joins Ross and a group of U.S. soldiers in an assault on Dutch's hideout. Marston follows the outlaws to their base, and confronts Dutch on a cliff. Dutch ultimately chooses to commit suicide, leaping off a cliff to his death. Before jumping, however, Dutch warns Marston that the government will always find another "monster" to justify their pay.

Marston is released from his deal with the government, and returns to his family at his ranch. After some time spent getting the farm up and running again, Marston is forced to repel the army when Ross betrays him, leading a surprise attack on the property and killing Marston's friend, Uncle. Marston manages to get Abigail and Jack out safely but is executed by soldiers after sacrificing himself to allow his family time to escape. Jack and Abigail return to the ranch after hearing the gunshots, finding John dead and the soldiers gone. John's body is buried on a hill overlooking the ranch, his grave inscribed "Blessed are the Peacemakers". The game then jumps to 1914. An older Jack is seen standing at both his parents' graves (his mother presumably having died recently, although the cause of death is never revealed). Jack walks away from his parents grave and then becomes the main playable character.

Jack searches the land for Edgar Ross, who has now retired. Eventually, he finds Ross hunting ducks at a riverbed. When Jack reveals himself to Ross, the two get into a heated argument, with Ross claiming that John Marston killed himself with the life he lived. To solve the problem, the two have a duel, in which Jack guns down his father's killer. Almost immediately after Ross's death, Jack looks down at his gun in confusion; while he has avenged his father he might have put the very future his father had died to give him in possible danger. Jack holsters his gun, pauses, and then walks back up the riverbed.

A newspaper summarizes the fate of John Marston's companions. Marshal Leigh Johnson retired as sheriff of Armadillo, and then moved as far away as possible from the town. Abraham Reyes, though promising to lead Mexico into an age of freedom, was consumed by power and became a tyrant. Bonnie MacFarlane eventually married, but it is not said to whom. Irish shot himself dead in an outhouse in Thieves Landing when his gun discharged. Seth Briars eventually found the treasure he was looking for and became rich. Finally, Landon Rickets passed away quietly in his sleep.

References

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Dead_Redemption