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This review of Red Dead Redemption was written for The Hindustan Times and was first published on 26th June, 2010. The original unedited version is reproduced below, and you can also read the printed version here:
Review: Red Dead Redemption (XBOX 360 version)
Gopal Sathe
John Marston is a man on a mission. He was an outlaw, but he’s given up that life. All he wanted was to settle down with his wife, and raise his son. But the world is filled with change in 1911, and the government in the East can’t let people in the Old West remain lawless and wild anymore. The railways have changed everything, and tamed the lawless land.
Marston is taken in by the government and told that if he doesn’t want to spend the rest of his life in jail away from his family, he will go into New Austin (a fictional state entirely like Old Texas) and kill his one-time friend Bill Williamson. This might sound like an old Eastwood movie, but it is the world of Red Dead Redemption, the latest game from Rockstar Games, the same banner that made Grand Theft Auto a household name.
It’s a sandbox game – an open world for you to explore and do what you want, when you want. You’re given a vibrant world to explore, and John Marston is a real living person whom you will care about.
It’s so real, I now fear cougars. An early optional mission had me look for a missing person. I followed the trail to the Hanging Rock, a few miles north of the town of Armadillo. I got of my horse to investigate some blood on the ground and there was a heart stopping sound behind me! Suddenly this monstrous creature was charging at me!
I ran as quickly as I could but it took a swipe at me and I fell down. Luckily my horse panicked at that point and ran between me and the cougar, giving me a few seconds to pull my gun and kill it. I knew then that I was never getting off my horse outside the cities again.
The modelling of all the animals, and the various pistols and rifles you use through the game, has been done with tremendous care and is extremely realistic, though people and faces are a little less so. The game stands as a wonderful technical achievement, with almost no load screens to speak of, and an enormously detailed game-world.
Red Dead Redemption is definitely fun. Games don’t _have_ to make sense, they have to be enjoyable. The mechanics themselves are not as important as the enjoyment they provide, and Redemption definitely delivers.
But at the same time, it also gives you a cohesive world to explore. You could do the side quests given by people around the world, or roam the countryside hunting animals for fun and profit, or pick up bounties and arrest gang members. Just riding your horse, with no objective in mind, is enjoyable.
Despite these distractions, you keep coming back to the main storyline because of the great writing. John Marston is no cardboard cut-out, and before long you will actually care about this man, and want things to work out for him.
Like most open world games, RDR also dabbles in creating moral choices for the player. For instance, in an early optional mission, you have to convince an old man to sell you his property. You can put up your own money, or point a gun at him and make him give it to you.
There’s no real consequence to either choice – ‘good’ choices raise your honor and ‘evil’ lowers it, and all this does is change the discounts you get in stores – but while I normally play as the bad guy in any game that lets me, here, I found myself ponying up the cash myself because I knew that Marston would have.
He’s a good guy and while he’s done a lot of bad stuff, he’s clearly trying to atone for it. He might be here as a government assassin, but he’s not happy about that, and he’s not going to rebel by becoming a gun toting outlaw either.
At least that’s how I felt about the character, although perhaps the developers see things differently – the game hardly penalises evil characters and there’s a few things you can do as a bad guy which actually sound like a lot of fun, and would probably warrant a second playthrough of the game for me.
There were some gameplay issues in the game, a number of glitches as often happens in such huge games, but nothing gamebreaking. Some people are complaining about the control scheme and the shooting mechanics to which I must say – the shooting is fun! It’s a game, not a simulator! The control scheme is a little complicated but the game takes you through a thorough tutorial, and the end result is great control over the horse, which is half the fun of this game.
It’s possible to finish the game within around 10 hours, with no side quests, fast travel everywhere, and skipping all the cutscenes. If you’re like me and don’t go for 100 per cent completion, picking up only interesting challenges and missions, focussing largely on the main storyline, the game should take around 4 – 5 days to complete. To compare, I finished all of Modern Warfare 2 in one day. Also, even when you’re done with the story, riding around saving strangers and hunting bears is so much fun that the game represents tremendous value for money.
Posted on June 26th, 2010 at 6:10am by Split-Screen
Filed Under: Game Reviews and Opinion, Review, Xbox 360, cougar, gta, horses, john marston, rdr, red-dead-redemption, rockstar, wild west
First off this review will be very short, shorter than my normal reviews. Why? Well, frankly because this game doesn’t deserve any more “press.”
Haze is one of those shooters that had a lot of potential, but never was really able to capitalize on it. This “gem” is brought to you by Free Radical Design, a company that was formed from a splinter group of the Goldeneye/Perfect Dark team. Also, this team designed the Time Splitters game. The bulk of the aforementioned games were great. Knowing that, you would think that a something they created on a current gen system would be just as outstanding. Unfortunately, that is far from the case.
Haze follows Sgt. Shane Carpenter, a soldier in “Mantle”, a sort of PMC of the future. You are sent into South America to help stop the rebels known as the “The Promise Hand”, led by a man calling himself Gabriel “Skin Coat” Merino… seriously. Over the course of the game you are able to dose yourself with Mantel’s super elixir called “Nectar.” Basically it is just a drug that heightens your awareness, skill level, and generally makes you a giant douche bag (but more on that later).
Over time, Shane’s Nectar administration system starts to fail. Only then does he begin to see Mantel for what it really is, a giant smash and grab corporation. He’s shown the true repercussions of prolonged exposure to Nectar, that being death. Naturally, Shane then joins forces with the rebels to try and put a stop to Mantel. Free Radical tries hard to put a big morale lesson in Haze, but honestly, by the end of the game I didn’t care enough anymore to bother paying attention.
Getting down to the game itself, visually, Haze looks atrocious. Seriously… The textures, are just flat out ugly. It’s chock full of glitches and bugs, not to mention that at points I would get stuck in different parts of the map, because the collision detection was so spotty. Controls were run of the mill shooter and let’s be honest, kinda hard to screw up. The weapons of Haze brought nothing new really to the table, and sitting here thinking about the game I couldn’t list a single one to you.
I guess it doesn’t sound all that bad. There is a lot of spoken audio, seeing as how most of the game is told through verbal exposition. Which brings me to my biggest gripe with this game. I will start by saying that I understand what and why they were trying to do with the soldiers of Mantel. When you first meet the other guys in your squad, I was seriously surprised they weren’t wearing pink polo’s with the collar popped. There was more high-fiving and “dude bro” moments in the first section of the game than in the entirety of the beer-pong world championships. It was annoying to the point of being painful. Again, I understand why they did this though. They were making the point that the Nectar alters your sense of right and wrong, as well as making you a team player in your squad. I just don’t think they had to do it to such a nauseating degree. I was so happy later on in the game that I was given the chance to shoot the Mantel guys. I found myself unloading clip-after-clip into them, just to release stress.
Given the pedigree of it’s creators, and the potential graphical upgrade offered by the PlayStation 3’s cell processor, I was hopeful that this game was going to be something I would initially like and continue to enjoy over time. Much to my disappointment, Haze didn’t deliver on any of it’s promises. I have played much worse games in my life, however this one ranks high on the list because of the sheer disappointment it brought with it.
Sharing: It’s Win/Win
Posted on May 19th, 2010 at 5:30pm by feedback@gamesareevil.com (The Games Are Evil Family)
Filed Under: News, Playing Through The Pain, Playstation 3, Rant, Review, Reviews, featured, opinion
Game: Samurai Showdown SEN
Publisher/Developer: X-Seed
Platform: XBOX 360
Price: $49.99
Pros: Really no redeeming qualities in a game that should have been good, if not great.
Cons: Bad Graphics, Horrible Controls, Long load times.
Verdict: Wait for a huge sale unless you are a die-hard fan.
Acquired: Review Copy Provided
With the recent revitalization of the fighting genre, more and more people are picking up the newest titles, ready to dive into the button mashing experience. After getting a fight stick for Christmas and a copy of SFIV, I was ready to dive into this title with abandon. Unfortunately, not even a fight stick could help this horrible entry in the Samurai Showdown series.
Once praised for it’s options and added weaponry, it’s now clouded by shoddy graphics and horrible controls. I have very faded memories of playing a Samurai title on Neo Geo but am still an absolute newcomer to the series and SEN provided no tutorial or even an inkling of assistance in learning how to play at all. I really can’t think of a worse idea as it’s a given most fans of the series will eventually pick up this title but the added people that are just now getting into fighting games that have no background on your series? You just left a lot of people and money in the dust.
While the character selection is vast it doesn’t make up for the fact that they aren’t exciting to play with. Not one stood out as better or worse than another, they are all pretty average when it comes to the fighting genre and all of the nuances seen in most other fighters are right here too. It’s just done so poorly that playing this game felt like pulling teeth.
The control scheme is closest to Soul Caliber with similar combos and inputs. It doesn’t feel even half as good as that title though because it’s turned into a button masher, with whoever hits them fast enough winning the fight. This series is known for it’s unique style of gameplay so venturing far from that is a risk I wouldn’t have taken. The game has stiff controls and the most awkward mechanics I’ve ever experienced. AI opponents that take days of patience not practice to overcome, make it all the more frustrating. It only takes two good hits to down an opponent so strategy doesn’t even come into play here. That’s a sad state of affairs when there are so many other options on the table and that the series used to stand on it’s own unique platform.
Gamers are becoming more and more resentful against the atrocious loading times we have in games as of late, and this title is just as guilty. It’s understandable in a story heavy game but with SEN, it’s load after tedious load. You can literally be killed in five seconds and have to wait forty more for the game to load back up. And to be perfectly honest, I’m not sure what we are waiting for. 3-D graphics that looked twenty times better on the PS2? I think I’ll pass.
Online mode was also a complete let down. I tried to use the multiplayer feature to fight a real person eight times. I waited for what seemed an eternity but not once did someone pop online to fight. This aspect is where I thought the game might be brought back to it’s roots a little bit, allowing me to fully use the controls like they were meant to be used. Unfortunately, the chance never presented itself.
I wish I could have found something redeeming within Samurai Showdown but I couldn’t. Everything reeks of being slopped together without regard to the fans or the series previous titles. What made the series special was overlooked so blatantly that it’s hard to believe it was allowed to be released. Old looking graphics, unplayable fighting styles, clunky controls, and long load times make this one of the worst games I’ve played since Superman 64.
With all of the other awesome fighting titles out, I’d leave this one alone. If you are a die-hard fan of the series, I’d still wait until it was on the clearance rack. I’m sure it won’t be a long wait.
Sharing: It’s Win/Win
Posted on May 5th, 2010 at 10:36pm by feedback@gamesareevil.com (The Games Are Evil Family)
Filed Under: 360, Games, Platform Evil, Review, Reviews, Xbox 360, featured, gaming, xbox
Game: Blue Toad Murder Files: The Mystery of Little Riddle
Publisher: Relentless Software
Developer: Relentless Software
Genre: Puzzle
Pros: Chance to actually solve a mystery based on information. Quirky cast, “Professor Layton” style game for the PSN, option to play with multiple players (offline).
Cons: Kinda slow in multiplayer, No hints… if you are stuck, you are STUCK. Might be a bit pricey for some, for all 6 episodes.
I love puzzle games. I also happen to be quite the fan of the BBC and most of its comedy programming. Being able to play a game that combines the two in such a fun little package was a pleasure for me.
In the episodic title, “Blue Toad Murder Files: The Mystery of Little Riddle” you are tasked with solving various mysteries and crimes. At the beginning of the episode you can choose between four “members” of the detective agency to start your story. For each character there are various reasons for your arrival in Little Riddle, but to be honest, none of them have any bearing on any part of the rest of the game. You can also, if you choose, play with up to three other friends locally at the same time.
The game toes that fine line between being silly and over the top, “smack you in the face” humor… something a LOT of American actors have issues with. The entirety of the cast is voice by one person. Tom Dussek gives each character a voice all its own, complete with different accents and personalities. The narration is also done in a voice that reminded me of Terry Jones of Monty Python fame. The entire cast feels like they actually have a back story you may (or may not) be able to find out in the course of the episodes.
The game isn’t breaking new ground as far as visuals are concerned, but that isn’t to say that the game looks bad. Each setting is clean and each has its own personality, much like the characters. Again, I like the fact that this game doesn’t take itself too seriously. There are occasions where some of the in-game characters will look directly at the “camera” as if to say, “yes we know this is a game and should still be fun.” It’s not done often, but it is done to good comedic effect.
As you arrive in town, it just so happens, a murder has been committed and it’s up to you to find out whodunit. Well it’s not really up to you, but the local police are mostly inept, so really you are just doing your civic duty by helping them. Unlike “Professor Layton” the puzzles that you solve during your time in Little Riddle have a direct connection to the story and the world around you. For instance: one of the first puzzles you have to solve is basically a jumble involving the mayors diary. Some of the words have blanks and you have to fill them in with the correct letter to understand what he is writing. All of the puzzles that you come across will progress the story as well.
There are about 16 different puzzles in each episode and they are all very different. Most of them can be solved with out much thought at all. However, there are several puzzles that I had to sit and work through to make sure I had the outcome correct. Here is where the game gets a bit hard. First off, there is not so much a time “limit” as there is a time expectancy. Meaning that you can take forever to solve a puzzle but if you take longer than the par time, you will be penalized for it. Also unlike Layton, there are NO HINTS. If you get stuck and can’t figure it out, too bad. Your only option is to “Give Up” which will then give you the lowest puzzle rating, but does allow you to move the story to the next point. The caveat to opting out on a puzzle is that you don’t get the answer, which could hurt you in the long run.
The thing that Blue Toad does better than most games of this type, is its ability to make you actually feel like you are a detective. As the story progresses along, you are periodically given “quizzes” to take. These “quizzes” are basically a few multiple choice questions to make sure you are paying attention to the story.
At the very end of the game (no spoilers don’t worry) you are asked ultimately who did it. There is no summation of the clues, no hints, nothing like that. You are asked point blank to finger the perpetrator, based solely on the information that you gathered during play time. At first it kind of tripped me up. I was expecting something to help me out but that aid never came. Once I thought back through the story, pondering the clues I was given, or found, I was able to pick out the bad guy. This not only gave me a sense of closure, but made me feel like I had actually solved the crime on my own merits. It felt a kin to playing Clue back in the day and getting it right on the very first guess.
Gameplay with several players is turned based. Watch a bit of story, solve a puzzle then it’s the next persons turn. The quizzes are split up between players as well. Although you can play with three other people, this really isn’t the kind of game that you and a bunch of friends will sit down with for several hours a night and drudge through. The lone exception might be a night where everyone wants to play a slow moving board game like Life or Monopoly. The story just doesn’t move fast enough to keep a groups attention for an extended period of time.
The first Episode of the series took me about 45 minuets to play through, so extrapolating that it will take about 4-5 solid hours of gaming to finish all six episodes. Each episode will cost you about $7.50 and the pack of the first three is $15.00, so the entire game of all six could run you as much as $45. This will probably seem a bit steep for a downloadable game. However, I must say given the production value, the amount of gameplay found within, and the time it takes to complete the game, it averages all out to roughly a regular disc based release anyway. There isn’t really much bad I can say about this game. It’s been enjoyable for myself and my wife to play, and that alone speaks volumes.
Scott 3SMOVRadio.com
Sharing: It’s Win/Win
Posted on April 14th, 2010 at 7:22pm by feedback@gamesareevil.com (The Games Are Evil Family)
Filed Under: Blue Toad Murder Files: The Mystery of Little Riddle, Episodic Gaming, Playstation 3, Review, Reviews, dlc, featured, psn, puzzle games, sony
Space, the final frontier. These are the voyagers of the starship Kreygina. It’s continuing mission: to explore strange new worlds. To seek out new life and new civilizations. To boldly go where no gamer has gone before. Before we continue, I would like to point out that this is not an official review, but my thoughts on the game.
Star Trek Online is an MMORPG that takes place in the Star Trek universe. The game takes place after the events of the last Star Trek movie. Spock has failed to save the Romulan home world from destruction, and the Klingons have moved in trying to control what was once the Romulan Empire. It’s up to you to protect the Federation and it’s interests. Are you up to the task?
I really can’t compare this game to other MMORPGs out there for the simple fact that I haven’t played any – until now. This is my very first MMORPG. The reason I picked it up is simple, it’s Star Trek! The game offers 2 character slots for either a Federation or Klingon character. You must be at least a level 6 to access the Klingon character. Each have their own unique missions and ships. It’s similar to the way that World of Warcraft offers Horde and Alliance factions.
It should be noted that I am a Trekkie. I love to watch Star Trek and know quite a lot about it’s universe. I’ve watched every series of Star Trek except Enterprise. When I was growing up, I always wanted a good Star Trek game. There were many games out there, but few were what I was looking for. When I heard about Star Trek Online, I wasn’t sure what to think. All I knew was that I should hope for the best.
When I first started the beta, I was a bit skeptical. Even after play a few missions the first night, I still wasn’t sold. I decided to give the game another shot a few days later. It was then I really started getting into it. The game picked up and I found myself hooked. Finally I had found a game that satisfied my Star Trek craving. While it’s always nice to play as your favorite characters from the show, it’s great working your way up the ranks.
I ended the beta with a level 12 character and a new ship. The characters were reset once the beta was over though. I eagerly awaited the head start to begin 4 days later. When the head start began, I made it my goal to reach my previous level in no time. After the last 4 days of playing (close to non stop) I am now a level 18. It seems like it was easier to get missions done and level up this time around. I’m sure it was because of the previous experience playing.
Star Trek Online has plenty of ups and downs to it. I’ll cover the things that I personally liked and disliked about the game. As I said, I’ve never played an MMORPG before, but I will do my best to not look like a trekkie defending a Star Trek game.
What I liked:
The Star Trek Universe: Cryptic does a good job at making it feel like the Star Trek universe. From the sound of phasers or red alert, to the Klingons, Romulans, and Borg (OH MY), you knew that it was Star Trek. Cryptic also does a great job at recreating the Universe itself. It was quite something for me to see the memorial and wrecked ships at Wolf 359 or go to places like Deepspace 9 or K7. Players are put into a universe that is not only recreated well, but theirs to explore.
Ship Combat: Star Trek Online is one of the few Star Trek games to do ship combat right. After a few battles, I had a strategy and was ready to roll. Compared to a game like Star Trek Legacies, the combat in this was a dream. It might take a few battles to get the hang of things, but once you do, you’re good to go. Players have the option to upgrade weapons, shields, and more. It’s probably a good idea to upgrade as you meet and fight new enemies.
Weapons and Items: I found myself excited when I would pick up new weapons and items from drops. There’s a variety of weapons and items that have their own use for either away missions or your ship as. As you advance in level you’ll find better items and weapons. Some might be helpful, but others will just be useless. One thing I found amusing was the Tribbles. Not only were they in the game, but they ate my damn food and multiplied like in the original TV show.
Playing With Friends: If there’s one thing that can be said, it’s better to play with friends. I personally enjoyed playing with people I knew. It helped make the overall experience more pleasant than it already was. You’ll also find that missions are easier to complete when you’re working together with people you know. There was no voice chat in game with the beta. My team and I used skype to keep in contact.
Plenty to do: Whether it be a patrol mission or going back in time, there are plenty of missions to keep you occupied. The variety of missions and ways to explore make Star Trek Online a lot of fun to play. On top of the regular Missions, Star Trek Online offers players PVP where they can test their skills against other players. You can battle as either a Klingon or a Federation officer.
Random Fun: If you know me and watch HBG’s live broadcast, you know we like to have fun past the limits of what the game provides. It’s no different with a game like STO. Being in a game with plenty of other people led to some interesting times. When you’re not looking for missions, why not start a dance party at spacedock, or even greet users beaming down to places like Memory Alpha. With most people being real players and not NPCs, there is fun to be had.
What I disliked:
Repetitive Missions: While there were some excellent missions, there were plenty that are either boring, repetitive, or just uninteresting. It seems there is a simple formula for the missions in this game. You’ll notice a lot of missions are like this “ship combat > away mission > ship combat > done.” Cryptic is planning on adding more missions and such as time goes on, but let’s hope they make the additions an improvement over what is offered now.
Planets: While Cryptic did a good job at recreating the Star Trek universe, there was a lot I found to be amiss. It seemed that a lot of things on planets were really out of place. Worlds just seemed poorly designed and thrown together. Some worlds were bland and I found myself saying to my team, “this planet doesn’t look like it belongs in Star Trek.” This was not the case for every planet though, but most fell victim to this
Star Trek “Offline”: During the beta, the servers were up more than they are now. While it’s only been for the headstart, the servers have gone down close to 4-6 hours each day. I know you’re thinking that is not bad and I should take a break, but it really doesn’t make me feel confident for the long term. A simple server maintenance is no big deal, but the game was going down randomly all throughout the head start weekend.
Leveling up and Skill System: The leveling up in Star Trek Online seems a bit easy. The skill system provided doesn’t really give you anything too exciting either. The problem with an easy leveling system is that by the end of the first month, many players will reach the highest level leaving not much else to do. I’ve been playing the actual game for 4 days now and I’m already a level 18. I would have been higher than that if it wasn’t for all the server downtime. Hopefully they will do something about this or make it more of a challenge as you get to higher levels.
Away Mission Combat: It seems like the developers put more time into the space combat than they did with ground combat. You’ll notice that control on foot is a little odd and the run control is awkward. Once you start running you can’t stop, you’ll need to wait until you become fatigued. Your bridge officers are often more of a nuisance than they are a help. Plenty of times I caught my crew spinning in circles rather than doing what they were supposed to. Overall, I’d rather keep my battles in space.
Broken Missions: Not only in the beta, but the head start as well, there were broken missions. You and your team would complete a mission only for it not to count. You and your team would do the mission over, but it still wouldn’t count. Some of this has been fixed with little patches, but there are still a few broken missions here and there. I found it ironic that a mission called “Breaking the Planet” was broken.
Despite the issues, Star Trek Online has provided me with well over 40 hours of fun. I think it’s the Trekkie in me that got hooked as opposed to the gamer. The game might not be for the hardcore MMORPGers out there, but I feel it’s a game most Star Trek fans can appreciate. It does a good job at putting you in the Star Trek universe, and making you a part of it. No longer are you working for Captain Picard or Kirk, but for yourself.
The game is good and I recommend it for any hardcore Star Trek fan. It’s a great way for fans to pave their own legacy in the Star Trek universe. While it might not be a perfect game of MMORPG, it’s a game that most will enjoy. If you’re a hardcore MMORPGer though, this game will more than likely not be for you.
Editors Note: The game was played during the beta and head start. I played as a federation tactical officer, and created a Klingon character, but did few of those missions. Again, this is not an official review, but rather my take on the game. Thanks to the folks over at cryptic for sending a game key. Without it, this look at Star Trek Online would not have been possible.
Posted on February 3rd, 2010 at 12:01am by Kreyg
Filed Under: Main, Review, Reviews, Star Trek Online Review, Trekker, beta, featured, mmorpg, pc, star-trek, star-trek-online
