Red Dead: Redemption a.k.a. How The West Was Fun

[NiX]

I found a cannibal while riding through the Western part of the map. He shot at me, so I lassoed, hog tied him and threw him on my horse. A quick check of the map showed that the 509 heading to Gaptooth would be passing by soon, just north a bit. Made my way up there, caught sight of the train and left the sick bastard on the tracks.

[Riggswolfe]

I found a cannibal while riding through the Western part of the map. He shot at me, so I lassoed, hog tied him and threw him on my horse. A quick check of the map showed that the 509 heading to Gaptooth would be passing by soon, just north a bit. Made my way up there, caught sight of the train and left the sick bastard on the tracks.

Did you stick around to watch? Oddly I have always burned out on the GTA games fairly quickly. But this game is holding my attention. I've done maybe 5 main quest missions in my 15 hours or so of play. The rest has been me wandering around doing challenges, saving random people, skinning critters, etc. I'm becomnig a very good shot with a Winchester. Something about the gunplay feels much better than it ever did in the GTA games.

[NiX]

Did you stick around to watch?

He gibbed along with a fine red mist.

[Riggswolfe]

Did you stick around to watch?

He gibbed along with a fine red mist.

I'd heard that's what happens. I have enjoyed the seemingly random events I've encountered. A few are clearly mini-scripts but some of them are just awesome. I read on another forum about a guy who shot some dude in the leg during a duel because he was trying not to kill him. The guy stumbled and fell right in front of a cart that was passing by.

The closest for me has been when one of my living bounties was shot off the back of my horse by his own man.

[MisterNoisy]

So I've been playing the hell out of the single player, and it's been a blast so far - my time has been evenly divided between exploration, shooting any animals that cross my path and the story.  My only gripe is that the first 'upgrade' to the deadeye ability makes it less effective than the version you start out with.  Also, panthers one-shot your horse.

The silent movies in the Armadillo theater are hilarious.

[squirrel]

Did you stick around to watch?

He gibbed along with a fine red mist.

Fuck. I had absolutely zero interest in this game. And then you hog tied a cannibal, threw him on your horse, rode into the sunset, deposited him onto a train track and watched him disappear in a plume of gore – yes?

If so I may have to buy yet another game I have no time to play.

[Rasix]

The closest for me has been when one of my living bounties was shot off the back of my horse by his own man.

After a long chase, I shot a bounty target in the leg, and then he stumbled off a cliff.    

I haven't gotten a single nightwatch mission to complete.  It's always, "you failed to stop any crimes". I wish games would ship with real manuals.

[LK]

I came across a man sobbing over a dead woman. Then apparently he shot himself in the face even though his animation didn't show it. Couldn't even talk to him. Huh.

There's some... wonkiness in this game but it feels good to play. When I die in multiplayer I know it's because I'm bad at it instead of feeling gimped (though cover mechanics are not always great to utilize).

[Velorath]

It feels like a Western GTAIV with a lot of side content to do right from the start. 

-I'm having issues seeing things.  It's the wild west, so everything is brown. People wear brown and are sometimes hard to see in combat when they hide behind brown rocks.

An all-brown GTA game. Well I'm out. 

Seriously though thanks for the impressions. I'd heard it described as Grand Theft Horse but only third-hand and while I do love the western setting GTA does nothing for me.

I don't think it can be overstated how much the change in setting helps.

[NiX]

Fuck. I had absolutely zero interest in this game. And then you hog tied a cannibal, threw him on your horse, rode into the sunset, deposited him onto a train track and watched him disappear in a plume of gore – yes?

If so I may have to buy yet another game I have no time to play.

That is exactly what I did. In the process I saved the lady he was about to eat.

[Jherad]

If you lasso someone whilst on your horse, you can drag them behind you - saves getting off  

Good way to get a bounty on your head if you lasso an innocent and drag them past a bunch of onlookers though.

I've done all the Bonnie missions, but I'm taking the Sheriff ones slowly - I'm having too much fun just arsing around, and don't really want to move on yet.

Edit: I didn't really enjoy GTA4 - this is a different animal for me. The gameplay mechanics are admittedly similar, but Velorath is right that the setting change helps.

[AcidCat]

Something about the gunplay feels much better than it ever did in the GTA games.

Yeah, it's quicker and deadlier, which kinda fits the setting :)

This game is a huge step up from the GTA series in just about every aspect. Writing and voice acting are much improved.

[LK]

I love Marston's voice. I can't recall an instance where I've heard one like it. It's like the opposite of a gravely voiced, severe hero like David Hayter as Solid Snake. All the cutscenes have been a wonder so far.

[01101010]

Don't click on this thread, I told myself. Just don't - it will bring nothing but evil and despair... and of course, I opened from page 1 on down. Fuck me now I gotta find some time and cash to pick this up just to be able to play with people and locomotives.

I hate you all... and myself for listening to you all.

[Riggswolfe]

Edit: I didn't really enjoy GTA4 - this is a different animal for me. The gameplay mechanics are admittedly similar, but Velorath is right that the setting change helps.

I think several things help.

• 1) The setting. The West feels less restrictive somehow.
  
• 2) The character. For me at least I relate much more to John Marston than to any of the characters from GTA. Part of that is that I'm not a thug in real life. :) I've yet to go on a rampage in this game like I did in GTA except one time when I accidentally shot two lawmen. I essentially committed suicide by Sheriff so I could reload. (In my defense I just saw 2 guys chasing a third guy shooting at him. I thought he was the victim of bandits. Oops!)
  
• 3) The mechanics. Shooting feels better to me than it ever did in GTA. Dead Eye helps ALOT! The only minor quibble I have is horse riding can be a tiny bit awkward at times

So...I figure now I'll list my favorite moments so far. Don't worry. No spoilers.

• 1) The first time I leapt from the second story of the Saloon in Armadillo and landed in the saddle on my horse. It's easy to do. Whistle for him. If he stops below that one point with no railing just jump onto him. The game seems to sort of autocorrect for you so you land in the saddle. Still, it's an awesome moment.
• 2) The time I accidentally fell down a steep slope/cliff and hunting for a treasure on foot. I rolled down the cliff and sat up and what do I see? My horse getting back to his feet. If it'd been a movie John would've been cussing at the stupid horse since it wasn't supposed to follow me!
• 3) The time a gang was dragging a townsman behind their horses. I rode up to them, hit Dead Eye and killed all 4 with a single headshot for each of them. I felt like a true Western hero badass.
• 4) The time a bounty was running for a horse and I shot it right as he climbed on. He then tried to run away and I shot his knees out, lassoed him, and took him to town for my living bounty!

[Hawkbit]

For me it's the openness of the game.  Liberty city I never felt like I had a grasp on where I was at any time.  I never got the hang of the city and always followed the little yellow GPS line.  Not so with RDR... I'm getting a feel for the territory and what goes where.  I like it a lot more.

I prefer the setting of RDR as well.

[LK]

2) The character. For me at least I relate much more to John Marston than to any of the characters from GTA. Part of that is that I'm not a thug in real life. :) I've yet to go on a rampage in this game like I did in GTA except one time when I accidentally shot two lawmen. I essentially committed suicide by Sheriff so I could reload. (In my defense I just saw 2 guys chasing a third guy shooting at him. I thought he was the victim of bandits. Oops!)

Marston takes a very neutral stance to the strong opinions of the characters around him. Religion, politics, etc. He finds validity in all sides and doesn't seek to be a counterpoint to their opinions. I think that alone allows more immersion for anyone into the character as he fits into any mold you want to give him. There's something very refreshing and earnest (harkening back to a simple time?  ) about the pacing of the scenes and the personalities of the characters.

I too haven't really done anything "criminal" except for shooting someone who I thought was a horse thief and taking the negative honor hit as a result. It is extremely difficult to do an IFF check on targets as you approach situations until I learn the scripted behaviors. Most of the time I hear a gunshot or something in the distance and pursue it. In fact, it feels inappropriate to do criminal things despite the fact that I'm sure they created a large amount of support for those activities.

One of the funnier encounters I came across is when you have the option to capture or kill two criminals who shot some buddies of a lawman. Bringing them in alive earns more honor; the lawman then proceeds to cap the two guys.

Is there anyway to edit thread titles? This sort of turned into the general RDR thread.

[Riggswolfe]

I too haven't really done anything "criminal" except for shooting someone who I thought was a horse thief and taking the negative honor hit as a result. It is extremely difficult to do an IFF check on targets as you approach situations until I learn the scripted behaviors. Most of the time I hear a gunshot or something in the distance and pursue it. In fact, it feels inappropriate to do criminal things despite the fact that I'm sure they created a large amount of support for those activities.

That reminds me of another of my favorite moments. I was going down to Rio Del Diablo south of Armadillo. This guy waves at me and is like "Stranger! Can you give me a ride please?"

So, I ride up and he yanks me off my horse and starts to gallop away. He yells back something like "Thanks for the horse sucker!"

I of course pull out my Winchester and blow his head off, then whistle for my horse to come back to me. As is my habit with this game I said something sarcastic to the TV along the lines of "You should've killed me."

[Trippy]

Is there anyway to edit thread titles? This sort of turned into the general RDR thread.

You can if you created the thead or are an admin/mod. However each post has its own subject as well and when you reply you'll pick up that subject automatically so the old title will hang around unless a admin/mod goes in and edits the subjects (I usually just do it for the last post in the thread).

[Xanthippe]

That reminds me of another of my favorite moments. I was going down to Rio Del Diablo south of Armadillo. This guy waves at me and is like "Stranger! Can you give me a ride please?"

So, I ride up and he yanks me off my horse and starts to gallop away. He yells back something like "Thanks for the horse sucker!"

I of course pull out my Winchester and blow his head off, then whistle for my horse to come back to me. As is my habit with this game I said something sarcastic to the TV along the lines of "You should've killed me."

I got off my horse to pick some flowers.  While bent over, some guy asked me for a ride, then stole my horse.  My horse is apparently very partial to me, because she bucked him off.  I shot him in the back when he ran off.


I haven't been this engrossed in a single player game in I don't know how long.

[Rasix]

Is there anyway to display the current horse you have?  Also, what's the deal with duels (do those little x's show up on their own) and the new dead eye mode? 

I really wish you could replay certain tutorials, one mispressed X and now I have no idea what I'm doing with certain game mechanics.

[AcidCat]

I think it is really tougher to play a sociopath in this game (not a complaint!), I had a choice to either buy some dude's land for 200 bucks - a decent sum of money at the beginning of the game - or shoot him and take it, which I did just out of expediency. The reaction of the npc when I turned in the quest - the deed had blood on it - actually made me feel like crap. I don't think I ever had that kind of gut response to anything that went down in any GTA game.

[Zetleft]

I really should not have read this thread, I have more then enough games I have yet to finish damnit.

[Moosehands]

Cool stuff I've seen:

A man get killed and eaten by coyotes
An innocent man get lynched
A prostitute beaten to death on the steps of the saloon
I lasso'd an escaping prisoner and dropped him at the feet of a deputy who thanked me, pulled out his gun, shot the tied up dude, and calmly walked away
You can make a decent amount of money following along behind the train skinning roadkill (trackkill?)

My one complaint is the American Appetites subquest seemed poorly written.  I completed the whole thing and got the update in my Outfits list so I know I'm done, but every single step of that quest just ended at "well, no evidence here" right up until the last one.  No exposition, nothing really tying the various steps of the quest together, no closure after you make your last choice.  Cool idea for flavor, but badly implemented.

[NiX]

My one complaint is the American Appetites subquest seemed poorly written.  I completed the whole thing and got the update in my Outfits list so I know I'm done, but every single step of that quest just ended at "well, no evidence here" right up until the last one.  No exposition, nothing really tying the various steps of the quest together, no closure after you make your last choice.  Cool idea for flavor, but badly implemented.

There's a reason for that abrupt end with no explanation.

Also, the deputy shooting the two convicts caught me off guard. I hog tied both and brought them back, took my reward and trotted off. I just heard 2 gunshots behind me, reared my horse around to see the deputy walking back. Created a moment of disbelief for me.

[Ghambit]

Is there busty women in tight corsets in this game?  Preferably ones screaming from high windows and rooms that I can get to, to like use the bathroom 'n stuff y'know.
 

And I wanna play cards... and then shoot someone in the nads below the table when they cheat.  Can I do this?

[NiX]

Is there busty women in tight corsets in this game?  Preferably ones screaming from high windows and rooms that I can get to, to like use the bathroom 'n stuff y'know.
 

And I wanna play cards... and then shoot someone in the nads below the table when they cheat.  Can I do this?

I don't think you can shoot under the table the way you want, but if you caught someone cheating, you could definitely crouch down and let a shot off in their nether regions.

[Riggswolfe]

I've been caught cheating and they challenge you to a duel. The last time I shot the guy's gun out of his hand and got a big boost to honor and fame. I was quite pleased. :)

[Ghambit]

Okay, so what about the boobs and corsets?

[Vision]

Out of sheer curiosity, is there the equivelent of the infamous pick-up-a-hooker-and-watch-the-car-rock that there was in GTAIII (The last one I played)? I imagine its a little difficult to do something like that on a horse....

[Sheepherder]

Ole' Red was never the same afterward...

[tgr]

Well fuck. I wasn't going to get this since, well, I'm not exactly a fan of the consoles (despite having one), but GTA4 worked well enough on the console, and this sounds way cooler than even GTA4. As if I haven't got enough productivity-killing stuff to do.

[Tebonas]

I even asked how much it is today, but I'll be strong. Already have bought GTA4 and Mass Effect twice, never again.

[Ironwood]

I'm about to drop serious money on TV, Xbox and games, just for the hell of it.

Roll on the weekend.

[Ollie]

Ah, the benefits of age and disposable income. Sometimes it's good to be old.