Red Dead Redemption Review (PS3 [Reviewed], Xbox 360)
Developer: Rockstar San Diego
Publisher: Rockstar Games
Released: May 18, 2010
ESRB: M – Mature

If a film buff asked me to describe The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly in one word, that word would be “epic.” If you asked me the same question about Red Dead Redemption, the answer is exactly the same. Everything about this game is as close to perfect as anything in the medium has ever gotten. The story, the gameplay, the open world, the multiplayer. All of it. Top to bottom.

I spent well over 200 hours in this game. I hit 100% completion in single player and reached level 50 in multiplayer. I don’t say that to brag. I say it because I want you to understand the level of investment this game pulled out of me, and I’m not someone who reaches 100% completion on just anything. Red Dead Redemption is the exception to almost every rule I have about how I play games.

The Story

The story is the best I’ve ever encountered in an open-world game, and it’s not particularly close. John Marston is, to me, the best character in a video game since Revan in Knights of the Old Republic. He’s a former outlaw trying to make things right and raise his family on his ranch, a man caught between the life he’s trying to leave behind and the people who won’t let him leave it. That tension drives everything.

The way I approached the campaign made it even more meaningful. I did some dirty things in the name of fun along the way, sure, but as far as the overall story was concerned, my John Marston found redemption. He was a good man trying to do right. Playing it that way made the ending something I wasn’t prepared for. It hit harder than 99% of films I’ve seen over the past two decades, and I mean that without any exaggeration. If you know, you know. If you don’t, I’m not going to spoil it here, but just know that Rockstar San Diego crafted one of the most memorable endings in the history of the medium.

The cutscenes are great, the voice work is fantastic across the board, and the supporting cast is full of characters you’ll either love or love to hate. Nobody is clean in this world. Even your allies have enough dirt on them to fill a grave, and that moral ambiguity makes every relationship in the game feel real and earned.

The World

The world of Red Dead Redemption isn’t just a backdrop. You don’t move through it on your way to the next mission marker. You live in it. The characters feel alive, the side activities feel like things people actually do, and getting distracted on the way to a story mission is something you welcome rather than resist because the world is just that good at pulling you in.

I never in a million years would have thought I’d spend several hours playing horseshoes in a video game. And yet. Poker, blackjack, arm wrestling, five finger fillet. I did all of it and never felt like I was wasting time because none of it felt like filler. It all felt like it belonged in this world.

The hunting is something else entirely. I used to play the Cabela’s games pretty regularly, and I had more fun freely hunting in Red Dead Redemption than I ever did in a dedicated hunting game. It’s genuinely easy to spend three hours out in the wilderness tracking and skinning animals without even realizing that much time has passed. And if you want a genuine rush, try walking into Tall Trees at night on foot. I ended up getting chased by four bears while trying to fight them off with a knife. I have no idea how I survived that. I barely did.

The world isn’t massive by the standards of modern open-world games, but it always feels like it is. Your horse gets you where you need to go at a pace that suits the world, and quick travel is available via camping, stagecoach, or the train if you need it. But I almost always chose to ride, and not at a full sprint either. I rode slow. I took the trails. I watched the sun come up over the hills and the storms roll in across the plains, and it was as good as anything the game asked me to do in a structured mission. That’s how you know an open world is actually working.

This is a stark contrast to most open-world games in which I’d drive around in a car as fast as possible. The reason is simple: the world of Red Dead Redemption is beautiful, lively, and dangerous, all of which simply means that taking your time strolling along the trails and soaking it all in is just as fun as anything else and something that adds to the experience of sucking you in.

The Gameplay

The controls and mechanics are exactly what they need to be and nothing more. Combat is satisfying without being flashy. The Dead Eye system never gets old, and the variety of weapons gives you enough options to develop a genuine play style without overwhelming you. Every mission is well designed and memorable in its own way, and the game never runs out of ideas in the way so many open-world games do by the third act.

The pacing of the campaign is something Rockstar rarely gets right but absolutely nails here. It’s the right length, it earns every emotional beat it reaches for, and it never outstays its welcome.

The Multiplayer

The multiplayer is a different beast entirely but equally worth your time. Having said that, I want to be honest: I spent virtually no time in the competitive modes and had zero desire to. I don’t feel like I missed anything.

Free Roam is where I lived. Getting together with friends or random players to go hunting, clear gang hideouts, or just start a rampage and see how long you can hold out against the law is as good as any multiplayer experience I’ve had in a sandbox game. It’s the best online free roam mode I’ve seen, period.

The co-op missions are fantastic too. I played through most of them with fellow staff member Q, and we went through every mission gunning for gold medals. Those sessions are some of my favorite gaming memories from that whole era.

The Bottom Line

Red Dead Redemption was my Game of the Year for 2010. It’s also my favorite video game of all time, a title it took from Knights of the Old Republic and has never given back. I’ve gone back to it multiple times since that first playthrough, and it holds up completely every single time.

This is what open-world games should aspire to be. A living world, a story worth caring about, a protagonist worth investing in, and enough to do that you never want to leave. Rockstar San Diego made something genuinely special here, and if for any reason you still haven’t experienced it, fix that immediately.

Red Dead Redemption is a masterpiece and hands down, the best sandbox game to date.

Red Dead Redemption gets a five out of five: EXALTED.

If you enjoy this one, you might also like to check out my review of Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare or Just Cause 2, for more open world goodness. Or click here to check out more game reviews. If you like Red Dead, I’ve written a series of Christian articles about it for The Sunday Sermon you should check out. Sermon 1, Sermon 2 and Sermon 3.

Agree, disagree, or think I got it completely wrong? Say so in the comments or over at our Vortex Effect forums.