Red Dead Redemption

I gotta say, so far 2011 is stacking up to be a great year for video games from 2010! I was completely blown away by how much I enjoyed Mafia II, and now I'm rockin' Red Dead Redemption on a level I never expected. If you clicked the links on the games above you'll notice that while I linked the Mafia II website I chose to use the Red Dead Wiki for the other, and there's a reason for that, there is just that much going on.

I have only ever played one Rockstar game, Red Dead Revolver, a pathetic attempt to bring a spaghetti western to life, a genre which I don't think should have ever lived, let alone be bastardized in a video game, but I digress. I have avoided the GTA series due to my aversion to sandbox games, and what I perceived to be weak story-lines, so this game was something of a risk for me, but one I'm glad I took.

I won't go into great detail, but I will note what I like: a decent story with a quest driven narrative, great characters, especially the main, John Marston, stunning scenery and background detailing, and attention to detail that makes failure to immerse yourself impossible.

To be fair it's not without problems, horses can be painful to maneuver, weapon mechanics aren't as streamlined as they could be, and the side quests can be a little too immersive, to the point of distraction from the main story. The problem I found with this was I got a little bored with hunting and gathering and almost quit playing the game; I actually had to take step back and get myself in the campaign again. The whole balancing act between side and main questing took a bit to catch onto, but now that I have it I find they go hand in hand very nicely.

Really not much more I can say, I've already bought the DLC expansions for it and looking forward to complete everything. I even downloaded an app on my phone that is essentially a checklist for the game, it's just that massive, there is no other way to keep track of it all.