Monday, March 14, 2011

Grrrrrr, Red Dead Redemption

At any given time, I am usually working my way through a console game.  Lately, that game has been Red Dead Redemption.  I only get in an hour or two a week, so it takes me quite a while to finish a game.  It seems I will not be finishing RDR.

Red Dead Redemption is a game I both love and hate.  Let's start out with the love.  I love the Western setting, the voice acting is top notch, the graphics are great and the mechanics are a lot of fun.  I also enjoy the overall story of the game.

Hate may be a strong word, but it is enough to overcome all of the love.  First, I hate the multitude of mundane quests you are sent on.  I don't want to herd cows or break-in horses.  Shooting crows? No thanks. I don't even want to race.

Worse than the mundane quests was John Marston himself.  He started out pretty cool, but then it became clear he had no real character.  I think Penny Arcade had a comic describing it, but I can't find it.  Marston would just do whatever people told him and take a lot of abuse.  It really made me miss Mass Effect, how I would have liked RDR to have a little RPG mixed in.

Spoilers...

I pushed myself through Mexico and then back to the States.  Finally killed Dutch and was hoping the game was over.  Nope, I need to do mundane chores around the house.  I just can't bring myself to play the game again.  I have heard about the ending, which does sound good but not enough for me to spend any more time on the game.

Next up is Fallout 3.  I played some of it on my PC, but got the Game of the Year for my 360.  It's refreshing to have some control over the attitude of my character again.