Last Generation Gamer: The Little Things make Red Dead Redemption an Incredible Game
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Last Generation Gamer is Seed Sings way of reflecting on the greatest video games that were released before the current gen systems. These are not necessarily reviews. Let's look at these thoughts as a walk down memory lane. If you have any ideas for Last Generation Gamer contact us seedsing.rdk@gmail.com
So you know there are SPOILERS of the plot to Red Dead Redemption in this article.
Today I shot a man down by a river in Mexico.
This was my fifth attempt at shooting the man who killed my father. The first four times I was not fast enough, and I died on the banks of that Mexican river. This fifth attempt was right on the mark. I was finally faster than the treacherous agent of the United States Government. Killing a man should not feel rewarding, but this showdown was not about joy. Killing Agent Ross was all about redemption. Redemption for my father John Marston.
Red Dead Redemption, released in 2010, is an open world Western released by Rockstar Games. Rockstar had made a name for themselves in sandbox gaming as the people behind the Grand Theft Auto games. Red Dead Redemption was built on the same model, but instead of modern city street the players were greeted by the wild west of popular American culture. Like all good open world games, Red Dead Redemption lets the player travel the developing American West, and a revolution ready Northern Mexico, to their heart's desire. Ride a horse through the cacti infested desert, capture wanted criminals dead or alive, play numerous games of chance, catch a silent film at the local theater, and many more tropes of the Old West are available to the player. There is the main story, but those quests can wait while you take some time break horses or herd a few cattle. Red Dead Redemption brings the American frontier to the player.
I picked up a used copy of Red Dead Redemption at my local Gamestop over a year ago. Many great things were said about the game, and due to my love of a good western, I thought why not give it shot. When I first started to play the game, I got lost. I never was that much into the Grand Theft Auto games, and when it came to open world games I was used to the mechanics of Bethesda games like Oblivion and Skyrim and Bioware games like Mass Effect. The different feel of Red Dead Redemption turned me off. I completed a few busy work tasks for Bonnie MacFarlane and made my way to Armadillo, but I really spent most of my time riding through the untamed lands. Red Dead Redemption quickly made its way out of my 360 and into my storage bin. I had a galaxy to save and dragons to slay.
One lazy summer day, The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly was on tv. I love this movie. I sat down to escape the heat and spent the next few others with Blondie, Angel Eyes, and Tuco. Once the great film ended, I popped Red Dead Redemption into my 360. I wanted to play the old west. No matter what the plot had in store, Red Dead Redemption was going to put me on the back of a horse, and I could watch the sun rise and set over the mesa's of the American southwest circa late 19th century.
The attention to detail is what brought me back to Red Dead Redemption. The music, the ambient sounds, the voices, the buildings, the landscapes, it is all done perfectly. Even the players avatar, John Marston, is perfect. His scarred face, do or do not give a damn attitude, his chivalry, it is like a role Clint Eastwood would have died to play. I decided to start the game over, and this time try to stay close to the main plot. I went through the folly of my actions at Fort Mercer, my game explaining work at the MacFarlane ranch, and then my journey to the town of Amarillo.
In that small town I met Mr. Wes Dickens, who led me to Irish and Seth. These three characters are amazing. Dickens is the prototypical snake oil salesman, but quite resourceful. Irish is a typical immigrant who has let the excesses of ungoverned lands get the best of him. Then there is Seth.
Seth makes the early main quest of Red Dead Redemption so immersive. He is a disgusting, broken man, yet the perfect representation of the false American Dream. He is in the west to claim his fortune, but his mind has become so warped by the false dogma of the American Dream. Seth is willing to do anything, anything, to gain his unknowable fortune. In my love of westerns, there has never been a character as objectionable, and deserving of pity, like Seth Briars. He is one of the most interesting, and best, characters I have ever encountered in a video game.
Once Marston makes it into Mexico, the main plot of Red Dead Redemption starts to lose me. Throughout most of the game there is a libertarian bent towards the characters view of the government. Once you get to Mexico, government becomes all about equally terrible people fighting each other for power. I am not naive to think this is not the case in real life, but many times I wanted the chance to have Marston shoot Colonel Allende, Captain de Santa, and rebel leader Reyes. The game goes out of its way to show how terrible these men are, especially Captain de Santa. The character is a comically rendered Tony Montana who is also a gay predator. It is truly one of the worst things I have seen in a great game. It is not subtle at all.
Unfortunately in order to move the plot forward, I had to help all of these terrible men. The one thing that kept my game going was the Mexican landscape. The American old west was incredible, Mexico was even more breathtaking. The vistas were amazing, the towns are all gems. Riding along the dirt roads took up hours of my time. I wanted to watch the sun rise and set over the landscape worn down by millions of years of wind and sand. The beautiful isolation I felt in Skyrim was easily topped by the late nights gazing over the weathered rock formations of Mexico in Red Dead Redemption.
When your Marston travels back over the river and returns to US territory, Red Dead Redemption's story continues the theme of bad government and what is man's true purpose. Agent Ross, and the other government agents you encounter are poorly drawn caricatures of incompetence and evil. The main quest has become shootouts and horse back riding. Again I never had the option to just end it with Agent Ross, but I understand that there is a story to be told.
Even with the uninspired main quest, Red Dead Redemption is worth it in these last parts just for the time you get to spend with John Marston. The gorgeous Mexican vistas get replaced with the barren landscape of the plains, the snowy mountains of the north, and the emerging city of Blackwater. Knowing that the main quest was coming to an end, I spent many hours playing poker, hunting bears, and lining up the perfect shot to bring down the mighty buffalo. Spending time with John Marston was my reward for dealing with insufferable US agents.
Once Dutch was dead, and my job was complete, I had a sense of dread. This was it, the game was over. A solemn song song started to play as my Marston made his way down the snowy mountain. I went a little slower than normal to appreciate the scenery one last time. Goodbye Red Dead Redemption, it was worth it.
To my surprise the game did not end. John Marston was given the reward of his family and the dream of being a rancher. I felt like this was one of the best endings in a game I have ever played. While the rest of the world was terrible, John Marston was just trying to do the right thing for his family. He was rewarded with his loving wife Abigail, his son Jack, and a little place out at Beecher's Hope. I was rewarded by doing the basic busy work of a rancher, by having playful back and forth with my wife, by berating an old timey western man with tobacco juice staining his white beard, and by bonding with my son. This was the ending Marston deserved, and I was lucky to spend a few peaceful moments in the plains of the old American West.
The peaceful reward of John Marston's life was not to be. Agent Ross comes back to finish his dastardly deed. With the US Army setting up an ambush, John Marston was not going to get his redemption. The main quested hinted at a violent end for Marston, and he did end in hail of gunfire. I was truly crushed when I saw Abigail weeping over her dead husband, and the good son trying to be strong. The great ending of Red Dead Redemption was replaced by one far more real, but soul crushing. Watching Jack and Abigail Marston standing over John's grave was sad, but the quiet moment was perfect for a game built on the little things. I was satisfied.
Yet much like the end of The Lord of the Rings, Red Dead Redemption was not ready to say goodbye. After a sad song playing over the image of John Marston's grave, we pan back to see an older Jack Marston staring at the burial plots of his mother and father. Now was the time for redemption. I immediately hopped on my horse and tore out for Blackwater. Agent Ross was going to get his. From Blackwater I was set on a wild goose chase all over the great landscapes that make up Red Dead Redemption. It was one last great ride through the land I had grown to love. My final stop was at the banks of river in Mexico. Agent Ross was waiting. After trying many times, my Jack Marston was able to take his revenge. Ross was dead in the river, and Jack had achieved his family's redemption. End of game.
I do not know if I was supposed to feel a sense of happiness when my Jack Marston shot the elderly Agent Ross along the banks of that Mexican river bank. Maybe Jack was meant to be better than his parents, but it did not matter. Shooting Agent Ross gave me a real sense of accomplishment unlike any other game. The grandeur of fighting the dragons of Skyrim, the spectacle of taking down a reaper in Mass Effect, none of it compared to the serene setting of defeating the enemy alone in the untamed lands of early 20th century Northern Mexico. Red Dead Redemption used it's perfect atmosphere to highlight the biggest boss battle of the game. The little things made the biggest difference.
I finished the main story of Red Dead Redemption on the same day that Rockstar announced the long waited for sequel to the game. The promise of Red Dead Redemption 2 has excited many people, myself included. I do not care about the main quest, I am on the fence if I want John Marston back, but I definitely want to revisit the old west on a next generation system. With how great Red Dead Redemption looks, sounds, and feels on my 360, I can not imagine what it will be like on a console with a lot more power. I am excited to sit on my horse and take in the old west once again.
RD
RD Kulik is the Head Editor for SeedSing. If you want to be immersed in the old west, play Red Dead Redemption and skip Westworld. That is the best advice.
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