Initial thoughts - "Red Dead Redemption"

As I wander aimlessly through the vast plains of New Austin, I stop to gather in my surroundings. Birds soar overheard, wild horses cavort across the untouched wilderness, and, off in the distance, ranchers slowly ride to the nearby town of Armadillo. As the sun slowly descends, painting the landscape in bright colors, I decide to make camp for the night. The dusty trails of the Wild West are a far cry from the bustling streets of Liberty City and, honestly, I’m starting to dig it.

The world of Rockstar’s latest open-world, sandbox adventure, “Red Dead Redemption,” stands in stark contrast to the developer’s flagship franchise, “Grand Theft Auto.” I knew, even before playing it, that I would immediately fall in love with it – but I didn’t realize how hard of a fall it was going to be.

I’ve only played “RDR” for less than a day now so I wouldn’t feel right writing up a full review, but I will share some of my initial thoughts.

-“RDR” is stunningly beautiful. The landscapes, the character models, wild animals, etc. are greatly improved from “GTA IV,” amazingly, and the bright color palette combine to give this game some truly incredible visuals.

-The controls and gameplay are improved from past “GTA” games and though they’re unique to “RDR,” they feel immediately familiar and its very easy to jump right into a new game, or even into multiplayer (more on that in a bit).

-The mission structure is a little too similar to “GTA IV,” though. You spend entirely too much time doing odd jobs or other inconsequential missions when you feel like you really oughta be getting to the task at hand.

-Speaking of the task at hand – the story. Players take control of John Marston, a former outlaw who changed his ways, settled down and started a family. The federal government needs Marston’s help to track down his former friend and gang member, Bill Williamson, and basically holds his family until he gets the job done. You run into all sorts of unsavory and hilarious characters in your travels, but just don’t expect every mission to be a showdown at the O.K. Corral.

-The multiplayer, which was a huge draw for numerous people, including many of my friends and people I know over the internet, is unfortunately quite broken right now. Though I’m sure it’s just a symptom of too many people trying to play at the same time (that time being the night of the first day it was released) but the problems my friends and I were experiencing last night felt to be stemming from a bigger problem than too many people playing. The gameplay was buggy and lagged inexplicably at times, character models, horses and weapons would disappear at a moment’s notice for no reason and in about 10-15 minutes of time trying to hunt animals, found not a single one anywhere we went on the map (which in single player, you’ll always hear birds, coyotes, horses, etc.). And we experienced these problems even when we booted up a private multiplayer session – which leads me to believe these problems lie within the game itself and not just an overworked online service. I’m hoping for a quick fix to these problems because single player is only so much fun before you start thinking about how much fun it would be to roam the plains with a posse of friends.

That’s all for now. I’d write more but the wild, untamed land is calling my name and I’m powerless to resist.