I wanted to take a different approach to writing a review today. I was sitting at work yesterday and started to get jealous of all those f*ckers, playing RDR already. I wanted to know how the game was, I wanted to know if it really was a 9.75 or was it more like 7-8. These questions aren't really answered by one person. I mean what one person enjoys someone else may hate.
So I am going to present something a little different today, I am going to write up my review and it will be followed up by what others had posted in a thread in the Sandbox Gaming Forum - here on 2old2play.
godWHYme
Let me start out by saying I am admittedly a bit of a rockstar homer.
I think the this game reminds a lot of GTA IV - minus the buildings. I love expansive areas of exploration, I really like to invest myself into games like this. Oddly enough with GTAIV I felt rooted in my first city. I never really wanted to leave. I mean it felt like the game kept you there so long there was no real point in leaving.
However, in RDR I don't want to stay in one place, right now I don't care about the next mission. I want to hunt down Deer, coyotes, vultures and all that other crap out there I haven't killed yet. Selling flowers, furs, pelts and antlers for money is a pretty interesting dynamic thus far.
I don't know if I am going to care about the story line yet, but so far the characters are done well enough that I am going to give it a shot.
Btw, trying to run away on foot while there is a bounty on your head really just doesn't work. I got killed twice yesterday and both times were trying to run away and getting shot by someone on a horse.
Jett_Fuel
I played the first mission in single player. The graphics are really top notch as the reviews have mentioned. The first few missions are "learning" missions like how to mount a horse, hitch the horse, shoot at things etc. Good for newbies to the GTA like control scheme. I didn't try dead eye but think that will be coming up soon in the next part of the mission I am in....
OutcastB
Well I have been on it for about 2 hours and all I can say is WOW! Rockstar did the right thing by pushing it, because the finished product is astounding. So as Jett said, the first few levels are your tutorials, horse riding, shooting etc... about an hour in is where you get to do your own thing. The attention to the littlest details in this game surpasses any other I have seen to date on a console. The landscapes are jaw dropping beautiful...especially at night. The story is unfolding a bit on the slow side for me, but it's still keeping my interest. The only negative so far I've seen, is how touchy the controls are on horseback... but the more you ride, the easier it gets. The cover system is easy to use although it is tricky sometimes when trying to switch weapons in the middle of battle. Its really hard to sum it up in a short amount of time without writing a novel here, but I HATE sandbox/open world games... and I'm loving this title. For sure an easy contender for G.O.T.Y. and I don't think you would regret picking this up. Hope it helps.
KamakazeTaco
I've been messin around in the RDR freeroam most of the day since I got it. It's absolutely amazing so far. I joined up with a few people from the FoF and we were just in Armadillo shootin at the lawmen and each other, and even that was just crazy fun. It's much better than it was in GTA4. For one, each town has a fast travel point. SO even though when I joined the game I was all the way across the map from everyone else, I was able to get to them in no time. And there's no stupid weapon spawn points. You won't see everyone camping a gun, and each gun feels about as useful as the other when used properly. At the longer ranges you'll want a rifle, but when it gets up close it's a shotgun you need, and there's a few different versions of each. The double barrel shotgun seems to have better range, but the pump action shoots faster.
We started up a game of 2v2 Hold your own, and that's gotta be one of the best versions of capture the flag I've ever played. It started with a mexican standoff, my team standin against the other and my team lost. We didn't get any sort of penalty, but bigfish's team won so you'll have to ask him if he got some kinda reward. Then the game started just like any CTF, they have a bag of gold and so do we. Lots of duckin behind cover and running around with pistols blazing. The Deadeye targeting does make it a little too easy. There's no slo-mo, but if you just move your crosshair over the other guy it'll lock on a few bullets, and as soon as you pull the trigger you shoot like 5 shots in an instant, but the recharge on it is pretty long.
After that, we grabbed some horses and just went off exploring. Didn't take long before we found a bandit encampment and that was a blast, this is some of the best coop I've seen in a while.
My only complaints about the game so far, is the freeroam doesn't have the little games like blackjack or poker, and the bandit camps aren't marked. You could be riding around forever before you find anything. But other than that, it was a very solid experience. The in game chat works on a proximity setting, and it's got a pretty good range if you're in the same town or just outside it. Supposedly if you posse up with everyone, the chat works at all ranges but our room leader couldn't figure out how to start a posse, fucking Dixon.
It supports private rooms and up to 16 players, though the max for a single posse is 8. We only had 4 people and it was a blast, I imagine a full room of 2o2s guys will be a riot.I've been messin around in the RDR freeroam most of the day since I got it. It's absolutely amazing so far. I joined up with a few people from the FoF and we were just in Armadillo shootin at the lawmen and each other, and even that was just crazy fun. It's much better than it was in GTA4. For one, each town has a fast travel point. SO even though when I joined the game I was all the way across the map from everyone else, I was able to get to them in no time. And there's no stupid weapon spawn points. You won't see everyone camping a gun, and each gun feels about as useful as the other when used properly. At the longer ranges you'll want a rifle, but when it gets up close it's a shotgun you need, and there's a few different versions of each. The double barrel shotgun seems to have better range, but the pump action shoots faster.
We started up a game of 2v2 Hold your own, and that's gotta be one of the best versions of capture the flag I've ever played. It started with a mexican standoff, my team standin against the other and my team lost. We didn't get any sort of penalty, but bigfish's team won so you'll have to ask him if he got some kinda reward. Then the game started just like any CTF, they have a bag of gold and so do we. Lots of duckin behind cover and running around with pistols blazing. The Deadeye targeting does make it a little too easy. There's no slo-mo, but if you just move your crosshair over the other guy it'll lock on a few bullets, and as soon as you pull the trigger you shoot like 5 shots in an instant, but the recharge on it is pretty long.
After that, we grabbed some horses and just went off exploring. Didn't take long before we found a bandit encampment and that was a blast, this is some of the best coop I've seen in a while.
My only complaints about the game so far, is the freeroam doesn't have the little games like blackjack or poker, and there's no lasso. You could be riding around forever before you find anything. And it can get a little stale sometimes. There's challenges to keep ya occupied, like doing all the gang hideouts or hunting a few rabbits and deer, but it's mostly just a wide ass area. I remember seeing videos for hunting areas, but nobody I've played with so far has ever found one. Sure, there's spots where one or two bears will appear, but the videos made it sound like you'd have waves of the things comin at ya. So once you've made the lap through all the bandit hideouts, which doesn't take very long, it's sort of "Well, now what?" Future DLC may fix this. Few more coop missions, give us mini games and it could be pretty solid.
The in game chat works on a proximity setting, and it's got a pretty good range if you're in the same town or just outside it. Supposedly if you posse up with everyone, the chat works at all ranges but our room leader couldn't figure out how to start a posse, fucking Dixon.
It supports private rooms and up to 16 players, though the max for a single posse is 8. We only had 4 people and it was a blast, I imagine a full room of 2o2s guys will be a riot.
For the single player, the long rides between objectives are easier when there's someone else. You can just hold down the A button, and Marston will not only keep pace but will usually steer in the proper direction as well. The cutscenes before each mission starts seem better too. Usually longer, and it feels like there's more of a story there. I didn't play too much of the story mode, maybe like an hour's worth, but it's incredibly fun.
Good0men
Gotta say, this game is pretty damn fun in a way I can appreciate as a country boy, a fan of Westerns, and would have never expected from a video game.
You get to rank up sharpshooter, hunting and survivalist skills. Looking out, as you ride, specifically for rabbits to shoot (don't fret, PETA, we skin 'em too so they don't go to waste), you get attuned to using peripheral vision. Having registered small, four-legged activity to the side, which disappeared under cover, I could actually track the little beast from the movement of the grass. The last thing I ever expected to say at my XBox was, "Damn. Armadillo".
Plenty of spontaneous fun - cresting a hill, for example, you might find some scoundrel jumping on horseback, leaving a fallen (robbed) woman behind. Some S.O.B. actually pulled me off my horse, tried to steal it. Lots of moving targets!
The scenery's bloody awesome. I often ride at a canter, just to appreciate the sunset vista.
Haven't tried MP yet, but looking forward to it. I never did experience in GTA the glitches Tank describes, here's hoping everything goes smoothly in RDR.
Coolpengwn
I bought the game last night kind of on a whim. It is AWESOME.
I herded some cattle, broke some horses, herded some horses, broke another horse, killed some dudes, had a showdown (which was sweet), skinned some coyotes, found some treasure using a treasure map, and bought a saloon/brothel.
The graphics are ridiculous. Especially the faces and facial animations. I don't think any other game has even come close to this. And the atmosphere and the sound is ridiculous too. I walked outside my saloon once and found some asshole stabbing one of my women! Bullet to the head. Another time I heard a huge ruckus outside and I ran out to find a horse-drawn wagon just flipped over in the middle of the road.
Definitely worth the mostly impulse buy that it was.
FadeIntoBlack
I have about 6 hours in and I like it so far.
My complaints:
The movement is a little wonky, especially on horseback. Turning around is tougher than it should be.
The combat in some of the more advanced scenes so far also suffers from the controls a little in my opinion. The "snap to" of the scope is good and makes almost every combat a walk in the park so far, but sometimes when you want to aim, the gun thinks you are behind a wall/cover and won't sight down the barrel unless you walk into exposed gunfire. It might not be that big of deal to some, but as I just came from Splinter Cell, it seemed a little clunky.
At times, you complete something and miss the text because the game is doing two things at once.
Picking flowers as a cowboy in the old west is WAT??
Things I love:
The open environment and ability to pick up side quests at leisure is great.
I know some will think its lame, but I love the "outfits" subquests. Those are the kinds of things I will spend hours on in game. Same goes with the hunter mastery and skinning and all those types of subquests. Yeah, I know the picking flowers thing is similar, its just the idea that it is picking flowers that throws me off.
The swearing. It belongs in this game and I am glad they did not remove it.
The choice on bounty quests to kill or bring em back alive.
The feeling that this will be a game I can play for two months and still not complete.
I have not tried any multiplayer yet, but will do that tomorrow. I give it an 8.5/10 at this point. If you read this far, do yourself a favor and save often.
TANK
Can't download my pre-order DLC because the rockstar servers are down
Social linking is down
Freeroam has a shit ton of problems, ones i've noticed so far
-you disappear on horseback
-Sometimes people in your posse aren't visible
-Sometimes bad guys you're suppose to shoot are invisible
-people running around shooting but guns aren't visible
-Hideout missions bad guys spawn in-walls preventing you from finishing
-Plant bomb missions glitchw hen you plant the bomb, your guy glitches and just stands there stuck
Movement is weird, you can't just spin around without walking so your guy kind of archs rather than doing a pinpoint turn, makes it hard to do precision movement. But GTA4 did the same shit, i'll get used to it again
I got into an actual VS match and that was pretty chaotic. One match started with us all standing in a circle in a mexican standoff, then we played a gold rush game which was insane and then a gang shootout where it split us into two uneven teams and then it was deathmatch style.
There's a lot to get used to with this game, the interface and all the dots, symbols, numbers, wanted level and bounty level it's all pretty overwhelming at first. And lots of mods are locked, i don't know how you unlock them yet.
wilderz
I'll echo Tank's sentiments in that the MP is whack at this point. I encountered all of the same things he mentioned. After about 45 minutes in Freeroam, I quit and loaded up the single player.
The feeling of being in the wild west is very authentic. The town I have been to seemed alive, lived-in, and barely hanging on for dear life to eek out some kind of living. I've been doing the tutorial missions, and completed most of them last night. I can see that this game is going to be a big time sucker for me, and is easily worth the 60.00
Sgt_J_M_Stryker
I've only played multi-player matches and free roam. Watched my son play some of the single-player.
Following applies to 360 version installed to HDD:
GRAPHICS
- absolutely beautiful!
- even better than BC2 which uses dedicated servers.
- super detail and amazing weather and time-of-day effects, even in MP!
MULTI-PLAYER
- free roam is a blast with a posse!
- be patient, there's a lot to explore
- modes such as Hold Your Own are VERY entertaining
- it seems you level up faster in missions than in Free Roam
MULTI-PLAYER PERFORMANCE
- a few bugs, especially in Free Roam (see below)
- one of the best 3rd person action shooters I've ever played
- excellent controls including good cover system
- not a precision shooter but plenty of aim/control options to fit your style*
BUGS
- occasionally Free Roam loses connection and players drop
- sometimes in Free Room weapons/characters/horses turn invisible
- occasional visual hiccups such as "floating character models"
*I really dislike 3rd person shooters for a number of reasons. I also found GTA IV's controls good but still wonky compared to a tight 1st person shooter. But RDR's controls are a joy to use, even for this die-hard FPS gamer! I even enjoyed the cover system.
When I setup the controls for Casual (lots of auto-aim and auto-centering) or Expert (effectively no auto-aim) without auto-centering I had serious problems. Couldn't hit the broadside of an Old West barn! This was frustrating as I usually have an excellent KRD in shooters. I was going 2 and 10 for goodness' sake!
So then I tried Normal with NO auto-centering. Works GREAT! Point in the general direction of a target, aim-in, and your aim-point locks on to the target. Fire away! But unlike some auto-aim systems you still have full control of the aim-point to lead running targets or to go for head shots.
It's really the best of both worlds since the controls aren't tight enough for precision CQB using Expert mode. And casual with auto-center will make you miss a lot of shots and "fight the controls". Use "Normal" (snap-to-target) for CQB and tweak aim-point for difficult shots.
So, recommendations for control configuration:
1. Use "Normal" instead of casual or expert
2. Turn off auto-centering or you'll find yourself having trouble moving and shooting
