Red Dead Redemption 2

 

We are starting off this series with a game that I went into completely blind. I had heard of Red Dead Redemption before, but had no idea what it was about, what the story was or how it was played. Overall I loved this game- it was a combination of factors I enjoy- (in-depth character story and detailed cutscenes) with things that pushed me out of my comfort zone (Aiming/shooting/combat games and fast reactions). 

I really appreciated as a film student how cinematic the game was- during the cut-scenes there were very seamless transitions between gameplay and the sequences, adding to the immersion and providing some beautiful shots in the process. The story was also fairly easy to follow despite having no prior knowledge of the previous game. 

I liked how the characters didn't fit the binary opposites of 'Good and Evil' but were instead somewhere in the middle, allowing the gamer to make their own judgements and shape the character around their play. I felt like my choices and the way I played made an impact on my experience and could potentially be different depending on the gamer. 

Tom chose this game for me to see how I would particularly deal with the immersion aspect. The attention to detail in Red Dead is crazy, from polishing your weapons to feeding your horse, changing your clothes depending on the weather and hunting for food. This game really does attempt to build a digital bridge between fantasy and the everyday- the mundane is often overlooked in games. I did, however, as a first-time gamer find this immersion both genius and quite laborious. I am not too familiar with the XBOX1 controllers and therefore struggled sometimes to use the correct buttons at the right times as silly as that may sound to more experienced gamers. There were also a lot of controls to remember which I did find tricky, though the most common controls were more easy to remember.

I also found in places the pacing could be fairly laborious. Even despite the cut-scenes, I did grow weary of riding a horse for 10 minutes between each mission- though maybe that stems from living in a society of instant gratification and the demand for immediacy. Another option that would have allowed me to enjoy the game more would be for different talking options when interacting with other characters. We have the option to ask questions to others, however these questions are usually just to fill silence between missions. I would have liked to be able to have choices as to what I could say in response to other characters (for example, the Walking Dead, Until Dawn etc.)

I played this game for maybe 90 minutes- I do think I improved my skills throughout. I have never been particularly skilled at combat games- Tom chose this game partially to challenge my terrible aim and my tendancy to just panic and shoot in any random direction. I did fail a mission several times before I passsed, though my persistence paid off and when I did I felt such a wave of accomplishment. It wasn't until this moment that I started to realise just how invested I had become in the character's life, how much I cared whether he lived or died, and also understood how amazing it must feel to game regularly and experience these wins on a daily basis. Despite the gamespace being completely fictional and the achievements of gaming signifying nothing in the real world, I can begin to understand why this past-time is growing so rapidly in popularity and how people can easily spend hours staring at a screen, yelling through their failures and triumphs. 

Tom rates this a solid 8/10 and I would have to agree. The graphics and story-telling are superb, however I do think this is a game suited to more of an experienced audience- which I most definitely am not.

I wasn't told until after finishing play that this was a very critically acclaimed and multi-award winning game to prevent bias in my reviews or reactions to a game. I can certainly see why this game is such a hit and I did thotoughly enjoy this experience.