Red Dead Redemption

[Designer1]

Having spent quite a bit of time on the multiplayer over the last couple of days (mostly Free Roam challenges with a posse) I think it's worth picking up just for that. Add the fantastic single player into that and you've got GOTY material.

Really? I think it's the other way round, an excellent single player game backed up by a good multiplayer. I don't think the online is quite up to the standards of single player, not to say the online is bad, just the single player is amazing.

I didn't say I thought the multiplayer was better than the single player game though. The single player game is utterly fantastic and obviously worth anyones hard earned cash. But such is the entertainment value I've gleaned from the multiplayer over the last few days, I think (especially with the different challenges and modes available) that it stands on it own and is worthy of anyones time and indeed money.

[Sie]

I must say, I'm yet to be convinced of the multiplayer. Stability issues aside, I've found free roam a little anaemic and the fucktards running around killing everything in sight force it into deathmatch - behaviour that free roam all too easily facilitates because of the respawn mechanic and auto-aim. When you're teamed up with amiable players then it works but because the morons far and away outstrip decent folk in the online realm, all too often it falls apart. That and the world doesn't feel nearly as alive as it does in single player, what with towns being depopulated and all the neat touches and mini-games having been stripped out.

Having said that, Rockstar have recently announced that they're looking into adding a free roam mode where expert aiming is forced onto all players taking part. I think that would definitely fix some of the issues I feel it suffers from. Next they just need to stick the mini-games in because not being able to play Texas Hold 'em online with other players is a glaringly omission for me.

[lapal_fan]

agree with you there sie.

It was the same with gtaIV though online.

looks like the memory must play a big part in getting 16 players online together. But whilst it is pretty basic the challenges are still neat and the difficulty is good.

[Dante_Lockhart]

Next they just need to stick the mini-games in because not being able to play Texas Hold 'em online with other players is a glaringly omission for me.

*does a sex wee*

[Designer1]

I When you're teamed up with amiable players then it works but because the morons far and away outstrip decent folk in the online realm, all to often it falls apart.

Think I've been lucky in that respect. Every time i've joined a posse in freeroam i've been grouped with decent people. I can certainly see why being grouped with a bunch of morons would sour the experience, although that can be said for any online game.

[Genie]

Right, I have got the afternoon to myself. I decided to go and pick the game up. It's selling quite well, isnt it? Game and Gamestation are both completely sold out (I know they carry the bare minimum of stock so they can clean up on selling used copies a couple of weeks after a game is released) and HMV is sold out of the 360 version. I couldnt be arsed to go to one of the supermarkets so I got the PS3 version from HMV. Let's hope it is as good as everybody says!

I've had a similar afternoon to you Nays but dragged my arse to ASDA and Sainsburys too. No joy (Game, Gamestation and HMV Tamworth all sold out).

Just ordered it from shopto.net who have it in stock and will post it today so hopefully be playing it in the morning.

EDIT: Ordered 16.14hrs, despatched 16.44hrs

Now thats service

[Rino8]

Sold out almost everywhere in Leeds too. Had no idea it would sell like this, really surprising.

[wiggyrichard]

Still not unwrapped it...my XBox decided to die and get 3 red rings so i cant play it...oh the jealousy and heartache :cry:

[The_Rev]

One good thing about having a 360 and a PS3, you double your chances of finding it.

First impressions are very good. It's odd that the very first thing you see is a car, I understand the game was set in 1911 which really is at the arse end of the old west, the Apache wars were all but over, the gold rush had finished and most of the west had joined the United States. I'm not sure that's the most interesting period of the Wild West but I am sure they have their reasons for choosing to have the game as late as that.

I keep falling into the World of Warcraft trap where I get distracted by anything and everything. I know I wont be able to resist maxing out the marksman challenges, all the rabbits and birds of Texas days are numbered.

Do you not find that the poker is a bit cheap btw? Some fat guy with round glasses kept getting ridiculous hands against me, he got a flush about five times in six games and three kings on the other occasion. I was forced to shoot him in the chest, which the law seemed to take exception to. Is anybody playing this game as a piece of shit, or are you all going down the hero route?

[Sie]

I'm pretty much sticking to following John's scripted demeanour towards good and bad - I'm a gentlemen with morals that occasionally lapse (such as breaking into Armadillo bank and shooting fireside campers for fun). For the most part though, I'm a good guy. My second playthrough will see me being the biggest shit in the west.

The poker is what any round of amateur poker is. Sometimes you just feel like the other guy is getting all the cards, sometimes you get them all and all the other times everyone is bluffing shite when they should have folded.

And of course becoming absorbed into the atmospheric world in the game is what RDR is all about. Going off and doing your own thing for hours on end such as hunting for treasure, clearing out gang hideouts or even just exploring the landscape - it certainly evokes that same sense of unrestricted wonderment that WoW did. And none of it is superfluous as you're rewarded for it all. A player just hammering the story missions would be missing the real brilliance of the game no question.

[acwilliams]

Just one quick question from me, which is what will hinge on me buying it once my exams have finished, regardless of how good it's reviews are, has it got a "fun factor"?

I ask this because I used to love open world games, but GTA IV completely put me off them because, in my opinion, it just wasn't fun to play, and I haven't played one since.

[Sie]

Just one quick question from me, which is what will hinge on me buying it once my exams have finished, regardless of how good it's reviews are, has it got a "fun factor"?

I ask this because I used to love open world games, but GTA IV completely put me off them because, in my opinion, it just wasn't fun to play, and I haven't played one since.

Fun factor? It's got that in **** spades my dear fellow.

[kidlewis]

I'm pretty much sticking to following John's scripted demeanour towards good and bad - I'm a gentlemen with morals that occasionally lapse (such as breaking into Armadillo bank and shooting fireside campers for fun). For the most part though, I'm a good guy. My second playthrough will see me being the biggest shit in the west.

The poker is what any round of amateur poker is. Sometimes you just feel like the other guy is getting all the cards, sometimes you get them all and all the other times everyone is bluffing shite when they should have folded.

And of course becoming absorbed into the atmospheric world in the game is what RDR is all about. Going off and doing your own thing for hours on end such as hunting for treasure, clearing out gang hideouts or even just exploring the landscape - it certainly evokes that same sense of unrestricted wonderment that WoW did. And none of it is superfluous as you're rewarded for it all. A player just hammering the story missions would be missing the real brilliance of the game no question.

This game is going to be this years Arkam asylum. It snuck up on most people hence it's sold out everywhere and it's going to smash the back door out of every other game at the Baftas etc next time round.

I am just about to meet Irish to go across the river.

Taken me about 28 hours so far. progressed through to level 5 of treasure, level 7 of shooting and level 6 of picking flowers etc.

done lots of side missions, always help out people who are in trouble from animals or bad guys.

I have to say I am looking now at the camera panning over the river and the water just looks real, can't tell the difference. You can with the landscape but the water just looks like I am watching a doc on bbc.

[Rainer]

Got it through the post from amazon today, game of the year no doubt.

[Risso]

Still not unwrapped it...my XBox decided to die and get 3 red rings so i cant play it...oh the jealousy and heartache :cry:

I share your pain. Setlled down for a marathon session last night, only to find my two year old son had spilt orange juice over my controller and knackered it.

[The_Rev]

Invest in one of these!

[Risso]

Not sure that'll be much use when playing RDR, but I'll give it a go!

[The_Rev]

[CastleBromVilla]

Having a bounty your head can be such a pain in the arse, bounty hunters always seem to show up at the wrong time (dry on ammo and medicine!), mines nearly $800, but i'm trying to pay it off.

I was finding combat quite difficult when faced with multiple enemies, but thats been made easier now i've discovered the slow mo which is triggered by the R3 button, i'm able to pick people off before they even reach me, and it's much easier to get in head shots! I went to loot the body of a guy i'd killed earlier with a headsot, massive hole in his face

Things are also made much easier when you do the missions for Bonnie MacFarlane, they basically show you the ropes, and you get the lasso.

[The_Rev]

I have found myself shooting like a quickscoper in MW2. If I have multiple enemies I wont stay aimed in, Ill press L2 then R2 a split second later. Once the shot has been fired I'll let go of the buttons and repeat until everybody is dead. The auto aim snaps to the target if you are close enough and it seems to have been effective so far.