With Red Dead Redemption having had several clear references to the John Ford classic, there’s no denying that The Searchers ‘ influences on the Western film genre have worked their way into Rockstar’s work, and it will be interesting to see if Red Dead Redemption 2 continues on what Ford and John Wayne delivered with their seminal 1956 film.
When you think of Rockstar Games, Grand Theft Auto is no doubt the first thing that pops into mind. They’ve built a multi-billionaire dollar franchise that has become a household name, but they’re a multi-studio company that has many properties in their catalogue. Midnight Club, Smuggler’s Run, Max Payne, State of Emergency, Bully and so many more, Rockstar is far more than just Grand Theft Auto. With that said, their third-person action adventure formula has worked for them in the past and so they’ve been implementing it into other titles, one for example would be Red Dead Redemption. Released over eight years ago, we dove into the Wild West like we’ve never done so before, with an Open world games cheats world ripe for exploration, a compelling story with a loveable cast of characters and a cleverly-designed shooting mechanic. Here we are again, as Rockstar has created a more colossal and immersive game that puts it in a familiar territory, all while making feel like its own identity.
Grand Theft Auto V is out on PS4, Xbox One, PS3, and Xbox 360, and the PC version launches in January. With that out of the way its time to head back to the old west. Rumors concerning one of 2010s best games have been circulating for a while now, and its about time Rockstar reveals Red Dead Redemption 2. We know its happening, and with all versions of Grand Theft Auto V out in the wild the time has never been more right. We may be waiting years for the game to finally hit store shelves, but better knowing now then being left in the dark.
Red Dead Redemption 2 is a long game and there’s a lot to do in it. The main campaign alone, along with a good number of Stranger missions, took us just under fifty hours to complete, which is exponentially longer than its predecessor. That’s barely even participating in the various other activities, such as hunting, gambling, bounty hunting and more. The Stranger missions are one of the bigger draws as they are once again whacky, over-the-top scenarios that fill out the world. Arthur may not have the sarcastic, comical timing of John Marston, but he still lends to each situation with his confusion. Sadly, I never saw a damsel tied up on a railroad track that needed saving. Speaking of Stranger missions, you’re also able to make choices that may affect scenes in the main story. For example, I met one woman earlier in the campaign and she appeared as a prostitute later on, which lead to a bounty immediately put on my head. Another was a surprisingly lengthy scene with a nun who I randomly bumped into once, and Arthur opened up to her. Your choices through the campaign do hold some weight as they can affect where specific people end up in the future and might even expand upon Arthur’s character more.
As a subgenre of Westerns that mostly came to prominence in the 1960s and named for being produced and directed by Italian filmmakers, Sergio Leone’s trilogy starring Clint Eastwood became the standard in bringing flair to the Western genre that was marked by a heightened sense of cinematic technique and style.
GTA IV had a great multiplayer mode, but the greatest thing Rockstar did was release two single player expansions for the game. Red Dead Redemption received a fantastic standalone adventure in Undead Nightmare, and GTA V got nothing. Instead, Rockstar focused on improving the game’s online after launch, going so far as to launch it as its own separate product. Rockstar has been putting more and more focus on multiplayer modes, which is a shame because their stories are some of the best in the industry. The move away from single player content could completely change what Rockstar is about, we want them to continue making the games they are great at making while innovating as they have been for ye
From its Morricone-inspired score to even the physical similarities that John Marston shared with Eastwood’s iconic Man with No Name, The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly is a no-brainer to watch when selecting Western films, but a crucial film to explore the genre and one that arguably defines the visual styling of the Red Dead series.
December 2014 was a terrible time to be a gamer. Not only did we have to contend with the buggy launches of DriveClub, Assassin’s Creed: Unity, and Halo: The Master Chief Collection, but we also had to deal with Lizard Squad who sought to ruin Christmas for so many gamers. With no purpose or intent, Lizard Squad bombarded PSN and Xbox Live servers with DDOS attacks. This crippled PSN and Xbox Live throughout the month, but also on Christmas Day when thousands of new PS4 and Xbox One owners were unwrapping their consoles. These consoles need firmware update to properly function, something that can’t be done if the consoles can’t connect online. We hope that in 2015 this malicious group stays away from PSN and Xbox Live.