Red Dead Redemption (2010)

Everyone knows it and i repeat it, Red Dead Redemption is a modern classic. I could praise this game so much but everbody did it, by right, before me. Great Characters, awesome gameplay, are beautiful gameworld that is beyond everything i experienced before in games and the second best gameending i know so far (you cant beat Vampires Bloodlines). Leaving my Horse with no Name, that carried me through Mexico and the US is like leaving and old friend.

For a genre we rarely see represented in gaming, this was one to make the industry take notice. This game still holds a spot as my favorite game- Western, open-world, great narrative, what's not to like?
While this game is a spiritual successor to Red Dead Revolver, it shares more in common with GUN. The absolutely massive open world, plenty of side quests to occupy your time, and a top-notch story.

I recently replayed this game, so here's a more in depth review.

The gameplay is solid; shooting feels natural, the horse riding is fluid, and the level design of the world makes levels interesting and really captures the American West. Some times, John can be a little unwieldy with quick turns, but it's fine. Some of the collect-a-thon side objectives were very dull. Collecting all those plants wasn't fun gameplay, just tedium to get one of the only 2 dusters in the game.
The game is very pretty and has aged well for a 7 year old game, though some of the textures haven't held up as well, DeSanta's jacket & Irish's shirt were really noticeable.

This game is all centered around the story, the redemption of John Marston. Replaying this I didn't realize, but about every conversation John has with everyone turns into a bit of a philosophy debate. John's dry wit is always appreciated too. With Bill, & lesser extent Dutch, I feel the game suffers from "telling over showing". John talks about how Bill was alright back then, but losing Dutch made him scared & angry, but in the limited scenes we see Bill he's a typical belligerent outlaw.

Each map area is sort of a little Western film in itself; New Austin has a Magnificent Seven vibe, while Mexico's more the Undefeated, and West Elizabeth's a "dying West" The Shootist tale. They are all connected by the overarching story of John hunting down a former friend. Even when I played this game the first time, I always felt the first act was the strongest. You're meeting a bunch of unique characters, Fort Mercer is your direct goal, and the plot moves at a good pace. Then once you assault the fort they pull a "Bill is in the other fort."
After the great intro song into Mexico, the story felt like it got a bit side tracked. The Mexican Revolution arc goes on forever, you meet fewer characters and John spends the whole just asking, "Where's Bill?" & getting jerked around. The final act seemed a bit tacked on to me. Like you killed Bill, but yeah, now go kill Dutch. The game feels kinda sleepy too, West Elizabeth is very flat & the music is kinda sleepy sounding. John constantly yelling "Where's my family?" at Ross got kinda old hat quick.
It all got made up by the awesome ending though. The final showdown with Dutch is one of my favorite scenes in gaming.

"Our time has passed John."

And most games would end there with the bad guys beat, but that's not the end of John's story. The family ranch missions are great in that you see John trying to be a good father, and the honest love between him & Abigail. This is when John feels the most human. And his final stand was very awesome, Western movie badassery.

All in all, even with all my nitpicks this is by far still my favorite game ever. My complaints are just personal taste & still didn't spoil the experience any. I look forward to Red Dead Redemption 2 being another favorite.