411 Games Top 5 07.01.01: Week 69 - Red Dead Redemption

Posted by Todd Vote on 07.01.2010

From poker and hunting to exploring the wilderness and Devil Dice, 411 Games Staffers rank their Top 5 Favorite Red Dead Redemption things!

I'M BAAAACK!! Welcome folks, it took some time, but I was able to fight off the Armando regime and take back my column. Big ups to Armando for wrestling control away from me, but he was not prepared for the ensuing legal battle I brought down upon him.

In all seriousness, I want to thank Armando from the bottom of my heart for filling in for me for the past month, you did a bang up job, and I owe you one. For those of you who wondered where I was, my mother had a brain tumor, and I was the only one close enough to help her out. So I wasn't able to commit to the time it took to put the top 5 together on a weekly basis. I stepped aside, Armando, knowing where I was coming from stepped in right away to take the reigns of the Top 5, so a serious guy nod and chest bump to Mr. Rodriguez, and a very heartfelt thank you.

Anyways, the brain tumor was benign, and the Mother unit is nearly back to 100%, so I am back now. Enough mushy stuff, let's bet to the reason you are all here, the Top 5.


Comment Time with Toddo!

Will not be seen this week. Everything from last week was Armando's feedback, and I'm not touching it with a ten foot pole. It could be infected.



For those of you that read my review, yes all eight of you, it is no secret that I love me some Red Dead Redemption. Well turns out I'm not the only member of the staff with Red Dead fever, as it has been burning up the forums in the 411 home office, and the praise is shared by all of us. Red Dead Redemption is a must play. Our talk has even persuaded a couple of skeptics to pick up the game, and they fell in love with it just like the rest of us. Now I know it might seem a bit odd to do a Top 5 based on one single game, without even a franchise to work from for our ideas, but you know what? Its post E3, and it's my first week back, so I wanted to do a little something for a break from the over flow of E3 news, and just have a little fun. We hope you enjoy our lists, and hopefully maybe a couple of you will go out and buy the game. We'll see you in the multi-player.

Armando Rodriguez

5. Poker: I don't know why, but I always waste an hour or two playing poker. I have become quite good and that's how I make most of my money when I am on a pinch instead of relying on you know, actually doing jobs. God, how I wish I could do something like that in real life. Plus, whenever I lose I make sure to put a bullet on everyone's head before I go.

4.Power=corruption: This might be a bit of a spoiler, but the whole story arc in Mexico is great and it reminds us about how power corrupts people. We have a bastard dictator choking the life of the poor people and a rebel group dedicated to taking him down. Of course, this "rebel savior" is as corrupt as the leader he is trying to overthrow, using his charms and status as a hero to bed every young lady he can get his hands on, making false promises and of course, thinking about power and being above the people he is supposedly trying to help. Even before he succeeds at becoming the new president, he already sees himself above the rest of his people.

3.The truth about the government: It is hard to see what is happening to John Marston and not relate in a way. He was a man who did many horrible things, but left that life behind in search of peace, a quite life and redemption. Now he is forced to do something he doesn't want to do by the government who are holding his family hostage, a government who keeps switching the terms of their agreement whenever they want to. I know times have changed, but for historians, this is a great piece of what was going on in the turn of the century, back when the federal government was still ruthless and many of the principles of our constitution didn't apply.

2.Hunting: This is my favorite activity in the whole game. Hunting is amazing, there are so many animals to hunt and the skinning animation is great. I never get tired of seeing it. It is hard to focus on the mission at hand when you stumble on buffalos, a deer or some other animal that you know you can hunt and make some money from. Plus, cougars are all kinds of awesome. I have died more by cougar attacks than by bullets. The first time a cougar jumped on my ass while I was skinning deer I almost crapped in my pants. I know I had just shot his meal, but either way it was unexpected.

1.There is so much to do!: The makings of a great open world game: have a ton of stuff to do. This game surpassed my expectations. From poker, blackjack, five finger fillet and other games of chance, to mundane jobs like taming horses or patrolling towns, to hunting, herb collecting, treasure finding and so many other tasks you will never be short on activities to complete.

Stephen RandleHONORABLE MENTIONS

5.Be a cowboy. - Honestly, that could be all five points right there. Let me say it slower. You. Can. Be. A. Goddamned. Cowboy. Remember John Wayne? Clint? Wyatt Earp? Walker, Texas Ranger? Be those guys. Did you need any more reasons to play?

4.Be cowboys. - That's cowboys. With an "s". By which I mean multiplayer. Get your friends together and roam the Old West. Be a posse of lawmen or a gang of bandits. Do with your buddies nearly everything you can do in single player. Because the only thing better than playing an awesome single player game is playing an awesome game with a bunch of other people.

3.No, seriously, DO ANYTHING - Want to play poker? Liar's Dice? Horseshoes? Blackjack? Break horses? Hunt animals for their pelts? Search for exotic herbs? Empty out nests of bandits? Get drunk? Hogtie someone and leave them on the railroad tracks? Rob a bank? Shoot random people for the hell of it? Race? Unlock new outfits? Cheat? Read a newspaper detailing your exploits? Ride a train? Shoot random birds as they fly by? Just ride the countryside and see the sights? Well, then do it. Do whatever you want, whenever you want, to whomever you want.

2."The game isn't over until the credits roll" - The new meme of the RDR player. No spoilers, but rest assured, no matter how finished the game might seem, if you haven't seen the credits roll, you still have playing to do.



1.Cougars - So majestic. So very, very deadly. Sure, when you're mounted and riding along, everything's cool and you can easily outmaneuver them (plus, if all else fails, the horse takes the first hit, usually letting you get the kill in revenge). But when you venture out into the deserted wilderness, in search of herbs or animals or treasures to complete challenges, when the first cougar takes down your horse, leaving you on foot and miles away from any civilization, the sun hours away from rising, your bullet supply dwindling, your Dead Eye meter nearing exhaustion, and oh yeah, animal corpses attract more cougars. Then you hear the savage cry echo out of the wilderness, you spy not one, but two giant felines flowing out of the darkness ahead, and when you take aim, you realize that you've forgotten that when you can see two cougars, you're missing the third one that is right behind you. And at that point, my friend, you are truly playing Red Dead Redemption.

You're also completely, totally, f***ed.

Trace AberHONORABLE MENTIONS



"Far Away" by José González - Honestly, this might deserve to make the top five but since it's a once time thing, I'll leave it here. There's a certain part in the game where this song comes on and it's entirely fitting and unlike anything I've heard in a video game. It was around this moment that I knew this game was something special.

5.Gang Hideouts - I'll admit that after a while the allure of the hideouts diminishes, but it'd be unfair to totally ignore them. In fact, one of the coolest moments I've had with this game came from a gang hideout. I accidentally entered one (and didn't realize until after I had beaten it) and a terrific, epic song came on. I ran through the mountains killing enemy after enemy on my horse with my newly found shotgun. And as soon as I finished the hideout, the music stopped and all I could hear was the nature around me. Damn that was awesome.

4.Being Able to Do Whatever You Want - There have been plenty of times where I've set out to do a certain number of missions in a single session, but instead of that I go out and play poker for an hour. Or blackjack, arm wrestling, liar's dice, horseshoes, or even bounty hunting. This game would have been finished so much sooner if it wasn't for these little diversions and it's possible to get entirely sucked in without realizing it.

3.Helping Out Strangers -Strangers are essentially the side quests of Red Dead and provide some of the more interesting moments in the game. While most of these are your common "go fetch me something" or "find this person" scenarios, Red Dead adds its own twist and makes each character interesting and unique. Some you'll hate, some you'll love, and some you'll just feel bad for. But they're all worth doing.

2.Attacking Fort Mercer - I'd say this is a spoiler, but if you didn't expect to attack this place you clearly have no idea what's going on with this game. That being said, this attack is absolutely awesome and really pays off...until you realize you're not even close to being done with your mission.

1.Exploring the Wilderness - The missions in this game are fun. The things you can do on the side are fun. Helping demented people is fun. But none of that would matter if it wasn't for the ability to simply explore. I've spent so much time riding around on my horse, not looking for anything in particular, then finding something that eats up a bunch of my time. That's not even considering all of the random world events that occur while you're roaming. The fact that everything is beautiful along the way helps.

Dustin JamesHONORABLE MENTIONS

5. Newspapers! - Was I the only who actually looked forward to going and picking up the latest copy of whatever the hell the newspaper was called? I loved that the paper was filled with incidents that have taken place as a result of your actions as well as numerous other things from around town. Plus, the obituaries were a nice touch. I loved killing someone and then seeing their name in the obituaries. What can I say? I'm sick and disgusting.

4. TRAAAAAIIIIIIIIIINNNN!!!!!!!! - I can't remember who it was, but someone here in the 411 Games Zone turned me onto lassoing up random people and placing them on the train tracks and watching the results as the train comes gunning down the tracks. Needless to say, the results are AWESOME. They are especially impressive when you are able to get more than one person on the tracks. I'm just saying.....

3. The ENDING - Without giving you any spoilers, I will tell you people that the ending to the game is excellent! Just when you think the game is over, it's not. Then when the ending actually comes, it feels like you are watching a movie and all it does is make you READY TO PLAY SOME MORE! I'm currently gunning for the 100% completion of the game achievement because I'm cool like that. I'm only at like 82%, but I'm sure I will get there by the time Red Dead Revenge (not an actual game, but if they name it that, I want residuals!) comes out.



2. Hunting! When the Xbox360 first launched, one of the first games that came out for the system was Gun. While Gun was met with mixed reviews, I personally dug the game. One of the reasons I dug the game was due to the hunting. I loved taking a break from whatever the hell I was doing at the time to try and shoot the GREAT GREY WOLF! Red Dead takes Gun's hunting aspect and makes it MUCH better. You can literally drive all over the map and find numerous different creatures. Are you tired of hunting coyotes? Hunt some wolves. Are you tired of hunting some cougars? Hunt some bears. You see what I'm getting at here?

1. YOU get to do what YOU want! - The #1 thing I love about this game is the fact that you can do whatever the hell you want. Sometimes when I'm bored, I'll load the game just so I can take a cruise around the Old West and see what kind of trouble I can get into. Maybe I feel like playing a game? Then I'll head on over to the poker room. Maybe I feel like hunting some bad guys? Then I'll go take a look at the latest bounty signs. Maybe I feel like just riding my horse across the sunset and shoot random people. It really doesn't matter because it's all UP TO YOU! Seriously, why haven't you played this game yet?

Mathew SforcinaHONORABLE MENTIONS

5.Poker without cheating - Because true men can win without resorting to cheating.

4.Hustling people - It might have been some early tutorial missions, but helping to swindle some poor, innocent people out of their hard earned cash by pretending that an elixer worked and being a ringer in a race were just plain fun man.



3.The Dastardly Achievement - Especially when you use the woman who tried to help rob you.

2.Devil Dice - Because I'm DAMM good at that game.

1.I'm only 25% of the way in - So... Why am I wasting time here? Excuse me.

Todd VoteHONORABLE MENTIONS

Forge the River Oregon Trail Style - There is a mission in the game where you have to cross the river into Mexico, well of course nothing can go smoothly, and before long you are dealing with numerous bandits on the shore lines. Now it may not be in the vain of Oregon Trail, but I'll be damned if I didn't think about Oregon Trail while floating down the river on a makeshift raft.

Dastardly - It's one of the secret achievements, in which you go old school and hogtie a woman, throw her in front of a train, and collect gamerscore... curly mustache is optional, but it helps. Anyone who doesn't get a kick out of this, well then you just aren't twisted enough.

Cougars! - You think just because it's a cat it can't start some shit? You would be dead wrong in this case... No other animal will randomly attack you like the cougar. This sounds bad, I know, but you have to love the way a cougar can take down a horse in mid stride, and watch yourself go flying... Get up and shoot the bastard.

5.Dead-Eye!! - There is just something so satisfying about being able to use the Evans Repeater, quick site up to 22 men, and take them all down with one clip... You want bloody violent satisfaction, then Dead-Eye is for you. In addition to that, I cannot count the number of times Dead-Eye saved my ass in this game. Out of bullets and need to reload in a jiffy? Activate the Dead-Eye. Health running low and need a second to regain your bearings? Activate the Dead-Eye! Yes, this bullet time event did more than just make thugs easier to kill.

4.Stranger Missions - Well one Stranger Mission in particular really caught my attention, but they are all worth checking out. The one that caught my attention the most is also one of the first ones I ran into, it is the mission called 'I Know You'. You will trigger this one fairly early in the game, and it will also take you till near the end of the game to get it finished up. I don't want to ruin it, but it is one of the better side stories in the game in my opinion.

3.Epic Story Telling - The main story of the game starts out kind of slow, sure, but stick with it and you will be greatly pleased with the way things play out, and as it has been said by my colleagues, it isn't over till the credits role. If Red Dead Revolver was Rockstar's attempt at a Spaghetti Western, then this is their attempt at something a bit more serious, similar to The Unforgiven, and is easily one of the best stories of the year that I have experienced, right up there with Darksiders.

2.Promotes ADD - I know ADD is no laughing matter, but never in a game have I ever been so distracted by everything there is to do that I nearly forgot about the main missions of the game. It took me a good week and a half to get the game to open up Mexico if that is any indication to those that have played it.

1.You can do ANYTHING! - There is so much to do in this game, you really need to go play it. I've only touched on the things to do with my list, there is horse breaking, you can play cards, and dice. Hell there are even random spawning world events to keep you distracted. Play this game!


Bonus Video:



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Well that brings another week to a close, it's good to be back, and I hope you all enjoyed a closer look at Red Dead Redemption and all it has to offer. Seriously, you should all be playing this game by the time this column returns next week. If not, well the cougars might just come and get ya.

Around the site:
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And I leave you to ponder this thought:
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