Riding With a Legend: A Red Dead Redemption I Review (Part 2)

Welcome to part two of Riding With a Legend: A Red Dead Redemption I Review. In this part you’ll find an in-depth review of the mechanics, DLC, setting, and more. 

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Bulls-eye! 

Red Dead Redemption I is not a challenging game, which makes it such a lovable experience because you're really just in it for the characters in the story, not the challenge of a game; there's no soul-crushing missions that make you want to rage quit. There's nothing hardcore about Red Dead Redemption I; at its core, it’s a story game that you get to just tag along on the ride for. 

The combat in Red Dead Redemption I is very similar to GTA IV. It's easy for anyone playing, even for people picking up their first ever video game. There's a lock-on mechanic that when you aim it immediately locks onto enemies for you. There's also a lot of cover wherever you go that you can duck behind and avoid the stray bullets of enemies. So the combat aspect is not the hardest part of Red Dead Redemption I. 

There really isn't a hard part of Red Dead Redemption I, which makes the game rather simple to play. Like I’ve said, Red Dead Redemption I is a story game, that is what you were here for and what you will get. 

There are two things about the gameplay and controls that makes Red Dead Redemption I even more easy than the lock-on mechanic. Your health regenerates itself and there is something called Dead Eye, which basically means you can freeze time for a short period and predetermine where you want to aim on multiple locations. Then when your Dead Eye runs out or you choose to unpause your Dead Eye, it will fire all of the shots you have already predetermined. 

There's also a morality system in Red Dead Redemption I also known as your honor. You can have high honor or low honor, which is just basically how you decide to play. To keep high honor, you’ll have to kill fewer people and do unprompted good deeds. But if you decided you just didn't care and went into places gun blazing and weren't going to take the more noble route, you would have low honor. 

To me, Red Dead Redemption (both of them) are games about redemption, so I always like to play the game in the beginning with low honor and then building myself up to high honor because it is how the protagonist gets redemption. 

Lumbago 

I will be honest about Red Dead Redemption I, it’s age does weigh on it. It's from 2010, which means a lot of the mechanics are a little janky and there's certain parts where you're stuck wondering why certain mechanics weren’t put into the game. For example, John can't swim. He just drowns if you get him in water, which is later used as an easter egg type joke in Red Dead Redemption II. 

You definitely can see the age of Red Dead Redemption I even in the graphics, which are still incredibly good, they just don't hold up as well as some of the other games from that time frame. I think what else damages Red Dead Redemption I’s ability to hold up in today's standards is the fact that Red Dead Redemption II is probably one of the most beautiful games you can play visually and mechanically. Red Dead Redemption I is left to fall flat in comparison.

A Lawless Landscape

The world in Red Dead Redemption I is harsh and unforgiving, which makes it all that more believable. I mentioned earlier that the visuals of Red Dead Redemption I do not hold up compared to Red Dead Redemption II, but that's just because of how good the second game is. 

The visuals in Red Dead Redemption I are still incredibly beautiful and breathtaking. The way that the sun reflects off the sky, the creatures you'll come across, the forest and trees, the characters, the horses, everything is curated in such a way that nothing is boring to look at. I highly recommend when you play Red Dead Redemption I that you wander and you experience the sounds, the music, look around at the visuals, look at the animals, wander, make your own story occasionally, don't just follow the missions. Make your own fun. 

The Only Partner You’ll Need

Arguably one of the best parts of Red Dead Redemption I is the horses. Anyone who's played Red Dead Redemption (either game) can tell you that the second their horse is killed, all hell breaks loose. The horses are this kind of sacred piece to Red Dead Redemption in the same way that your dog is in Minecraft. 

If anything happens to that companion of yours, you're going to burn it all down with you. The horses in Red Dead Redemption are one of the most reliable companions that you can find. They'll ride you into battle and carry you almost anywhere, which is why they are such an important part of the game. 

Born Unto Trouble

A huge highlight to Red Dead Redemption I is the soundtrack. The music sets the tone and makes it all that more impactful depending on the scene. The music is curated almost perfectly for each scene. The music ever adjusts to the player's actions, which means you almost get your own specialized soundtrack depending on what you're doing. 

The music will capture how alone it is sometimes in the outback when you're just going out for a stroll, or it can capture the intensity of a fight, the sadness of a scene, or the joyousness of reuniting with John's family; the soundtrack and music is perfect at setting the mood of the game. 

An Undead Nightmare

Now that we've covered the basic elements of Red Dead Redemption I, there’s one last thing we must cover: the DLC (downloadable content), Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare. Let's take Red Dead Redemption I and turn it into a horror game real quick. 

Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare was released on Halloween in 2010 as a spin-off from the original game. In this one, they alter the ending and instead of John returning home to his family and the events of the game happening, John returns home to his family just as a zombie apocalypse is starting to take effect. Funny enough, this expansion came out all of three days before the first season of The Walking Dead. So you can argue that Red Dead Redemption I did the zombie thing first. This was also one of the first games with zombies strangely. It would predecess Call of Duty Zombies. 

The DLC adds a little bit more to the story and is basically just an excuse to get to play as John Marston once more. I love the fact that the DLC leans into the fact that this is insane and is just some fun. So the dialogue is cheesy and the zombies are crappy, and everything to do with the DLC is silly; it's for people who love the game at this point. Anyone who loves John or anyone who loves zombies just has to play the DLC. 

Blessed Are The Peacemakers 

So what’s the verdict? 

The DLC is just a little fun addition, and I don’t have as many thoughts on it. The rest of Red Dead Redemption I is an incredibly fun experience, but it is too short for my liking. I love story games. I could play a story game everyday for the rest of my life and never get bored. The issue with Red Dead Redemption I, for me, is the fact that I played Red Dead Redemption II before I played the first. 

The second game is at least 40 hours, possibly up to 60 depending on the person you are. I liked taking my time with Red Dead Redemption II and getting to look at everything and do everything. Red Dead Redemption I doesn't have as many opportunities to do that as Red Dead Redemption II. I find myself often comparing the two games, which leaves Red Dead Redemption I falling just a tad bit flat.

But don’t let that deter you. Saddle up, load up, and take off into the wild west Red Dead Redemption I has to offer.

My Rating