It’s been 13 years since Rockstar’s seminal game hit store shelves and released a masterpiece upon us gamers, and it wasn’t a “Grand Theft Auto” game, but “Red Dead Redemption.” A sequel to the 2004 title “Red Dead Revolver,” while you didn’t need to play that game before this one, I have fond memories playing both the original and its successor back when it originally released. Taking place in 1911, you play as a former outlaw named John Marston, who seeks revenge against his former gang members for kidnapping his family. The plot is simple and effective with its amazing dialogue and themes involving the cycle of violence, law and order, social change, and yes, redemption.
The gaming community still talks about Rockstar’s triumphant game even to this day, it is easily a ten out of ten game on my and many others rating scales. There isn’t too much to talk about that many don’t already know, so I’m going to mostly discuss this new released version that has just dropped on PlayStation 4, you heard that right, PlayStation 4. While, of course, the game is compatible with the newer generation console the PS5, this release of “Red Dead Redemption” is unfortunately not the one everyone was excited about from all the rumors over the last year or so. The game is not at all a remake nor is it at all a remaster. At best this is just a port of the PS3 version of the game I already owned. They did incorporate the fantastic and also critically acclaimed DLC “Undead Nightmare,” which is extremely fun all on its own, but I couldn’t help but notice the online multiplayer has been removed.
Now, this is where things continue to get frustrating. There has been a release of “Red Dead Redemption” plus “Undead Nightmare” for the Xbox 360 for many years now, which is arguably still the best version to play. The Xbox version still has the online multiplayer option available and the online community for it is still fairly active, so omitting this feature from this new release really feels dumbfounding to me. This PS4 release also advertises that it’s 4K upscaled graphics, but it seems they only upscaled the already 720p graphics which don’t look all that great. The biggest controversy since this new release was announced a week or so ago though, was for its price tag. Rockstar is asking for fifty dollars for this game. This made their entire fanbase incredibly upset and rightfully so, the Xbox 360 disc version that I mentioned earlier has had a price tag of thirty dollars for years now and that is still at this point the best way to play the game. I reckon at the time of this game’s announcement they had said the price was twenty dollars, people would be much more understanding of what this product is and what they would be paying for, but that is not what happened.
So, does “Red Dead Redemption” as a game still hold up today? Absolutely it does, and even if graphically speaking is starting to show off its age (which a new lighting mechanic really could have helped it here), the game and story is still very much fun to play. I regretfully have to say that for this specific release, I will have to start docking points from my ten out of ten grading, mainly due to the cut features and clear lack of effort with such a high price tag. It would be hard for me to recommend anyone this title at this time with its current price, unless you’re an obsessive fan, but even then, you’d know there’s a better version of it elsewhere. My unfortunate recommendation would be to let Rockstar know how you feel and vote with your wallet, perhaps wait until this goes on sale.
8.5/10
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Related: Nick Navarro Reviews
Gaming since I was given an original Nintendo as a kid. I love great storytelling and unique ingenuity. When both collide in a single game, I'm a happy gamer. Twitter/IG @NickNavarro87
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