[MTS]

I'd agree with you there Traveller - I liked the MacFarlane's Ranch/Beecher's Hope missions a lot more than the more combat-oriented missions. The 'rancher' type of lifestyle I found was a lot more dynamic than the 'reformed outlaw' parts of the story, where all you really did was ride somewhere, put bullets in everyone's heads in 0.0000000000000000000258 seconds flat, and voila, mission over.

All in all, the gameplay was absolutely fantastic, and they did a really good job at creating a semi-believable frontier at the turn of the 20th century. The story and the characters let it down though. It was a chore to play after the story because Jack's voice was so goddamn annoying.

[Raymond Luxury Yacht]

Traveller, on 23 July 2010 - 09:02 PM, said:

Generally I really enjoyed it. Most of it I loved - the hunting, the stranger missions that didn't involve collecting stuff, and the first part of the main story, centred round MacFarlene Ranch. The combat was a bit easy, but it was still fun. The first time you have to gather the cattle in the thunderstorm? That's when I really got hooked. It was the 'small' stuff I liked the most, I would have been perfectly happy with no main story. Instead, being able to set up a ranch from scratch, with a lot of associated missions, and the ability to use money from hunting, collecting bounties/robbing stuff.

Asspects I didn't like - the inconsistancy with Marstons character, as mentioned above. You could be shooting civilians one minute, and in the next cut scene, talking about how reformed and good you are. Also, the fact that you could just be riding into town,
and you might accidentally run over a stray mongrel. Suddenly you have a bounty on your head, and sheriffs appear, shooting to kill. Over a stray dog? The main story got dull for me when every mission involved a looong ride to another location, and the whole 'hunting down the gang' got re-used over and over. Caught up with them? Shot everyone? Oh no, so-and-so's escaped again somehow.

I am still annoyed about the end. I wanted payback, dammit!

did you do the final stranger mission? Payback can be had.

[Traveller]

Yeah, but that just wasn't enough.. shooting down an old retired guy by a river. I really wanted Marston to find out his family had been taken out - then head out, Unforgiven style, to get his revenge on the government guys. I would have liked to have seen Marston, who had (in his own eyes) changed his ways, get tipped back by the Law he was trying to abide by. The post game free roam would then be fun, as you could go and do all the really dastardly stuff. And maybe end up with Bonnie.

Jack irritated me as he started with all the skills and honour of John without earning any of it.

[Silencer]

I'm just about at the end of the game (Jack's parts), and I have to say that it's been a great ride (pun intended). I even almost felt something for John at the end - it was great.

On the topic of story not matching up with in-game actions, that's a serious compromise that sometimes needs to be made. To have a story, in particular a decent one, you have a couple of options: have different dialogue and outcomes depending on what you do in the game, in which case you have to have contingency plans, alternate endings, alternate character interpretations and so on. Or, you can have a fixed story that sometimes hand-waves your in-game choices. RDR has made the latter, and I don't think any game has successfully (really. Though I'm mostly thinking of modern games, it still holds true for most older ones) carried out the former. You just have to accept that, in giving the player freedom, some things are not always going to match up. It's unfortunate but inevitable. And they did a pretty good job with what they had, especially when it is quite clear that the storyline is *meant* to be second to the free roaming.

That being said, I did still enjoy the story, and especially enjoyed the rest of the game - I'm probably going to be playing this one for a while longer, that's for sure.

[Beezulbubba]

Just saw a cheat on G4's Xplay..... if you kill all of the buffalo roaming the Great Plains, you make them extinct (you don't see them in your game anymore - - - given you save your progress). You also get an achievement called "Manifest Destiny".... I'm gonna have to go for this one. ....mwuuuuhahahahahaha!

[Beezulbubba]

accomplished.... now Ted Nugent has sent the Great White Buffalo to exact revenge.
http://www.youtube.c...h?v=O3J-XYnZHfU

This post has been edited by Beezulbubba: 30 July 2010 - 04:16 AM

[Beezulbubba]

Behind the scenes of the music of Red Dead Redemption: http://blip.tv/file/3943907

[Beezulbubba]

Liars and Cheats Pack (DLC) available today (Sept. 21, 2010)

Highlights


* Horse races < < < < sweet!
* Multi-player Poker and Liar's Dice < < < < yawn
* Stronghold competitive mode (hold your ground) < < < < < sweet! sounds like this came out of the organic tendency for a posse to try and hold down El Presidio or Fort Mercer during a Free Roam session.
* A new weapon (Explosive Rifle): reduce your enemies to dust. < < < < sweet!
* New characters to select from for your character skin < < < < < meh :-/
* Several new Gang Hideouts to battle in Free Roam < < < < sweet!
* Several new Hunting Grounds to explore in Free Roam < < < < sweet!

[Aptorian]

FINALLY!

After waiting for ever RDR has dropped far enough in price that I am willing to buy it.

I know what I will be doing all weekend.

[Traveller]

..and all next week. Hunting bears, dragging bandits through cactus patches, and getting jumped by cougars.

Great stuff.

[Beezulbubba]

Yep... a pretty awesome world to explore, have fun!

[Isa]

Did anyone complete the 'kill a bear with your bare hands' challenge?

I've heard rumor that lasso and sniper rifle is needed but I haven't been able try it myself yet. Will confess to getting quite excited when walking around bear country, they freak me out.

[Beezulbubba]

Yep, I achieved 100% completion. The technique I used for the bear challenge was

Spoiler

first to shoot it in its haunches until it is wounded enough to where it will run away from you. Run after it with your knife equipped and go Jack the Ripper on it.

Bears are easy, because they are slow. Killing the cougars with bare hands was a tougher challenge. If you don't finish these you miss out on hunting the legendary beasts challenge (which is a lot of fun, imo).

[Isa]

These legendary beasts, are they the same animals or is it something new?

True enough about the bears being slower, but I have a deep rooted fear from watching too much Silver Fang when I was little.

Spoiler

I was sorely tempted to leave the brat up at the cave. Had I know you'd end up having to play him I probably would have.

This post has been edited by Isolde: 17 December 2010 - 11:38 PM

[Beezulbubba]

This link explains (no clicky if you don't want spoilage!) http://reddead.wikia.com/wiki/Animals

If you get the Undead Nightmare pack, you get access to the Mythical Beasts. They are pretty sweet!

Spoiler

Busting and owning a unicorn is sweet. They are fast has hell and leave a rainbow tracer behind them.

[Aptorian]

Game didn't arrive yesterday. I really hope it is here when I come back from work. Unfortunately the site I ordered it from is swamped with Christmas purchases ... or maybe it is the postal office?

[Traveller]

Is the DLC worth getting? I thought zombies was a bit of a cop-out considering all the possibilities for expansions, and zombies appear in fucking everything.

But hey, it's more Marston. Anyone recommend it?

[Aptorian]

According to the reviews it is way worth it. Lots of content and it has a genuinely good and funny story at its center.

[Isa]

I'm not purist enough to mind the zombies, it sounds awesome, as does the mythical creatures.

I wonder if the donkeys are zombified...

[Beezulbubba]

I had the same feelings about zombies in RDR. Too me, adding zombies seems to be chasing trends versus doing something innovative and unique (zombies are in every damn game). With that said, the Undead Nightmare pack is worth it. A lot of fun and content (much more then the other DLC and for the same price). And yes, there are zombie versions of everything (except I do not remember coming across a zombie donkey). And the mythical beasts are cool.

Spoiler

Poor Sasquatch though, they are made out to be giant pussies in the game. There's something not right when it's so easy to rope one and drag it behind your horse. Hell, you can chase after one on foot and serve up a knuckle sandwich, no problem.