Red Dead Redemption

[D Mac]

April huh. Not too far away.

[Fignuts]

Still too far, considering how awesome this looks. Like one of the only games I'm excited about anymore.

[Kalyx triaD]

Gonna play Bon Jovi's "Dead or Alive" to this. As well as "Wild Wild West" from Will Smith.

[Drakul]

We'll be finding out about the Pre-order costumes tomorrow so that should be worth checking out. We'll get to vote for 1 of 3 costumes, each one with a different effect on the surroundings.

I'm going to say one will be a Clint Eastwood style poncho that will cause people to fear/respect you more. I think one will be all (or mostly) white and have some kind of "good guy" effect. The 3rd will probably be an all black "bad guy" outfit.
Maybe an animal skin outfit that reduces animal attacks.

If a poncho is involved in anyway with these costumes, it'll win the vote.

[Drakul]

The voting begins now for the Pre-order bonus costume:

Originally Posted by R* You now have a say in what the GameStop pre-order bonus for Red Dead Redemption will be. Visit www.gamestop.com/reddead to vote on which outfit will be the exclusive unlockable Gamestop pre-order bonus: The Savvy Merchant, The Deadly Assassin, or The Expert Hunter. Click here to learn more, including what each outfit’s special gameplay advantage benefit is – along with a screen of each in action. Eligible voters will also be entered into the Red Dead Redemption Referendum Sweepstakes – to win daily $100 GameStop gift cards and a grand prize trip to the Grand Canyon. (No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited. Must be 18 or older and a legal resident. Ends 2/15/10. See Official Rules for eligibility requirements and other details.) Stay tuned for details on other international pre-order exclusive bonuses to be revealed very soon.

[DAMN iNATOR]

The Deadly Assassin one definitely looks the most apropos as well as making homeboy there look the most bad-ass. If I was to vote I'd definitely go with the Deadly Assassin attire.

[Drakul]

Why don't you vote? I'm in Scotland but I voted anyway because I'm sure whatever wins will probably end up being the European bonus to. I voted for the Hunter outfit and gave a long winded reason why others should vote for it as well:

Originally Posted by me on the R* website I voted for number 3. The benefits from costumes number 1 and 2 would make the game a little easy. Getting guns cheaper means you can buy them sooner so you'll get the better weapons too soon and just plow through enemies. Regenerating Dead-Eye twice as fast could make the DE Targeting almost infinite. We see it recharging in one video and it already looks like it charges very fast. It would be useful but would take all the fun and excitement away if we can just slow everything down every 5 seconds. Number 3's benefit is a good perk and wont take away the fun and excitement by making things easier, judging my the screenshot of Marston fighting a bear, it looks like it'll increase the fun and excitement. Plus Number 1 looks like a European outfit from WW2, Number 2 looks very cliche and similar to another outfit Marston has and Number 3 looks very unique and cool.

If anyone votes, post what the results are saying so far.

[D Mac]

I went with the Merchant. Assassin looks cool but I'd rather be able to buy the guns and shit and 1/2 price.

[Drakul]

I bet we'll be able to unlock these outfits in the game some how, regardless of which wins the poll. It'll probably be something like

Buy, sell and trade at every store in a single area and get the 1st costume.
Kill X number of enemies using dead eye and get the 2nd costume.
Kill at least one of each animal and gets the 3rd costume.

Still, I voted again. We can vote as often as we like but only once every 24 hours.

Current standings:
The Savvy Merchant: 18%
The Deadly Assassin: 44%
The Expert Hunter: 38%

The results are fluctuating constantly. All of the costumes have been winning the vote at some point. The out come seems like it's going to be unpredictable.

[D Mac]

Originally Posted by Drakul I bet we'll be able to unlock these outfits in the game some how, regardless of which wins the poll. It'll probably be something like Buy, sell and trade at every store in a single area and get the 1st costume. Kill X number of enemies using dead eye and get the 2nd costume. Kill at least one of each animal and gets the 3rd costume.

Or pay X number of Microsoft Points or X number of dollars on the PS Store.

[Drakul]

New gameplay video:

[Buzzkill]

Wow, I just caught wind of this game a couple days ago...woooow

I rarely get excited about upcoming releases, but damn. This has the potential of being my favorite game ever

[Drakul]

Originally Posted by Buzzkill Wow, I just caught wind of this game a couple days ago...woooow I rarely get excited about upcoming releases, but damn. This has the potential of being my favorite game ever

Well, you should probably scan through the thread to catch up on details you missed. I'm pretty excited to. The last time I was this excited about a game was GTA III.

Watching the video, I think the physics look great. I like the little details. Like when the guy was shot and as he fell back, the plants he brushed against moved and everything. I wish they'd show us how horses or Marston would fall, though.
I wonder what the pysics do if you or your horse are hit by a train.

Some hands-on previews. Click the site name to see the full article:

Originally Posted by R* Red Dead Redemption is under a hundred days away now, and anticipation builds with every video and screenshot we release. But how does it play? Here's a selection of quotes from the press after some hands-on time with the game: “...it’s an understatement to say that Red Dead Redemption is in my wheelhouse. Each time Rockstar swings by the office to give us a glimpse my enthusiasm increases, so it was with great anticipation that I took hold of the revolver for our first hands-on session… As the sun sets, a smoky haze falls over the battlefield and I take a moment to appreciate the amazing vista where this fight is taking place. The impressive desert setting looks like it’s ripped straight out of an Albert Bierstadt painting. Gorgeous landscapes like this aren’t uncommon in Red Dead – every location I’ve seen thus far is equally awe-inspiring… The gunplay is nothing if not visceral – the weapons pack a serious punch, and the Natural Motion animation further cements the feeling that you wouldn’t want to be on the other end of these gun barrels… My experience with Red Dead Redemption has me chomping at the bit to spend more time in the gritty Western setting.” – Game Informer “It's a classic Rockstar moment. The nocturnal calm is shattered by the shrieks of a prostitute bursting out of a saloon as a man chases her down and assaults her in the street. I move swiftly to her aid but, still acquainting myself with the controls, succeed only in kicking her in the face as she writhes helplessly on the ground. The man flees back inside as the girl scrambles to her feet and away. I give chase to the attacker, drawing a rifle as he cowers behind the bar blind-firing. A moment later I have him clean in my sights by the open backdoor and unload a round. Which sails past his torso, through the door, over the street and into the stomach of a girl 20 yards away, who drops to her knees with a blood-curdling scream. The same girl I'd been trying to save. There are belly laughs and there are belly laughs. It's one of those sudden, unexpected climaxes of bloody action, tinged with darkly comic absurdity, that have become a trademark of Rockstar's open-world exploits… There's so much more to say. I could talk about the vulture-shooting mini-game; the deliciously cruel potential of the lasso; the bad, bad thing I did in a church; collapsing unconscious in a bar after caning two shots of hard liquor (eerily similar to my own tolerance). And then there's multiplayer, which, according to Rockstar, will be part of the next reveal. I could go on, but like Grand Theft Auto, the joy is in the discovery and individual experiences.” – Eurogamer “Every time I see Red Dead Redemption, I get just a little bit more excited. The most recent hour I spent with Rockstar's open-world Western afforded me the opportunity to get my hands on it for the first time… If you haven't been paying attention to Red Dead Redemption, you should start right now… My favorite moments, though, were those gunfights that took place out in the open. Nothing says badass cowboy like a guy with no regard for his life or safety. It isn't all that easy to pull off without getting filled with lead, but every now and then you can do a slow walk up to a guy and blast him at close range or take a knife to his throat. You might prefer to use a long range rifle or a Molotov cocktail, but I'd call you a wimp… There are a lot of great looking games on the horizon in 2010. Some will wind up being hits. Others may end up being duds. Red Dead Redemption is on track to be a hit. It's beautiful. It handles well… it already looks like a winner. Mark your calendars for the end of April. You've got a date with the Wild West.” - IGN Stay tuned for more hand-on previews to come...

Edit: the next gameplay video, which I assume will be released in February, will show us multiplayer. Looking forward to it. I hope Free Mode is in and that we can basically do everything we can do in single player (minus story missions, obviously). With the features in this game, Free Mode could be amazing.

Robbing a bank togethor, being able to take down another player for a bounty, hunting parties, treasure hunts, lassoing another player and leaving them on traintracks. There is a lot of potential with RDR and multiplayer.

[Drakul]

Someone sivved through the new hands-on articles and complied most of the interesting things togethor. As usual, I've reworded it a little to make it quicker to read and to remove their opinions. Alot of it is direct quotes from articles, though. If you don't have time to read ever single article, here are the notes:

Buttons & Actions: - The Dead-Eye targeting system is triggered by pressing down the right thumbstick - You can whistle for their horse by pushing up on the D-Pad though some articles say its "Y". - Holding the A button while riding with another character matches your speed and direction to theirs. This frees up your attention so you can concentrate on the story rather than on steering and keeping pace with your guide. - Tapping the left bumper attaches you to cover allowing you to blind fire at your enemies, while holding down the left trigger will pop john out of cover to take aim at his target. - Whether you're running or galloping on horseback, pressing the A Button will allow you to sprint. Gameplay: - "Swimming equals death in "Red Dead Redemption.". I managed to hijack a horse cart and was riding it around when I spotted a river. Something primitive screamed inside of me: "FORD THE RIVER!" And I did. It didn't end well. In fact, I was dead the moment I hit the water. So yeah, you can't swim in "Red Dead Redemption." It's not a huge deal, since water is really only used to mark off certain edges of the map." - Players can still set SatNav-style way points and purchase safehouses for new save locations. - The day/night cycle lasts 25 minutes. - Marston can carry up to six different sidearms from a selection of shotguns, sawn-offs, sniper rifles, and pistols. - "...he encountered a number of opportunities to show us the close-up kills. Using a pistol, you can make Marston shoot someone point-blank in the chest; and with a rifle, he'll point it upwards at the enemy's head and blow his brains out. These finishers are unique and relative to the weapon you have equipped at the time" - "the game speeds up my default movement from walk to run to match the urgency of the situation." - "I’m able to slow down time and line up my shots, but the target painting system is absent. This will be unlocked RPG-style as the player improves John’s abilities." - Skinning animals happens off camera but you see the skinless animal afterwards. - "Assorted gambling minigames that include games of horseshoes... But none of that sounds quite as interesting as the Night Watch missions, which task you with policing a town at night with the help of a guard dog." - If you time it right, you can even jump on the horse while it’s in motion. Aiming: - "Auto-aim has been downplayed a touch, meaning that the reticule won't stick quite so effortlessly and loyally to targets when you hold down the relevant trigger button. This, coupled with larger and more wide-open areas in the game's many shoot-outs, makes for gunplay that demands a little more sharpshooting skill out of its user." - "unlike in GTA IV the left trigger won't magically lock-on to the nearest target regardless of which direction you're facing (you need to at least have a rough bead on them in the first place, like in the Call of Duty games), and nor can you flick between targets with the right thumbstick once locked on, in an effort to make gunfights more challenging and thus more authentic to the era. " - There is zero pop-up. - Wiping gangs out won’t incur a Wanted level for John as they’re criminals anyway, and doing them in will also lead to cash, weapons or even treasure maps. - Shooting lanterns will make them explode and set fire to anyone standing too close to them. - If you shoot a horse in the neck it won't just bleed, it will cause a powerful jet of arterial spray to arc out several feet from the wound. - You can also herd cattle for local ranchers or become a part-time deputy to Sheriff Johnson complete with guard dog. (There are side missions where you have to work as a Night Watch with your guard dog. - Drakul) Random Events: - "The level of immersion is impressive, with characters living their own routines and patterns. For example, a merchant will get up in the morning, go to work, finish up, head to saloon, sleep it off and then go back to work the next day." - "A random kerfuffle in a saloon ended with a man viciously stabbing a prostitute. Needless to say, we doled out some lead-based justice." - "We helped a farmer who was being terrorised by a gang, but arrived too late to save his daughter. In the resulting scene, the man cowered over the young girl, so we ran outside to leave him to his mourning. - You can lasso hookers and drag them out into the wilderness. - "After ambling stupidly into their crossfire, we were asked via onscreen prompt to pick a side." - "..we noticed the telltale shadows of vultures gliding across the ground. Just to see if we could, we took a shot at one of them, and were a little surprised when a cloud of blood flew out of it and it spiraled down to the ground. Just then, a message flashed, telling us we’d initiated a sharpshooting challenge and exhorting us to shoot down more of the carrion-feeders. Four more dead birds later, and the challenge was completed, opening up more difficult ones and giving John’s fame score – which affects how people react to him and which missions he’s offered – a little boost." - "..including a cannibal I found chowing down man-flesh in the middle of nowhere.." - "Visual cues such as smoke from a campfire can reveal the location of these [random] events, and at the end of one of these smoke trails we found a man stoking the fire and what appeared to be a human body wrapped in linen beside him....We promptly ended the man's life and released his prisoner (an old lady no less)" - "Running up onto an incident—in my case, an ambush by bandits on a stagecoach—felt truly random in nature and my decision of which side to support, completely organic. I basically just started shooting at the guys in the black hats. A nice cutscene even played at the end, again dynamically generated."

Sounds extremely impressive to me with the details. NPCs with daily routines and families they mourn they death of, realistic bleeding, dynamically generated cut-scenes. The wilderness in RDR sound more lively than the packed street in GTA IV. Then again, that's not saying much. I think the cannibal could be the start of something. San Andreas style urban legends roaming the wilderness, maybe?

As for the "no swimming" thing, I can't really understand that. Why go to all this trouble with choices and events and immersion and not have the ability to swim?
I think/hope we can swim eventually. Maybe we could take lessons or maybe we can't swim if we have heavy items or guns eqipped.

[Kalyx triaD]

This shit is wild.

[Drakul]

Yeah, it's going to be great, for sure. I just hope this info keeps on coming next week. Although, now that we've read hands on articles, I'm not sure what they can reveal other than multiplayer. Well, apparantly the composer of the music hasn't been revealed and they hinted it would be revealed soon. Now, that sounds to me like it's going to be a bit of a big deal. That's the only time a composer is "revealed".

Other than that, though, nothing new worth mentioning has popped up in articles. Except someone had their horse at a cliff top and dismounted. The horse took a step backwards and fell off the cliff "neighing" as it fell down. The mental image made me laugh lol.

Another article described a small town at night and it sounded pretty atmospheric.

Originally Posted by Telegraph A simple walk through a one-horse town at night is all that it takes to put us right into the world of the Wild West. The wooden buildings look battered, but solid. Horses tethered up at a water trough whinny and snort. A bar at the end of the street emits a warm light as well as the sounds of drunken laughing and a piano. Saloon doors creak as patrons pass through them. A soft breeze blows tumbleweed across the path. The night air is filled with the chirruping chorus of crickets and the sound of our footfalls mingles the crunch of gravel and the jingling of boot-spurs. Every single thing on the screen and every noise on the soundtrack is note-perfect in its recreation of the Wild West scenery we all remember from films. It washes over the player, immersing them completely.

[Drakul]

So, info on a Limited Edition has been leaked by a Dutch game shop. It's going to contain:

•Extra’s (Downloadable Content) •Soundtrack •Black Stallion (Horse) •Gunpack (More Weapons) •Extra outfits •Extra minigames for money, outfits and weapons

Source

The black stallion is the fastest in the game, according to early previews so getting the fastest horse at the start of the game should speed things up. Until someone snipes it through the neck, anyway.
No idea on pricing, yet. Would have been cool if there was something physical with the LE, like a bandana or something.

[Fignuts]

Stop posting, drakul. Every time you do, it makes waiting for this game more difficult.

[Skippord]

I love that horse is in parenthesis

[Drakul]

I'm sure someone, somewhere needed it explained for them.

Originally Posted by Fignuts Stop posting, drakul. Every time you do, it makes waiting for this game more difficult.

R* are starting to do big updates more often now, starting with another video tomorrow. You're wait is going to get tougher.
I don't even post every update. Just relevant stuff. R* update with western movies they suggest we watch and the history of the real west.

[Buzzkill]

omfg if they got Ennio Morricone to do the score I would not know how to handle myself.

might literally explode

[Drakul]

He did some music for Red Dead Revolver so it's not totally unlikely he'd do something for Redemption. I can't imagine anyone else would be worth revealing.

[Drakul]

I got a magazine that had a 7 page article about RDR. If anyone is interested, here is what is worth noting and a few new screens I scanned from the magazine.

It goes into a bit more detail about the cannibal. They say they stumbled across a makeshift settlement and decided to see if anyone had a story to tell. The occupant instead leaped to his feet and opened fire on Marston. They took him down with a shot to the chest. They then surveyed the area and found a woman with her hand and feet bound (another article online said they had an old woman wrapped in cloth, I guess even small details like that are random as well.) After freeing her, they found bones littering the settlement and a freshly severed human head by a fire.

You can lasso bulls and horse. A minigame mentioned is trying to keep your balance on the back of a bull. So, a rodeo, in other words.

They mentioned in passing they came across "explosive experts". They don't go into more details other than the experts said "Be careful with that fuse." before blowing each other up, catching Marston in the blast, killing them all.

We can watch films, apparantly: "Depending on the time of day - the much loved day/night cycles return - it's perfectly acceptable to engage in a spot of poker or indulge in a game or two of horse shoes, and maybe even see a film."

In a town, a local man ran through the streets crying for someone to help him stop the bandit that had just stolen his horse. The player gave chase, they ran out into the country side but lost him soon after.

Screen scans:

[Kalyx triaD]

This game is full of win. If someone were to just tell me about it's features wit no sources I'd call bullshit.

[Drakul]

The source is X360 magazine, issue 55, if anyone in the UK wants to read it.

The game really does seem like it's going to be amazing. All I need now is to know about Multiplayer.
Someone claims to have emailed R* about the "no swimming" thing and the replied saying we can swim, just if we swim out too far around the edge of the map, we drown. I don't fuilly believe it yet but, it's a little hope for anyone that wanted to swim.

RDR has given me a good idea for a thread, actually.

[Drakul]

Here are the preorder bonus for RDR. Depending on where you preorder from, you get a different bonus.

Gamestop is holding the Red Dead Referendum. Whichever outfit wins, you guys in the US get. UK gets the Deadly Assassin outfit regardless of who wins the vote if we proorder at GAME.

Golden Guns (Amazon US & UK. US gets a $10 gift card aswell.)



The player who wields the exclusive Golden Guns receives more Fame for each kill. The more Fame you get, the more in-game side missions become available. So there will be more opportunities to duel, more kidnapped townsfolk to rescue and you can bribe lawmen for less.
Amazon.com pre-orders also receive a $10 Amazon.com Gift Card.

War Horse (Best Buy in the US & HMV in the UK)



There are countless horses to be found in the massive world of Red Dead Redemption, but none is stronger, faster or tougher than the exclusive War Horse. Whether storming gang hideouts, exploring the wilderness for hidden treasure, or outrunning the law, the War Horse gives gunslingers an advantage in nearly every situation.

Exclusive mini-guide (GameCrazy in the US & Zavvi in the UK)

Target is giving a $5 gift card and Walmart is giving a $10 gift card.

R* Warehouse is giving away the RDR T-shirt when you preorder from them.

[Drakul]

I really hope they hurry up and announce the Limited Edition with all these features. I can't choose between War Horse and the Golden Guns.

[Impact!]

Any update on a release date for Australia/What the pre-order bonuses are?

[Drakul]

I think Australia is getting a 30th April release date, just like Europe. R* said they'll anounce international pre order bonuses soon. You'll get the same as the US and UK, it's just a case of finding out what shop you need to pre order from.

[ClockShot]

Wow. May have to give Gamestop the cold shoulder for the first time in a long time and go to Best Buy or Amazon for this. They got better pre-order goodies.

I've been voting for the Savvy Merchant costume and I see there's no chance of that winning.

[Drakul]

I was hoping the hunter outfit would win. I wouldn't be surprised if the Limited Edition came with all the pre order bonuses.
I cancelled my pre order with GAME and pre ordered at HMV for the War Horse. I'll keep that until the LE is up for pre order.

A couple of screens:







I like the shine of the shotgun.



Gives you a rough idea of the scale of the game. It's just a piece of the map. That area will have more we can't see in the shot, like behind Marston, for example. Plus 2 whole other areas.

There was a Q&A but, glancing over it, it's nothing worth noting. Usual stuff, really. Here it is.

[Drakul]

New trailer:

Video Games | Red Dead Redemption | The Law Trailer

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

[Kalyx triaD]

Pretty much way more interested in this than GTA4.

[DAMN iNATOR]

But will you still be saying that once the development of the inevitable (i.e. GTA 5) cranks up??? (LEGIT QUESTION, BTW...)

[Kalyx triaD]

It will greatly depend on what GTA5 will do.

I remember we were talking about what we wanted for GTA and the consistent message was adding Vice City, the documented 'Jersey' area out of Liberty City, and the whole of San Andreas all linked to GTA4 via DLC. R* clearly wanted to expand GTA4 in it's mythology, all expansions essentially taking place in their amazing Liberty City map. That's all well and good, but I think we all would have wanted geographical DLC rather than story DLC. If GTA5 gives us a new city, even more alive and realistic than GTA4's city, it'll be amazing - but taking the scale of San Andreas (or another state) and giving it that GTA4 treatment will be great. And if they really wanna impress, take all the past areas, GTA4-ize them, and have them linked as a virtual continent of sandbox glory. If GTA5 is not that, or anything aspiring to be that, I don't think I'll care about GTA5 (I'm sure I'll like what they do, but...).

Red Dead is giving us a grand sense of scale and freedom in a setting much different from urban. I remember people being disappointed with how Gun, a game with similar ambitions to Red Dead Redemption, wasn't as large scaled as advertised. Red Dead looks to deliver.

[Drakul]

I can't see GTA V beating RDR. Even if they have it set in multiple cities, we still wont have the same sense of exploration or adventure as we would crossing the map in RDR.

If I wanted to be negative, I would say RDR may be as far as R* can take the sandbox genre. After RDR, nothing else can make an impact. RDR2 would just be repeating RDR because I can't imagine what else they could add to the game that RDR isn't already doing and GTA is stuck with the reality and boundries of the present day so there isn't much room for coming up with new fantastical events or features in the game. I'm sure I'll buy and enjoy GTA V, I just don't think it'll be amazing after seeing RDR.

Maybe we can get some surprises in the next generation of consoles buy I'd imagin it would just be what we've seen before but on a bigger map.

[Kalyx triaD]

GTA: Future Setting?

[Buzzkill]

Next GTA should definitely be prohibition era

[Kalyx triaD]

There's that too. Back to basics.

[Drakul]

I was glancing around the GAME website just now and found the RDR limited edition was up for pre order on the PS3. Hopefully the 360 version will be up for pre order tomorrow.

Here is the page: http://www.game.co.uk/Games/PlayStat...tion/~r346561/

The LE contains a soundtrack, The Deadly Assassin outfit, the War Horse & the Golden Guns. That's pretty much all the pre order bonuses in one purchase.

Guess I was right when I guess the Black Stallion was the War Horse and the Gunpack was the Golden Guns.