Red Dead Revolver - Kamino's review... [Archive]

Kamino

05-06-2004, 10:48 PM

Hello all,
I haven't seen an "impressions of RDR" on here yet. if there is one, smack me. hard.
But, seeing RDR at walmart yesterday, it took me only a few hours to decide to go get it today. for reference, i did get the PS2 version. i have an xbox but wouldn't get RDR for xbox unless it was thirty dollars cheaper.
The game handles quite well and the framerate is very smooth. i'm not one for fine detail so i wont be complaining about the visuals. the sound is VERY CLEAR though.
So far, the controls are quite managable. Through dueling, run-n-gun seqences, and the rest, the game handles itself quite well, and overall the control schema makes good sense. again, this is the ps2 version. when i first played vice city on xbox after playing on ps2 for so long, it seemed so messed up..
load times are never a big issue to me, but one thing that annoys me with this game's load sequence is that there is no status bar(See max payne 1 on ps2) instead you get to see RED flinging his gun around. EDIT: i have since noticed in the short load times that there is a rotating gun-chamber. when it is empty of its six bullets loading is done. cool!
The storyline so far is quite interesting; rockstar is again up to par with their works of games such as max payne 1 or GTA: vice city. i cant help but wonder where this game is going next.
overall, a very good game, well worth the $50, and i'd definitely rank it far above overhyped titles that i HAVE played such as TRUE CRIME, HALO, and HITMAN 2.
feel free to tear my ass apart with your own impressions of RDR. oh, and my RDR case and manual are officially for sale. :P

Jasoco

05-06-2004, 11:10 PM

Keep us posted on how the game progresses. This is one I pointed out on a forum, I think it was AA.. might have been here, I can't remember.

I have a question, though.

Are the PS2 version and the Xbox version the same game? Everything I've seen up until now would suggest otherwise. Separate screenshots and movies on the official site, different images on the package. Though the words are the same. So are they the same game?

I am debating buying it when. I hate paying $50 for a new game I won't be familiar with. I save full release price for games I know I will like. Smash Bros., HALO, Mario Kart, Sonic Adventure 2 Battle and Mega Collection to name a few. And I'm all for getting as much fun out of this as possible, but I thought I'd do the same with GTA, but I got bored at that when I got stuck. So I haven't played since then.

How does it play? Like a shooter? Like a GTA clone? Like a uh.. shooter? What kind of Genre is it? If it's really good, I might wait for GS to get it traded in so I can have return safety.And you know how I hate returning games. Especially since I'm a collector now. I buy to keep. Even if it sucks. So I have to be careful about what I buy.

Kamino

05-06-2004, 11:39 PM

i'm fairly certain it's the same game.
As for the gameplay...
the best thing i can do for comparison, is max payne in the year 1881...plays a lot like payne does, esp. with the aiming. although there's ways to "lock" on targets in spots, its not nearly as fool proof as gta:Vc's aiming style.
well i sure would say it plays like a shooter. you can use hand combat as well, there are melee attacks with shovels and the like...but it's heavy on guns. i dont know why but i always held a preference for WW2 games with the authentic load times and all; however, i'll have to say the load times on the early weapons in RDR are a real bitch. but, being the expert strafer i am it's not a problem. The game in fact i would now say is heavily in the vein of payne; the "dead-eye" mode is VERY Similar to bullet time.....i'd actually say this game has no relation to GTA:VC, since there is no free-roaming like vice city; it's in the max payne point a-b mode.
altogether i'll say this game is AWESOME so far. i'll update when i beat it to give everyone a length reading. here's hoping it's longer than true crime: streets of LA...

Jasoco

05-07-2004, 12:24 AM

Maybe I should kill time while waiting to get this by buying Max Paine. You make that one sound good too. I just never got into it... or tried it out.

Kamino

05-07-2004, 12:35 AM

that's not a bad idea jasoco. I would HIGHLY reccomend Max Payne...the original. It's an instant classic, one of the MOST ORIGINAL games to hit the current generation of consoles, and not a quick beat either. it's a good challenge and only gets better at the higher difficulties. right now, i'm taking a break from RDR, and guess what i'm playing..max payne. that game has the MOST in depth storyline i have EVER encountered. now i'm not into RPG's yet so that may be skewed. but the game is simply stunning. although again i have the ps2 version of max payne. it comes HIGHLY reccomended! GET IT. i'll honestly say max payne 2 was a bit of a dissapointment though; taking away autosave and instead leaving it to the player to save "whenever" really takes some challenge out....i had to force myself to only save at certain intervals...and overall, the plot was not as well-written as payne 1. still a solid shooter though.

Jasoco

05-07-2004, 12:45 AM

Thanks for the recommendation. I will go for that game.

I guess there's no Cube version, right? So I'll have to get the Xbox version. But ONLY if I can find a non-Platinum version. I am very strict against buying crappy looking boxed Xbox rereleases.

I'll keep an eye out. Since it's a PH/GH, it'll be cheap to start with.

Then when RDR comes down a little, I'll try that one too. I am anxious for another challenge. Challenge after Challenge...

Kamino

05-07-2004, 12:49 AM

nope no cube version. for some reason i cannot imagine a serious shooter on the gamecube.
on the subj. of cube though have you played F ZERO GX on cube? that and the game boy player were the sellers for me for that system.

Jasoco

05-07-2004, 12:54 AM

nope no cube version. for some reason i cannot imagine a serious shooter on the gamecube.
*cough* Serious Sam *cough* ;)

on the subj. of cube though have you played F ZERO GX on cube? that and the game boy player were the sellers for me for that system.[/quote]
I have not gotten F-Zero yet. But it IS coming down to $20 next week. Still, I never got into the games as my brother did. That and Extreme G. He loves those future racers. I'm not a racing fan though. I do have a GBP though. Rarely use it.

Ed Oscuro

05-07-2004, 12:54 AM

Kamino, I haven't played Max Payne (though I followed it all the way back in 1998 when it first appeared on 3D Realms' website as much as I could stand seeing the page load on school iMacs, lol) but I think you've got me sold on this one. I don't have my own XBox but luckily there's one in the house.

As for the GameCube + 3D shooters...I'd say Metroid Prime is almost a shooter, but it's really more a Zelda-style exploration game. I can't really imagine a serious shooter on the system either >.>

josekortez

05-07-2004, 01:55 AM

Kamino, Red Faction II and Timesplitters 2 also kick @$$ on the Cube. I would definitely recommend those two games as FPSes. Whatever you do, skip Die Hard. I must have been having a very bad day when I purchased that game...

BTW, I know this isn't the trade forum, but does anybody have any PH games they want to dump? I've got a PH Max Payne for trade, and I can't get any takers. I know most people despise PH packaging, but it don't bother me none...

Jasoco, F-Zero GX is $14.99 in-store at Circuit City this week. Get it before it gets the Player's Choice packaging treatment!

Jasoco

05-07-2004, 02:00 AM

I just don't like the silver. It's bad enough the regular cases are green. But I hate having to mix the two colors. Green and silver. Ick. Also I don't like the texture of the border they put around the shrunken cover art.

Edit:

Jasoco, F-Zero GX is $14.99 in-store at Circuit City this week. Get it before it gets the Player's Choice packaging treatment!
Is that until Saturday? Funny thing is my store already has 10 copies of the original packaging version. SIX of them just came in yesterday.

Anyway, TimeSplitters 2. Isn't that the game they call "Heir apparent to Goldeneye"? What does that mean?

digitpress Jim

05-07-2004, 02:12 AM

I LOVE RDR! I bought mine for the Xbox on Tuesday. It reminds me a lot of Gun Smoke and Sunset Riders. The story is fantastic, the voice work is incredible and the graphics are very stylized. The cut scenes have a grany look to them which captures the fell of watching an old time western.

Red, the main character, is the strong silent loner type, similar to the old Spaghetti westerns and Sirgio Lionie films. The story also kind reminds me of Unforgiven and the action of Tombstone.

Throughout the game you get to take control of various other characters in the game. Right now I am on about Chapter 12 and have got to play as four differnt characters so far.

RDR is worth every penny and well worth the wait. Capcom did an awesome job, so did Rockstar finishing up the final touches. Take Care everyone :D :D :D

DigitPress, Jim

digitalpress

05-07-2004, 07:21 AM

I played an early version of this at E3 the year BEFORE last and it was comnig along really nicely even then.

Which version should I buy... PS2 or Xbox?

Mayhem

05-07-2004, 07:56 AM

And don't forget Freedom Fighters on Cube either. Or Hitman 2.

Kamino

05-07-2004, 10:01 AM

Joe(digitalpress), i definitely will say the ps2 version all the way.
I actually find xbox to be far inferior))
1) Sound. Xbox's sound can be quite muted at times. No matter how i set the music/sfx, the music always seems muted. It's just no fun trying to listen to led zeppelin while playing GTA3 when john paul jones' bass guitar is barely audible.
2) Controller. What the heck is this monster? The pressure sensitive triggers tick me off the most. ps2 has the dual triggers that i can rapid-fire-twitch on; theres no twiching on xbox's SINGLE pair of triggers
3) Vibration....yes, this stupid gimmick of rumble is an issue. But xbox has a cheap feeling rumble; when i finally got back to my ps2 last night and played some MAX PAYNE i was almost shocked at how DEEP the vibration was.(Hadn't been on PS2 in a while..it's been all retro stuff since feb. )
Now, your preference might be Xbox. So, get it for whichever system has the controller that makes the greatest amount of sense to you! But i wouldnt get this one on xbox unless it was 30 dollars cheaper, personally.

buttasuperb

05-07-2004, 10:54 AM

get the xbox one.

the controller is far superior, imo.

i guess it really comes down to which controller you like better.

i never noticed anything about the xbocks sound being muted.

anyways, i played through the first few levels, and so far i'm liking it. it's very straight forward, you get a little cutscene, then you get a tutorial (i'm sure this is only for the first few levels) then you go into battle. You hold L to draw your weapon, and R to shoot. You gun reloads when you press R and you are out of bullets. You can press x to hide behind stuff, and of course peek around corners to shoot bad guys. This is very handy, because at times you are fighting against plenty of opposition. Is you just run and gun, you have a much better chance of dying. also it's best to get head shots, that way they die in 1 shot. if you shoot elsewhere, sometimes it'll take up to 6 or so shots to kill a regular enemy. head shots are also nice, because the blood just flies out, looks pretty cool.

in showdowns, you press down then up on the analog and that draws your gun out. you then have a short time to move the curser and press the button 6 times, and hopefully get a shot or 2 at your opponents head or chest.

the music in this game rocks.

jaybird

05-07-2004, 11:09 AM

i have an xbox but wouldn't get RDR for xbox unless it was thirty dollars cheaper.

I'm the exact opposite. Xbox versions of games usually have better graphics & sound. Plus, you don't have to worry about freeing up space on a memory card for a save.

The only time I go with PS2 over Xbox is when PS2 offers online (Madden, MVP).

As far as RDR goes - I honestly can't compare the two as I've only played the Xbox version, but I'm really digging it so far.

Rogmeister

05-07-2004, 12:50 PM

I may go ahead and buy this today. I love westerns (grew up on John Wayne movies) and there definitely aren't enough western games in my opinion. Of course, I recently decided to never pay over $30 for any game but there's always the exception...and what they hey, it's my birthday.

Jasoco

05-07-2004, 04:29 PM

Rogmeister

05-07-2004, 05:05 PM

Well, I've actually decided to wait. I'll wait for the price to come down. My main reason for waiting is a pair of games I've been expecting arrived today (Tiger Woods 2004 and KOTOR) so I've plenty to keep me busy for awhile.

By the way, I notice that another western game (Dead Man's Hand) hasn't exactly gotten overwhelmingly high ratings from the magazine. Anyone out there love it and want to offer a differing opinion?

Rogmeister

05-29-2004, 01:16 PM

I still haven't bought this game but still plan to eventually. I just want to mention that the magazines are starting to review it but aren't universal in their praise. I believe Game Informer gave it an 8 out of 10 so they liked it as did Officual U.S. Playstation Magazine which gave it 4 out of 5 "discs" which also equals out to a score of 8 if you adapt it to a 1-10 range. On the other hand, GMR gave it a 6 and 2 of 3 of the reviewers in EGM actually scored it in the 4's, giving it below-average scores. Since most of the guys here who have played it have enjoyed it, that's good enough for me...and I figure my interest in westerns (I grew up on John Wayne movies) would make me like it even a little more.

Flack

01-31-2005, 01:55 PM

Rise from the grave, my friend ...

I picked up Red Dead Revolver (PS2) this past weekend and spent a couple of nights playing it.

Overall, I liked it. For you old schoolers, it reminded me of a nextgen Law of the West. I haven't played a lot of these types of games so that might not be a totally accurate description, but the game takes you from situation to situation, set up the action with a cut scene, and then turns you loose to deal with bad varmits. The first few levels include short tutorials, but they can be easily skipped if you're

I thought the video quality was horrible, personally ... everything is presented in (probably authentic) earth tones, but for the most part that meant I couldn't see where any of my enemies were. In the first mission (where you're standing out in the rain), I had to resort to spinning around in circles and waiting for the crosshairs to turn red to find enemies. Likewise, when I was in town, the cutscenes would show "snipers" on top of buildings, but then when it kicked back into game mode I couldn't find them (they had no problems finding me). Keep in mind that I play all my games through a projector, so that may have had something to do with the washed out colors, but so far the hardest part of RDR for me is simply seeing what's going on.

The game does have a rating system for each level (reminded me of the Star Wars Rogue Squadron games). The better you do, the more stuff you unlock, which is a cool idea that always promotes replaying a game.

If you like third person shooters and westerns you will probably get a kick out of this game.

Gamereviewgod

01-31-2005, 02:26 PM

http://www.digitpress.com/reviews/reddeadrevolver.htm

Review has been on the site for a while. I'd definitely say Xbox, especially if you have 5.1 capabilites. The frame rate is steadier, it supports progressive scan, and the contoller isn't that bad. The triggers WILL hurt your fingers after a while, but the trade offs are worth it.