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It's About Time!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 11
Date: April 13, 2004
Author: Amazon User

It's about time that a good western game came out. With this title being released by Rockstar Games I knew it was one that I was definitely going to have to get my hands on. The premise of the game is a tale of revenge. You take on the role of Red, whose family was murdered in front of him when he was young. In addition to Red, you also play as some of the other characters including Red's friends and even the bad guy himself. The look and sound of the game is based on Sergio Leone's Spaghetti Westerns starring the likes of Clint Eastwood and Lee Van Cleef, which are among my favorite films of all-time. The style of the game stays true to the genre with the look, feel, and sounds. It's a blast to play with quick-drawing, rapid-firing, sharp-shooting action. The settings also look spectacular which includes everything from border towns, cemetaries and silver mines to rivers, mountains and green, green valleys. Gameplay ranges from run and shoot to stagecoach and train chases on horseback. The controls are a bit odd but you are taken through tutorial early in the story to help you master the art of the quick-draw and the dead-eye! Some of the voices and the dialogue are a bit silly but it adds to the charm of the game and are good for a chuckle here and there. There is also a Showdown mode where you can take one opponent to earn extra cash and unlockable items. It's also a good place to practice your aiming technique. Red Dead Revolver also features a multi-player mode for up to four people. I highly recommend this game to all fans of the western film genre and third-person shooters. Have fun!

Fun, nice to look at, but lacking in depth.

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 25 / 32
Date: May 05, 2004
Author: Amazon User

It's been said of Stephen King before that he could publish a grocery list and it would sell a million copies. The perception of Rockstar Games is very similar these days. From GTA3 forward, the Grand Theft Auto series have been instant classics. That Rockstar is promising to "blow people away" with the upcoming San Andreas title is a scary thought considering how far they pushed the envelope with Vice City. With titles like State of Emergency, Max Payne, and Manhunt, they further solidified an already stellar reputation. Here's a company who puts out games the way gamers want them. No compromises or shortcuts, this crew clearly lives and breathes gaming and it's evident that they enjoy what they do. These days that's something pretty special, as huge production houses churn out/rush out titles that feel like they were made by people who never played them.

The point of all of this is that many people (myself included) probably went out and bought Red Dead Revolver more because it's a Rockstar game than anything else. Sure, it hits shelves at a time where HBO's Deadwood might have rekindled some national interest in Western-style media. But if I'm honest, I don't know that I buy this title on the first day if it's coming from EA, UBI, or some other company.

In that light, Red Dead Revolver is going to be a bit of a disappointment in the long term with people who buy it before checking the reviews. Make no mistake, the game is fun, the storyline compelling, the characters fun and interesting. The game play is solid, the controls easy to get down, there are no major flaws with the game. Except that it's relatively shallow. It is as linear as games can get. There's nothing to be determined or decided, save your shot/hit ratio, the damage you take during a given chapter, and what little extras you unlock. My experience playing is going to be exactly like yours, and yours like anyone else's.

Not that this is a bad thing for everyone. Red Dead plays like an arcade shooter. You play as one of a few different characters, but mostly the main protagonist, Red. With a variety of weapons (which can be upgraded throughout the game) you take down waves of opposition in a number of gritty Western movie-style settings. A ghost town, a graveyard, up in the mountains, on a train, on a ranch, etc. Beyond the normal aim, shoot and run, you also make use of something called "Deadeye Mode", which is a familiar slow-time mode where you can make a series of precise shots against one or more enemies. The third mode of play is QuickDraw, which is just as it sounds. The screen comes up, you pull down on the right stick, push up, and try to line up a number of shots before a slow-time clock runs out. I would have liked to have seen this worked into the game a bit better.

The game as a whole is fun once you put aside what could have been, accept it for what it is and enjoy the experience. It is not a title I will keep long-term, once done with the single player mode, it will get traded in towards something else. There is a multiplayer mode, but it's limited, and doesn't add (in my opinion) anything to the long term playability of the title. I felt Rockstar could have done much more with this title. There are times where you run around town between chapters with no real purpose. Let me get myself in trouble at the Saloon with a bar brawl, or end up in a Quickdraw shootout because I hit on some saucy barmaid that some other tough unwashed thug is interested in. Without some of the freedoms and depths Rockstar has worked into its other titles, you do eventually feel like you're just pulling the trigger in one chapter after another, just going through the paces until the inevitable finale with the men who killed your parents.

I highly recommend renting this game before buying it. I'm glad I played it, and I enjoyed it, but when you're done, there's nothing drawing you back in. Even Western fanatics might not find this one worth keeping long term. Definitely worth playing, but you might be better served hanging on to that purchase money for Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas if you're a fan of that series. Make no mistake, this isn't about Red Dead not being considered on its own merits. I'm not holding it up against Rockstar's previous home runs, despite that being what drove me to buy it blind. This game isn't a flop, and it's not going to ruin the image of Rockstar, but my opinion is that it's one of their weaker titles. This game was handed off a couple times, starting with Capcom, ending with Rockstar, perhaps that has something to do with the lack of depth.

Positives:
Graphically impressive, everything is convincingly gritty and bleak. Everything has a spaghetti Western-style feel to it visually.
Solid storyline.
Fun arcade-style gameplay.
Hard enough to be a challenge, easy enough to be fun.
Bull/horse riding, stagecoach driving and train-related opportunities really add to the fun factor.

Negatives:
Restrictively linear, no opportunity for playing outside the lines.
Shallow. I know I keep harping on this, but depth is a hallmark of Rockstar titles.
No real replay value.
Weak online aspect doesn't really add to the game.
After about half the chapters, you start to feel like you've been there and done that.
Wants to be both an action shooter and a story-based adventure game. Doesn't really grab onto either and is sort of missing a real identity.

Rent it. Play it. Enjoy it. Then move on to something else.

High end of the 3 star rating for me.

Not what i expected

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 2 / 10
Date: May 06, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Graphics: the environments are done well,However the animation and character models could have been alot better.Audio: the only thing in the game that is remotely competetive. AI: very rough , with far too many characters running into walls, it does make them easier to kill. Story:The script is hillarious, but the acting almost made me wet myself.
I really wanted to like this game as i was a big fan of "outlaw".
I have heard a western RPG is coming out based on "the good the bad and the ugly" I hope it's better than this.

awsome game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 5
Date: May 08, 2004
Author: Amazon User

ok im not a fan of western movies i realy dont care for them but this game was one of the most intertaning games iv played i loved it i have ownd almost all the rock star games and the ownly ones that have been able to keep a good story going were (manhunt,GTA3,and red dead revolver )personaly i think vice city was a miss stake from the day it was released the story was retared at least red dead revolver kept the same story going and the gun play was grate the grafics were very good if rockstar were to make more games like this i would buy i realy hope GTA san andreas will do better then vice city and not just dwell on grafics but work on detail and a good story line. if u like games with a good story line and even better action this is the one ,if u are going to buy any rockstar games it should be these three manhunt,GTA3 and RED DEAD REVOLVER

the camera and controls are your sworn enemies!

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 1 / 9
Date: May 09, 2004
Author: Amazon User

hmmm...I was really psyched about trying this game! Unfortunately, what I found was a gold mine of crumby programming.
The 1st time I played, I beat the second level. The game, on the other hand, didn't agree and left me to wander the empty level for 30 minutes until I gave up. When I retried, everything went ok. Isn't that some crap?
On top of that, the camera is uncooperative (and stupid) and the controls are so-so. These two factors merge into a pile of frustration sure to disgust you!

Oh yeah, and the graphic are at times below average.
Also, you might get magically teleported through a fence or wall joint if you run or aim against them.
The game is original, though, with neat stuff like dueling. Too bad it's not enough to make up for the shoddy program work the creators sleepily drug their feet through.
This game is *NOT* GTA quality!

Rent it if you're intrigued, and make your own decision.
I say it's poop.

hmmmm

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: May 10, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Overall rating - fun and well worth a rent. There are very, very few games out there that are worth $50.00 to me. I've learned to rent before I buy to save the heartache.

I expected greatness from Rockstar of course and I got "pretty goodness" from Red Dead. It's fun and once you learn the controls it's challenging enough without being too hard. I was hoping it would be a little more non-linear like the GTA games. Not quite that good I'm afraid. I've yet to find a game that stacks up to Vice City on all levels. VC simply is the best - so far.

Once you play a level there's no need to go back to it. It's not gonna be any different. But again, that's not to say it wasn't fun! It IS fun. Just not worth $50.00 to me. I like the vibe. I'd buy it when it hits the used market.

Spagetti Western+Video Game=Super FUN!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: May 11, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I'm a huge fan of the westerns. Mostly Clint Eastwood Westerns. Not so much a fan of "The Duke." You know, the Sergeio Leone ones with the real gritty look.
I saw an ad for this game and was instantly intrigued by it. Wow, a great shoot-em-up western has finally made it the gaming world. I read some mixed reviews about it, some of which said that the game was not worth it. Being that I'm such a huge western fan, I decided to buy it and review it myself.
It looks amazing!!! The screen shots look just like some old Clint Eastwood western. Real Gritty!!! The game play is very arcade style which is fast and fun. Controlling the camera and your character can get a bit frustrating but whatever! It's real run. Quick Draw and Dead Eye add a lot to its playability. The only thing that I really don't like about the game so far is that there isn't so much of a range in the speeds in the characters movement. Its real similar to controlling whatshisface from GTA Vice City. To much running. The analog does not easily allow you to walk to stride to brisk walk to run to sprint. All in all, I'm feeling this game a lot and I haven't even finished playing it. Either way, I'm going down in a blaze of glory

Max Payne's Wild West Counterpart

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: May 11, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Red Dead Revolver plays much like Max Payne. In fact, our hero, the scar-faced Red, has an ability to slow down time just like Max Payne to allow multiple auto-lock targets. Go Big Red!

The story revolves around Red, and early in the game, you watch on helplessly as Red's father is murdered before your eyes. Fast forward to some years later, Red is grown and has taken up occupation as a bounty hunter. From here, you mostly go out on bounty-hunting expeditions before the revenge-Red's-father storyline comes into play.

The style and atmosphere of the game are its best elements. On one level you make your way along a runaway train; in another, you engage in a saloon brawl. Typically, the levels are small, but what's there is rendered nicely.

Another neat aspect of the game is the dueling showdowns where you face off with enemies in classic western fashion. You draw your gun in slow motion and try to lock a "critical hit" before your enemy fires at you. Good luck trying to duel with three guys at once which the game makes you do at one point fairly early off.

The worst part of Revolver is the camera. It's completely manual, so often you will have enemies sneak up behind you without your knowledge. Not only do you have to turn your character around, but the camera as well, giving your enemy a few extra moments to knock off some of that health meter. Ugh!

Overall, the game is pretty entertaining, especially if you've ever wanted to engage in some wild west action. If you're a fan of the Max Payne series, you will be able to pick up and play the controls on this title fairly easily. This is a solid renter.

Capcom

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 2 / 4
Date: May 11, 2004
Author: Amazon User

The game was originally being done by Capcom which dropped the game altogether midway through programming, this probably explains some deficiencies in the game. Rockstar can always be counted on to give us great games so with that being "said" I will stay faithful to Rockstar and hope that the sequel to this game is better.

Solid rental

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: May 11, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I like many of the reviewers here was excited that a western game was being made. I'm not really into westerns I just thought that it's a different story from most video games right now. I didn't even know that it was made by Rockstar until it flashed on the screen before I started playing and it was suprising how the controls were pretty decent compared to GTA. I thought that the aiming and the camera were pretty good in this game, if you've ever played a first person shooter you are already accustomed to it. The story is pretty good for a spaghetti western and the voice acting is so cheesy that you love it. The unique thing that I enjoyed about this game is that you change characters in the midst of the story. Although, sometimes you wish you had Red, the title character, in some of them. The reason I ranked this game so high and said just to rent it is because there is no replay value at all. After you finish the game you don't really want to play it anymore. All the same it was a fun game and a different kind of game than all these your a stealthy government agent preventing a mad scientist from taking over the world. So for a change of pace game and story wise Red Dead Revolver is a good rental.

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