User Reviews (1 - 11 of 43)

Show these reviews first:

Highest Rated
Lowest Rated Newest
Oldest Most Helpful
Least Helpful

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

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 23 / 33
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 as good as expected

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 0 / 1
Date: May 06, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I had been waiting for a game in the western genre, and finally along came Red Dead Revolver. I even put off buying Dead Man's Hand which came out a month or so earlier because DMH was said to be a more of an arcade shooter. This game lacks a lot. My biggest gripe is the number of shots your enemy can endure. 2 or 3 might be understandable, but 15 to 20 shots, and still standing. We're talking shots to the head and nobody faling. But this seems to be the case in video games. Even Medal of Honor which is supposed to be the most realistic you have to shoot a few times to knock em down. The areas are very limited. You're pretty confined to certain small areas. You can't open doors and there are too many cut scenes and not enough hands on action. If you are looking for a realistic portrayel of the old west, this is not it, it's more like the Wild Wild West, with villians like midget clowns and the like.
That all said, there are some pros. It does seem moderately fun, despite the drawbacks. Like the above reviewer said, I don't think I'll want to play it twice, as I'll just be doing the same exact thing with little or no variance.
Some of the elements are fun, like riding the train and horses. The quick draw scenes I could have done without, as they take no skill to perform.
Well, I guess until the upcoming western game "Boomtown" LogicalVice debuts, this is the only cowboy shooter worth playing. I would recommend renting before buying.
Some fun, just not enough.

Something refreshing and new

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 4
Date: May 07, 2004
Author: Amazon User

It didn't take me long to fall in love with this game. I have read several reviews for this game, and I felt that none of them gave the game the credit it deserves. This is the first review for ANYTHING that I have taken the time to write, so that must say something about this game.

When I first heard of the game, I said to myself, "Ahhhhh, a WESTERN GAME!" A new western game has been long overdue for a long time, and who better to bring it but Rockstar games? The fact that Rockstar made this game also made me think that this was going to be a western GTA, but it simply isn't true. Red Dead Revolver is a new gameplay experience, so if you love GTA but need some variety in your gameplay, Red Dead Revolver is the game for you.

The game does a great job of putting you in the middle of the action. You feel like you're in a western movie. Experience everything you love about your favorite Clint Eastwood flick: bar fights, train car hopping, riding horses, and high noon quickdraws just to name a few. The sound and music are incredible and the weapon variety is pretty amazing too. Bad guys have incredible "western-made" one-liners.

Multiplayer isn't that bad either, since you can unlock tons of characters and places to fight.

This game deserves a shot for anyone looking for a new, unique game. This game is also for those who want a good challenge. Expect many good hours of engrosing gameplay from this title.

Do yourself a favor and pick it up.

Savage

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 4
Date: May 09, 2004
Author: Amazon User

For any fan of old school westerns this game is a must. Is it perfect? No, but it is a revolutionary game that finally lets old western fans have fun video game style. I felt that the game played well and stayed true to the old school western way of doing things. The game play was fluid and I really did not have many complaints with the camera as some others did i had no trouble controlling the camera as I went a long. Personally I prefer to have control of the camera. An excellent game I definitely give it a high recommendation.

Action packed

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 3
Date: May 09, 2004
Author: Amazon User

This game has had me clued to the TV for the past 3 days. I normally don't take the time to write reviews on games, but after seeing that the reviews on RDR were a little low I must write to the world. This game rocks! RDR takes games to a whole new level of originality. It seems like every 3rd person shooter these days are the same. RDR gives a whole new world to the player that is somewhat believable. The coolest thing about the game is being able to play as different characters. I gave this game a 4 stars because there is no co-op! What is the deal with that? A must buy Rock Star Games did well!

ROCKSTAR HAS DONE IT FIRST !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 10
Date: May 10, 2004
Author: Amazon User

RED DEAD IS AS GOOG AS IT CAN GET IN THE OLD WEST.IM VERY GLAD AT THE M RATING AS WELL THIS GAME ISNT FOR CHILDREN ITS FOR ADULTS TO HAVE FUN .THE GRAPHICS ARE AS GOOD AS THEY SHOULD BE FOR THE TIME ERA OF THE GAME .THE SOUND IS FANTASTIC OVE OF THE BEST FEATURES ALONG WITH THE STORYMODE WHITCH IS GREAT THERE ISNT ANY NEGATIVE POINTS TO MY OPINON OF THIS GAME ITS DEFENITELY A BUY NOT A RENT A BUY SO REMEMBER TO PUT THIS ONE ON YOUR XMAS LIST TRUST ME .

I'd like to clarify a mistake many buyers seem to make

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 9 / 11
Date: May 11, 2004
Author: Amazon User

A lot of buyers seem to think that, because this is a Rockstar game, it'll have a Grand Theft Auto feel. However, Rockstar acquired the title very, very late in its development cycle after CAPCOM left it dead in the water. The most Rockstar did was polish it up (after the bulk of it was already programmed under Capcom's watch), and then they published it. So this is much more a Capcom game than anything else.

I myself have been waiting for it since it was with Capcom, starting about three years ago, and I'm satisfied. I possibly had too high of hopes for it, but after trying to find a Spaghetti Western fix elsewhere (Wanted: Dead or Alive, Dead Man's Hand), it's satisfying to finally get a game that was made with a passion and skill. The atmosphere is impeccable, the soundtrack is fantastic (when can I get it on CD?), and the gameplay surprised me. Usually I don't much care for games where you play as a character other than the protagonist, but in Red Dead Revolver, the six or so characters you get to play as (briefly; characters other than Red himself get two stages at most) mostly feel different enough that it's a welcome feature. I especially enjoyed playing as Shadow Wolf the Native American: how thrilling it is for a bad guy to fall over with an arrow visibly sticking out of him!

Replay value, too, is here, with the unlockable Bounty Hunter mode (in which you play through the game again, this time with odd goals specific to each stage such as "finish the level without getting injured," "finish the level with all headshots," etc.), unlockable "journal pages," and maybe most appealing, unlockable weapons. The most powerful pistol in the game, for instance, you don't obtain until the very last cinematic of the game. And for social gamers, the multiplayer aspect of the game seems like it'd be a cut above the rest with its distinctly different playable characters.

The only flaw I can think of is an unfortunate collision glitch (I guess that's what you'd call it; occassionally your shots don't register on a character as hits if he's in the middle of a pain animation from your previous shot into him, which is particularly annoying since one of the main aspects of combat is linking combos).

The music, though, is definitely the high point for me, with tracks taken from Spaghetti Western films, with such composers as Sergio Leone, Bruno Nicolai, Franco De Masi, and more. If you're a fan of the genre then there's no question that you have to get this game, and even if you just like action shooters and have no taste for the tumbleweeds, I think you'll be pleased. Just, please, don't expect "Grand Theft Auto on horses." That's silly.

Mr. De Leon, You'd Be Very Proud...

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 6
Date: May 17, 2004
Author: Amazon User

..Firstly, i think that i should point out that while i am and always have been a very avid and prolific gamer, in the past few years, this love of sitting, eating, and pushing buttons into the wee hours of the morning on any day of the average week has become..a thing of lesser joy, i'll say. In the past three or four years, there have been few games that have made me want to actually finish them off, that have made me want to see how the various characters ended up, whether they lived or died,how the storyline tied up....Indeed, i can honestly say that games like Max Payne, Grand Theft Auto, and The Assassin have never really drawn my attention....it was mostly fighting games for me...or maybe the exceptionally sensible exception, such as Kingdom Hearts....and then came Red Dead Revolver. Recomended to me by my Best Friend and 1/5 of my KA-TET, i bought this game simply because i was given a good rating, and was told that i'd absolutely love this game. The person who gave the rating to me has the same type of tastes that i do in video games, so, without so much as a careful onceover of my checking account balance, i bought this game, ock, stock, and barrel. And man, was i right to do that. The game starts off nearly identical to your typical Western flick, what with the killing of the main character's family, and his following proclamation of Bloody Wrath And Revenge. The game fast becomes an excellent forray into why games like this matter, that is to say, why it is important to dare being original...failure may follow, but so might Glorious Success! The game plays just as those before it did, but to me at least, the controls are far more well oiled and appropriate for a game such as this. As violent and bloody as the average player would want, Red Dead Revolver is no pinch on the inclusion of great tall tell telling, either. The story is absolutely hokey and old hat and by the book Old West, but that's what makes it great to play. You feel as if you're living through all the twisted complications and plot throwbacks that the main character is as you play the game. And best of all, all the right touches are there. The ten gallon hats. The fast shoot outs and Duels. The sheer look of the game and backgrounds. The over the top villans and their fun, yet deadly pltos and plans. You even get to save 'The Old Farm' at one point in the game. The cast is so authentically varied that it had my friends and i reeling back in surprise. Too many times have i had the experience of playing through a game with the heroic caucasian main character...not here, though. There are Hispanic, African American, Indian and even female main characters to play through the game with, and what's more, their inclusion adds to the game, making the overall story more sensible and more real. It just feels more authentic. It feels very reinvigorating to not play through a completely fictitious landscape that is the video game equivolent of Friends, with no racial or cultural diversity at all. I won't say too much else, but for those of you who are really itching to get away from the Grand Theft Auto-type gameplay and storytelling that has rather infected the genre of late, have a look and play at this fantastic game...you will NOT be disappointed.
Hawksmoor...From The Bleed

Too difficult to be entertaining.

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 0 / 2
Date: May 17, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Though the graphics are OK and story decent, this game really isn't anything new. Moreover, it will inevitably frustrate anyone who has any semblance of a life. Unless you like playing and replaying certain segments again, and again and again, you will soon find yourself very bored and more than a little angry for shelling out $50. The best thing about this game is the probably the soundtrack...

glued to my seat

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: May 18, 2004
Author: Amazon User

It's about time a good western game comes down the pipe! I don't know why people are saying that this game lacks originality. I thought this game was in a class of its own. I like the fact that you can play as multiple characters throughout the missions and the storyline is pretty cool too. The graphics are beautiful and the gameplay is smooth. If you like games like Max Payne, GTA, Dead to Rights etc.. you are sure to enjoy RDR. If you hate video games, but like western movies you'll still enjoy this game. The only bummer about RDR is there is no co-op. Heck of a game anyway!

Review Page: 1 2 3 4 5 Next 

Actions