John Marston is a mouth, a build, a tempered steel character. John Marston is also the hero of Red Dead Redemption, a former outlaw who decided to settle down in order to take advantage of his family, his farm and his livestock. But before finally hanging up his shotgun, he will embark on a vendetta against his ex-partners who left him for dead during a heist that went wrong. Bill Williamson, Javier Escuella, Dutch Van der Linde, three individuals who will haunt Marston's mind in turn in a main quest lasting around twenty hours. The scenario of Red Dead Redemption puts a hell of a slap, a story worthy of the few westerns that we have seen in our lives. With Dan Houser at the pen, and who obviously knows what he's talking about, we had to expect something heavy anyway. We do not take off from start to finish, we follow the events without the slightest weariness, except perhaps during the last two hours of play where the objectives to be accomplished are deadly boring. But the ultimate right unleashed by the developers of Rockstar San Diego during the final ends up getting everyone to agree, and makes us forget for a few minutes all that we have experienced with GTA; who would've believed that ? To be honest with you, there is already an uppercut that sends you into the ropes about thirty minutes earlier, but we won't tell you more, of course. Still, John Marston's journey begins at Blackwater station, a city that combines new technologies from the beginning of the 1910th century. The trip that takes him to the town of Armandillo is above all an opportunity to set the scene and depict an America where the divide between the peasants and the inhabitants of the city seems deep. But the antagonisms do not stop there, since the Mexican Civil War of XNUMX also occupies an important place in Red Dead Redemption and allows you to revise your Spanish without going to school. And then, such a rich adventure is naturally the opportunity to meet a host of characters who will lend a hand to Marston or, on the contrary, will try to stick a knife in his back as is often the case in the Far West. In short, Read Dead Redemption ensures the show, and not only on the script.
LUCKY MARSTON
Because the game is a godsend for the eyes, a marvel that we did not really expect, even if the screenshots distilled drop by drop by Rockstar Games foreshadowed a visual killer. At a time when the majority of productions are adopting the Unreal Engine 3, Rockstar San Diego has once again relied on its RAGE graphics engine to bring to life a map four times larger than that of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas ; and without the slightest loading time. John Marston's broken face almost makes Niko Bellic look like an angel, and the scar that covers his face bears witness to the struggles of his previous life. Some will notice a certain rigidity in the characters' facial expressions and their straw-like hair, but is that really the point in a game where freedom of action flirts with infinity? As much as GTA IV became almost stifling with its billion dwellings and its tons of concrete, as much Red Dead Redemption and its flora which extends as far as the eye can see offer a real breath of fresh air to the genre. The artists of the American studio have done a titanic job on the environments which reach an impressive level of detail. It would take a lifetime to describe every corner of the map, but we will be content to specify that Red Dead Redemption plays in a register where the clouds of dust rise with each passage of the horses (whose modeling is glaringly realistic from elsewhere), not to mention the shadow and light effects that pile up on the screen after dark. But it's mostly the sunsets that give your head a ache and spin your brain, and riding your horse to get lost in the Rockies has never been so enjoyable. Red Dead Redemption breathes life, even if the villages do not house such a dense population as in Assassin's Creed for example. As for the ubiquitous interactivity with the animals on which we will come back later, it breaks everything and shows that Rockstar San Diego did not develop the game on Xbox 360 and PS3 only to offer a realization in high-definition.
The artists of the American studio have done a titanic job on the environments which reach an impressive level of detail. It would take a lifetime to describe every corner of the map [...]"
Since it is a question of shooting skulls in Red Dead Redemption, the developers had no right to mess up the gunfights and had to respect certain codes. Unsurprisingly, the studio has therefore drawn on the big names in action games – especially Gears of War – to calibrate the shootings and offer clashes worthy of the name. The grip with view over the shoulder is intuitive and allows you to adjust the targeting manually or automatically, in order to satisfy both neophytes and pros of the trigger. Corrections have been made to aiming which is less capricious than in GTA IV and offers the possibility of multiplying headshots, but this is not a sufficient reason to play cowboy like in the playground. Some situations are indeed tense to manage, and the automatic lock proves to be of great help in these moments. Even by slightly shifting the reticle, it fixes on the nearest opponent, hidden or not. In the heart of the forest, the radar makes it much easier to locate enemies using large red dots that only short-sighted people cannot see. It then becomes possible to take the whole troop from behind, a bit like Army of Two – all things considered of course – except that here the partners only move on the orders of the AI. The level design of Red Dead Redemption favors the cover system with crates, rocks or even tree trunks that are always on the road, and the small animations that accompany each of Marston's gestures - slides, reload, aiming - contribute to the dynamism of gunfights. Exhilarating. The bullets fly from all sides, the rag-doll has probably never been so striking in a Rockstar Games branded title, and coldly puncturing a knee before finishing the job with a cartridge in the head is a treat that sends late night texting; truthful. The arsenal of Red Dead Redemption is complete and allows you to have fun with all kinds of calibers. We are not going to name them all here (repeating rifle, Springfield rifle, GP pistol, Schofield revolver, throwing knife...) and we will especially remember that the effectiveness of weapons is based on specific criteria, such as the rate of shot, power or even reload time. Magazine capacity can also be crucial when calling on John Marston's Cold Blood (or Dead Eye).
LONESOME COW-BOY
When the situation requires it, the latter has the possibility of slowing down time by pressing the right stick once in play, to better "mark" his enemies and maximize his chances of hitting the target. Obviously, the use of Cold Blood is conditioned by a gauge which decreases as soon as the rhythm of the action decreases, and which can be regenerated by chaining the frags. The number of red crosses that can be painted on the body of individuals depends essentially on the amount of ammunition contained in the magazine, which gives a strategic aspect to Red Dead Redemption. It is therefore strongly advised to have in your hands a weapon capable of spitting ten bullets in a row when Marston has to face a horde of bandits, even if the change of gun is done in a flash via LB. Either way, armed or not, there's always something to do in Red Dead Redemption, those perks that only Rockstar Games can cook up. The strong point of the title is undoubtedly its ability to offer a wealth of tasks to be performed, which contrasts radically with the redundancy of Grand Theft Auto IV. The freshness of the western atmosphere probably has a lot to do with it, but it's hard to ignore this variety put in place by the developers at Rockstar San Diego who have really thought of everything. No, we are not necessarily talking about poker games, horseshoe throwing, knife games, old-fashioned duels with Dead Eye sauce, or even arm wrestling competitions; we rather think of all these side missions which reinforce the immersion and expand the content of Red Dead Redemption. Marked with a "?" on the map, secondary objectives are also a great way to line their pockets and heal John Marston's "Reputation" and "Honor", two gauges that define the orientation taken by the hero during the game. adventure. By lining up murders like stringing pearls, he will quickly become the man to kill with a capture bonus that will swell as his misdeeds progress. But as everyone knows, crime pays, and there will be times when Marston will be approached by gangs to carry out hand-in-hand heists. By choosing to defend the widower and the orphan, the repentant can on the other hand count on the help of the villagers who will not hesitate to lie to the police to better cover their tracks. We will even be entitled to discounts in certain shops, which is always a good thing when you know that you have to fight hard in Red Dead Redemption to make a little money. In any case, the situation is not fixed and it is possible to go into a spin at any time during the game. Really excellent.
The strong point of the title is unquestionably its ability to offer richness in the tasks to be accomplished [...]. The freshness of the western atmosphere probably has a lot to do with it..."
All these subsidiary pleasures can also be encouraged by the inhabitants who hang around the villages: a man who has his horse or his cart stolen, a stagecoach chased, a person who is about to be executed, the opportunities for shine abound. But it's also a perfect Rockstar San Diego ruse to disguise the long rides that might overwhelm the less patient. On this subject, we can even go from point A to point B by stagecoach - for a fee - or even by train; we also regret that the latter is not of greater use, because it is not possible to buy a ticket to go to a specific place. Sitting down and contemplating the landscape, that's basically what the SNCF looks like in the game. Speaking of means of transport, even if whistling your horse is a luxury that you gladly taste, you also appreciate the rides in a cart, a story of taste the physics engine which is not of a crazy requirement. We must not rush headlong without paying a minimum attention to its trajectory, but we have known much more intransigent with Rockstar Games.
Red Dead Redemption breathes life, we've already told you, and the interaction with animals is there to remind you. It's not poodles that roam the American West, but rather coyotes, wolves, deer, boars and even bears. The slightest suspicious noise coming from a bush is synonymous with potential danger, and we can guarantee you that it's quite funny to see a cougar, lurking in the shadows, jumping at the throat of his horse. Nonetheless, it slams. Like any good self-respecting farmer, John Marston is a lover of hunting, and each slaughtered animal can be skinned for the greatest pleasure of traders fond of animal skins. Taming wild horses by lassoing them is also a highlight in Red Dead Redemption; once on the back of the stallion, you will have to try to keep your balance by playing with the left stick until the animal calms down. Not bad. That said, the game does not reach perfection as one might think, and some flaws immediately come to mind such as missions that are only accessible from a certain time. There is no option to speed up the watch, and we sometimes find ourselves saving three times in a vacuum, just because a save advances the time by six hours. We also deplore that the framerate is not always up to the event, but that, we expected a little more to be honest, so much the ambition of Red Dead Redemption sometimes borders on excess. And then it chatters a lot in the game, which sometimes breaks the rhythm and makes you want to skip the long dialogues. Cruel dilemma all the same because these passages are often an opportunity to learn a lot more about the characters, and greatly accentuates the immersive value of the game.
You will no doubt have noticed that at no time have we talked about the multiplayer mode of Red Dead Redemption, the copy of the game sent to us by Rockstar Games does not allow you to organize multiplayer games. Anyway, this oh so important aspect of the title will be the subject of a future update of our test, and in the meantime, the most curious can always consult our preview devoted to the multi of the game which is announced. simply monstrous. Finally, we will not complete the tour of this masterpiece without placing a few syllables on the musical tape which is divine, especially the music of the end credits. In fact, those who have been used to juggling the various radio stations of the latest GTAs may be a little lost at first. But we quickly realize that the discretion of the notes – which know how to be heard in key moments – fits perfectly with the atmosphere that the game wants to create. This Red Dead Redemption is definitely very high art.
