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I think I've played like 20-25 hours by Lizard_King 05/23/2010, 6:14am PDT
maybe 4 of those were multiplayer. But I still haven't gotten to Mexico or the starting city, nor have I seen any game bigger than a mountain lion (apparently there are grizzlies in Mexico). The Oregon Trail hunting keeps on giving, as does the horseback riding in ways that sidestep the wall of tedium that driving in GTA4 created at every turn.
Some things:
-Most checkpoints are very reasonable, especially in mission. Good balance with open world element of risk, now that there is no perma health to refill or need to re-buy weapons and ammo and with the dispersed respawn sites.
-Fast travel does not require hailing ANYTHING.
-Gunplay remains visceral. Recommend switching to expert aim if you want to shoot off people's hats as the autoaim on normal makes it too easy to turn that into a face shot.
-Money is useful. Could do with a "sell all" button, but what the hell.
-In game challenges are good, although I think that Saint's Row "reward everything all of the time" is going to have spoiled a lot of people. This is more of a "remember that cool thing you did/found 5 hours ago? Do that 5 more times for incremental progress towards an uncertain prize". I think Rockstar has met me more than halfway from goddamned pigeon land.
-The characters and plot are typical Rockstar melodrama, in this case somewhere between the Unforgiven and Deadwood in tone as opposed to the straight up HBO lite of GTA4. I'd like to say these are better written, but I kind of liked Niko even though fuck GTA4 is my ultimate conclusion on that game (I haven't seen anything to top the NIKO SMASH taunts during combat). They've done a better job with alignment, but it's still going to periodically fall in the usual holes of "good mass murderer/evil only slightly worse but with ridiculous overreactions from game"). Nobody calls you to ask to play pool or to maintain relationships in order to use a lame ability, and they even threw an an anti-semite shopkeeper for INC to talk to. If INC played games, that is.
-Best minigames: dueling, poker cheating, and (inexplicably) horse breaking. Horseshoes sucks, which I guess is an accurate recreation of real life.
-The graphics are good although I always feel like I'm getting the contrast and saturation wrong on my tv with some games, and that includes everything Rockstar it seems. The scenery is rarely boring, and most random encounters are interesting and optional, and quickly over.

The jury's out on the multiplayer, but I think I'm going to buy this rental for the singleplayer alone.
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Red Dead Redemption might make up for GTA4. Might. by Lizard_King 05/21/2010, 6:52pm PDT NEW
    I think I've played like 20-25 hours by Lizard_King 05/23/2010, 6:14am PDT NEW
        Grizzlies not in Mexico, but in area unlocked after Mexico by Lizard_King 05/23/2010, 8:24am PDT NEW
        Remember that shit in GTA4 with the invincible enemies and forced chases? by Lizard_King 05/23/2010, 9:41am PDT NEW
 
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