Red Dead Read

[pauldiazberrio]

I said read in the title of this thread, as in the past tense of to read. I've named this topic as such because now I've literally read the game twice, once on PS3, and now, on PC. I offer you this updated list of pros and cons to show you why our gaming community can enjoy this port, and what not to expect.

Pros

+ Excellent hit detection and aiming system. On foot, or on horseback, you can shoot pretty much anything, in normal or deadeye mod. Knife kills, and stealth kills are fun when you learn how to use your blade.

+Nice frame rate options allow you to play the game at a dynamic pace. High end PC rigs can enjoy the game easily at its 144 FPS cap at ultra settings, and, with a special mod, up to 1000 FPS.

+The Nvidia graphics options, the new Antialiasing, and the chance to play at 4K offer a tasty visual treat, which even on normal settings can be very pleasing to the eye.

+ Useful farming assignments that teach you about how to ride a horse and do something useful.

+ Entertaining and helpful supporting characters. None of them have a dull moment. They all add something to the story and their AI is well developed. You can always rely on them to offer covering fire while you push forward.

+ Modding. The trainers and the CGI mods on offer are top grade and the people behind them are improving their works steadily. You can have fun changing almost anything, from models, adding weapons, peds and teleporting all over the map.

+Superb map. The side quests are all different, and offer feisty villains and challenging tasks to complete.

Cons

-P*** poor presentation and introduction. John Marston arrives on a boat, mistakenly identifying himself as a migrant, who stands out like a ram amongst sheep. It's unclear what he is doing, or why he's meeting with Federal Agents, who merely escort him to a train without stating their demands or their intentions. The narrative makes itself up as it goes along, and only begins to fill in the blanks after Johnny meets Bonnie. Only the downside of the story truly explains things better.

-Weak honor system. You won't get anything more than discounts for weapons on low honor, or more money for bounties on high. The responses from peds to your interactions on either end of the scale are obviously friendly or unfriendly. The story doesn't end any differently if you have low or high honor.

-Incorrect gun mechanics. The volcanic pistol is reloaded through a side gate that the actual weapon never had, the Springfield rifle holds four rounds, when in fact, the real firearm was a single shot model.

- Misogyny. Bonnie is brutally wounded and doesn't appear again until the end, playing a very small, forgettable part of a melodrama that ends quickly and writes her off like yesterday's news. Abigail is omitted until the end and it's implied she was blindfolded and made to do very lacklustre things while John was reaping all the glory.

-Invulnerable Peds. You can knock Peds down and out with your fists, but they always recover after short periods, always fully recovering and coming back for another fight. Besides gun shots, getting run over by horses or trains, only knife kills instructs the game to eliminate them.

Overall the pros outweigh the cons. I'm enjoying my testing of the PC version because it brings RDR to modern systems without any extravagant touches or loud bells and whistles. It improves the right things and the modding is reason enough to play around with the game.

[Ihateeverybody]

I think dueling can be better explained. I never "got" it on console, I don't "Get" it on PC and I certainly don't "Understand" it on YouTube (especially when I have to sit through 2 minutes of adverts per 30 seconds of Content.

[pauldiazberrio]

Originally posted by Ihateeverybody:

I think dueling can be better explained. I never "got" it on console, I don't "Get" it on PC and I certainly don't "Understand" it on YouTube (especially when I have to sit through 2 minutes of adverts per 30 seconds of Content.

Thank you for your feedback. Yes, the dueling system in many games is often a system of trial and error. Only COJ Bound in Blood got it right, as far as I know.

[looba dee]

i think that the introduction is deliberate. People have no idea what's happening, it's what makes progressing so much better. You fill in the blanks, and have moments like 'oh! that's why ____ happened', etc. I personally think that it's a refreshing way to play. Now, I could be very biased as I knew a lot of what happened from rdr2, so note that.