We wrapped up our time there, and headed back to the hotel to unwind a bit. The Rockstar reps said they’d pick us up at the hotel around 7:30, and told us to not eat dinner before we got picked up. So after hanging around at the hotel for a bit we were picked up in a 15-passenger van by three Rockstar guys. We ended up in Brooklyn in a rather run-down-looking neighborhood, and our van stopped outside of a nondescript building that looked like at one time it might have been a warehouse of some kind. We filed out of the van and were met by another one of our hosts, who explained to us that we were about to be given an awesome opportunity. For the remainder of the night, we were to be given full access to Red Dead Redemption! I’d like to say I didn’t make a scene and was able to keep my excitement under wraps. I’d like to say that…
The rep opened a door for us and we found ourselves in a draped hallway with a single red light bulb lighting the way. The first thing I heard was piano music. Once we got to the end of the hallway the room opened up and we were in a large high-ceilinged room. To our left was a piano player dressed in turn-of-the-century duds, complete with a bowler hat. Beyond him was a staircase leading up to a loft-type area overlooking the rest of the room. Elsewhere in the room was a bar, tended by ladies in 1910 call-girl outfits, with others similarly dressed and roaming the room. There were wooden barrels scattered about, and dynamite-bundle candles as well which looked really cool with the "fuse" wick lit. I couldn't believe it: Rockstar created an old-time saloon to give us a more authentic way to enjoy our time in the old west in the game. Holy crap! Towards the far end of the room were six complete gallows (which I later learned were hand-made by Rockstar guys – nice craftsmanship guys!), nooses included, in two groups of three against opposing walls. Attached to the gallows were flat screen TVs and XBox 360s playing Red Dead Redemption. We were told to grab a drink if we wanted one and to head up to the loft for a demo before we were given the reigns.
At the top of the stairs to the loft we found three more TVs. While up there we were given a quick demonstration of some of the gameplay mechanics by the product manager for the game in the single-player mode. We were also told that the three stations up where we were had the single player mode running, and the six downstairs were all connected in a Free Roam multiplayer session. The demo was done, and we were left to our own devices. I grabbed a controller up in the loft and plopped down to start playing. Now, currently we are bound by a press embargo to not speak on specific gameplay elements that we experienced that have not been released to the public yet. So while I will have to be relatively vague right now, in the near future I will be able to speak on this more specifically. For now then, I want to give you guys some general impressions of how playing the game felt.
For those with ADD, here’s the bottom line:
Red Dead Redemption might be the best game I play all year. Now, I am not someone who throws a statement like that around freely, so understand that it's not empty hyperbole coming from me. I played it for six hours all-told, split between single- and multi-player, and I felt like I’d only scratched the surface. The awesome thing about taking part in this event was that we were not given a restricted demo that consisted of a couple of select missions, like some press events. We were given all access to everything that was in that particular build (we were told it was not final code before we started playing).
From the moment I jumped on my horse and took off, I found myself instantly and completely immersed in the world that Rockstar created here. There were moments where I found myself laughing at a cutscene, or just slack-jawed in amazement at a gameplay mechanic I’d stumbled on (more on that when I can speak about it). It was like I had to remember to blink; my eyes were so affixed to the screen. Whereas in GTA almost everything you look at is satire, from the billboards to the NPCs, it seemed like Rockstar San Diego took a more serious approach overall with Red Dead Redemption. However, this does not mean that the game is bereft of comedy. In my playing time I was able to observe that there is a great balance between the serious and the light-hearted in this title. I mean, it is a Rockstar game after all – they wouldn’t want to leave the humor out of it completely!
The on-horse controls are amazing. For anyone that might have had concerns, put them to bed right now. If you’ve played a game before that had a horse that you can ride, whether that be Shadow of the Colossus, Assassin’s Creed, Oblivion or any others, the control scheme implemented here blows it out of the water. So much effort was put into not only making the horse look realistic, but also act realistically. My final word on this is that it’s a joy to ride the horse in the game, it’s not an encumbrance.
I spent the greater portion of my time playing the multiplayer mode, because I did not want to get too far into the storyline of the single player campaign. Playing in free-roam (plus some competitive multiplayer matches that I will get into once we can speak of them) with five other people was instantly addictive. More so than any other multiplayer game that I’ve played, I felt like a part of a posse while riding on horseback, racing through the countryside. The fact that Rockstar saw fit to do away completely with the lobby, utilizing Free Mode instead as a way of gathering a group of people, is evidence of yet another game-changer found in Red Dead Redemption.
I keep excitedly typing things out now and having to delete them because of the press embargo, so I think I’ll just say for now that there’s MUCH more I want to say about the game, but it will have to wait for another time. After getting to the point of dragging my knuckles on the ground I was so tired, a group of us left in a sweet black SUV to get back to the hotel. Those of us who left in the earlier car all decided to hang out in Kyle’s room, order some room service and then hang out and chat. I ended up hitting the sack around 3:30 AM after some awesome conversations.
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