Red Dead Revolver

Reviewed by Victor Araujo
May 2004

Developer: Rockstar San Diego Website: Click Here Publisher: Rockstar Platform(s): PS2, Xbox Players: 1-4 ESRB Rating: M (Mature)

Red Dead Revolver follows a man named Red as he tracks down those resopnsible for the murder of his family. Drawing insperation from just about every Itallian Western ever filmed, Red Dead Revolver perfectly captures the film genre in a game. The game will have you playing out every western cliche ever caught on film. From fast draws to riding horseback along the side of a train. The environments and the wide range of enemy characters really fit the old west as protrayed in the movies. The music is literally straight out of the Itallian westerns that inspired the game. While the graphics are alittle rough around the edges, they still manage to get across a gritty rugged atmosphere.

The game does a good job teaching you to play during the first few levels. You'll start off learning basic shooting and useing the enviornment for cover. It's a bit diffecult to judge what can and can't be hidden behind during the more intense shoot outs. Even then you'll find yourself flattened out on the wrong side a rock. The fast draw portions of the game add a nice touch to the game, however they could have been alittle more refined. Even with constent practice you never feel like you are getting any better at it. Ultimatly you'll end up feeling like (bad pun alert) it's the luck of the draw. Red's able to slow down the action and allow him to draw a bead on multiple targets. Becoming really handy in later levels and when you're found surrounded by enemies.

The way the story unfolds feels a bit awkward. At times you're left thinking "Okay, so who do I kill next?". A few times you'll be given a new character to controll during a level, eventually you'll learn how everybody's story fits in to the over all plot. Alot of the story telling feels left out, being detailed better in Journal pages wich have to be unlocked. This wouldn't be so bad if you didn't have to exit back to the main menu to read them. While it might take more then one play through the story to earn all the pages, by the time you finish the game you stop caring about them. Once cleared you are allowed to replay most of the stages in the game. The only down side in doing so is an added goal, in some stages if you fail the goal you fail the whole mission and must start over. A shame because the game does have a good number of levels that you'll want to do again and again. The game does offer a multiplayer mode with the option for computer controlled opponents. For fans of the old Spaghitti westerns Red Dead Revolver offers the best western game around. If you're just looking for a good action game, It's a solid rental.