Listen Chilllll-dren

Now thats what I am talking about! 

I have been playing Red Dead Redemption and loving it. After my personal disappointment with Final Fantasy 13 I wasn't sure what this was going to be like. I loved Rockstar's Max Payne and Grand Theft Auto 4. They have a quirky sense of humor and details that make gameplay excellent but....would Red Dead live up to my high expectations?

Oh yes. So much in fact that I couldn't help but keep hearing Three Dog's voice from Fallout 3, the Galaxy News Radio DJ. I know that game isn't Rockstar (its Bethesda) but I had to quote him as my blog title.

When I started Red Dead I wasn't sure but now that I've been able to play it...I like it. A lot. There are some things I'd like to do that I can't but there are so many things I can do that I am not gonna bitch.

I always like when you can command a good headshot and Red Dead has got that. Excellent!!! It doesn't matter if I am using rifle or pistol...I can set the target and get a brilliant clean headshot the minute the head pops up. I can't say I can always get a clean shot on some of the animals. Cougars are fast and if I can't nail them in their tracks by spotting them before they hit...I often have to resort to Dead Eye to down them and more often then I'd like to admit...they often kill my horse, and sometimes kill me too. 

My 1st bit of advice for Red Dead Redemption: Don't get too attached to your horse(s).

Remember how in Oblivion you could get a horse you liked and he'd be faithful to you and you'd be faithful to him and you would explore the world together and all was well and balanced and calm? Not so in the wild west so - get over it. Every horse you love will likely at some point be dead and there will be nothing for it but to skin it to recoup some profit and whistle for another which could and likely will be a lower level horse then the one just killed. I got awarded a stallion...beautiful Palamino with a nice turn of speed. Because I earned it by learning to rope and break a wild horse it make it more special. I thought "Aha! Here is my horse, my companion on the trail" and then.....dead....killed by a cougar in a split second. So....I whistled and got another nag, er, horse. I canvassed the wild horse herds and finally settled on a nice brown and white pinto. Took me a bit to chase him down and rope him. Breaking is no problem....oh....that brings me to....

My 2nd bit of advice for Red Dead Redemption: When breaking a wild horse look at, and only at, your cowboy's crotch. It hardly bares more explanation than focusing only there you can immediately keep him centred and breaking will never be much of a problem. Ummm...okay....just trust me...it does work.

Yeah, so I had this really nice pinto and my cowboy looked so cool riding on him. Real authentic when a cowboy is saddled up on a wild pinto pony. I was quite happy with this striking pair. The pinto lasted a pretty long time. Then I was on a treasure hunt at Rio de Lobo Rock. It required my going at it on foot. Now, I did notice sometimes animals do unexpected things in game. Its a bit glitchy. So far, nothing that has actually interferred with my game play in a nasty way. I mention this because I saw a big buck bouncing around on top of the rock before I followed the little path. How the hell did a buck get up there? I dunno. I nabbed the treasure, slid down the cliff slowly, keeping my cowboy's feet well under him or...he'd die. When he stopped sliding I whistled for the pinto. The pinto was a tough pony. He struggled but made his way to me down the cliff, at one point sliding a little on his back haunches. I mounted up, pulled up the map to set a waypoint, zoomed to pick a pathway, closed and looked around for the most appropriate route out of where I was and....a friggin' huge buck fell on top of us from above, knocking me outta the saddle and....killing the pinto stone dead. What kind of a deer leaps off a cliff to total a pinto and a cowboy? What on earth would have a buck so depressed that he decides there is nothing worth prancing around for anymore and its time for a suicide bomb drop onto an innocent treasure hunter and his loyal pony? Did he not get picked for reindeer games? Did Santa tell him he just wasn't  gonna make the flight crew? Did he think that ALL deer could fly and it was merely an unfortunate mistake of misinformation? Maybe he should have Wiki'd that before the leap? I mean, people...a perfectly healthy deer leapt off a rock on a cliff and in so doing...killed my pony. So there was nothing to do for it but...skin both buck and pony and whistle for a newbie ride. *sigh*  I caught and broke what I think was suppose to be a black horse. I think black because it wasn't a deep dark black but had a bit of colour mixed in its coat , kinda dark chocolately - sheen of the sun perhaps? Anyhow, he was a lot of fun as he seemed faster but....dead. So for horses all I can say is R.I.P

Now, my 3rd bit of advice: Stay away from the edge of the water. You can't swim and neither can your horse and any attempts to do so will end immediately in the favour of the Grim Reaper.  Shame. There are lots of pretty places for a dip but...there is no dipping that I have come upon so far....but plenty of drowning. I thought I could swim so I tried to cross a bit of water... I drowned. I thought all horses can swim for real so while mounted....I drowned. I accidentally didn't make a bridge in a race....drowned. Slipped off a cliff into a lake....yeah you got it, drowned. So, yeah....stay away from the water.

Thunderstorms are amazing in the game. Enjoy them. I don't think there is much that will make your jaw drop with its gorgeousness in this game except perhaps the thunder storm. I found when I travel at night through one - I needed to be very careful about the wildlife as its harder to see murderous critters when you've got darkness and then flashes of lightening. I think they are the best storms I've ever experienced in game.

Oh....maybe my 4th bit of advice: Don't get peed on. Nearly happened to me when I thought I was checking out a room behind a door, turns out its a bathroom so I tried to see if my man could pee which was 'no' but in runs some idiot and nearly wets my man's boots. EWWWWW!!!! The great expanse of this frontier is an astoundingly busy place and so many of those are either peeing or about to pee. Saloon bathrooms, cati, rocks, bushes....oh crikey....they pee on everything so be careful.

But I love this game. Love the voice acting and the characters, even the disgusting ones. Scripting has been pretty good too. So much fun. Nice scenery.

I wish I could sell horses I break, not just get paid to break them at the ranches. At least I can't do that yet.

Well, I am finished eating my dinner so I'm going back, partner! Yee-haw.

Anyway - that is why I have been missing in blog action.