10 Big Reasons To Revisit Red Dead Redemption
3. The Story Hasn't Aged A Day
Set during the dying days of the Old West, Red Dead Redemption drops players into a wild landscape slowly tamed by modernization.
Telephone poles pockmark the roads and towns, the cables overhead are veins pulsing with the buzz of electricity. Automobiles are beginning to line the streets; harbingers of the future standing side-by-side with horse-drawn carriages. The outlaws stumbling out of saloons and alleys almost seem like relics; ghosts of a bygone era.
This taming of the West is the backbone of Redemption's narrative, and the clash between civilization and barbarism infuses the gameplay with a poignancy that reverberates with every gunshot.
Redemption's plot seems simple enough, bare-bones even. But it's through John's interactions with the characters that populate Redemption's world where the true brilliance of the narrative shines through; with one character in specific standing out as the antithesis of everything John Marston represents: Edgar Ross. Emblematic of an abusive government hiding their self-interest under the guise of progress and order, Edgar Ross clothes his lust for power with sentiments of "the greater good".
Rockstar's brand of storytelling is oftentimes a hit-or-miss affair, and the dissonance between the gameplay and narrative is a bit more noticeable in certain titles than others. But the studio crafted something truly spectacular with Red Dead Redemption, and subsequent playthroughs always manage to yield new insight.