Back home in Oxford, when
I was a wee scamp, I can recall how I’d run back home after school to catch what
the BBC called Rawhide Theatre. I was enthralled by the sight of Gary Cooper as
he stepped out into the street in High Noon and even more impressed with Clint
Eastwood as he whipped aside his dusty poncho to reveal his guns in The Good,
The Bad and the Ugly. So you can imagine how exciting it was to hear about Red
Dead Revolver–a western that was originally to be released by Capcom but passed
on to Rockstar Games. It’s time to slap leather and draw your guns because only
the quick survive, eh Blondie.
Red Dead Revolver draws
its inspiration from the spaghetti western films of Sergio Leone, particularly
the ones that starred Clint Eastwood as that nameless stranger you can’t help
but cheer on. This stranger, however, has a name. You’ll be playing Red–a
bounty hunter who lost his parents at an early age by marauding bandits and, as
a result, grows up to despise injustice and corruption. He dedicates his life
collecting the bounty on outlaws he comes across and, thanks to his quick gun,
is very successful at it. The story in the game’s Story mode follows Red–as
well as a few others, but we’ll get to that a bit later–as he uncovers a
political corruption in the Governor’s office.
While the story sounds
good enough, it takes a backseat to the game’s third-person action. The game
starts the tale from the beginning and, as a young Red, we get a feel of how
your characters control. As Red helps his father out against the bandits,
gamers go through a tutorial that teaches the basic shooting elements. Red can
run, jump and punch but this is a gunslinger game so it is all about gunfights.
In order to bring your enemy down, Red must draw his gun from his holster with
the L1 button, hold it and then fire with the R1 button. This sounds easy
enough, but after you draw you must also position a shooting reticule over your
moving target. You can target specific body parts but body and headshots are
what you should really be looking for if you want to kill your enemy. The game
also features a Max Payne-styled Bullet Time feature known as Dead Eye. It’s a
tricky maneuver to master but the game does allow you to practice it during the
few tutorials.
Since Red is a gunfighter,
there are often moments when the game shifts to an old-fashioned duel that pits
you against a challenging gunslinger. Duels are somewhat complicated to master
since they require you to perform a short series of control movements. With the
right analog stick, you have to move the stick down for your hand to reach the
butt of your pistol then up so you can draw the holstered weapon. Then you have
to align the reticule over your opponent until the reticule itself turns a
bright red before you fire. This takes a lot of practice, believe me, but
mastering the skill of the quick draw just adds more action to the game. Both
the Dead Eye feature and the Duels work well but they would have been so much
better had the character moved less rigidly. Using Max Payne as an example, Max
targeting might take some getting use to but at least he moves smoothly and
interacts with is environment. Red, on the other hand, is only limited to
sticking his back to the wall Solid Snake-style.
Major flaw aside, Red Dead
Revolver spices up the action by allowing gamers to play as Annie Stokes, Shadow
Wolf, Diego, Swift Jack and Buffalo Soldier. Aside from their difference in
appearance, each character is skilled with unique attacks and weapons. Annie
would put Annie Oakley to shame with her rifle and Shadow Wolf is both sneaky
and deadly with his flaming arrows. Along with the fact that Red can ride and
shoot and do heroic stunts like fight against bad guys on a stagecoach, the game
certainly offers many action-packed sequences that work in the game’s favor.
Add the extras you get to unlock (such as weapon upgrades you can purchase) and
Multiplayer modes packed with an abundance of options (up to four players can
take each another on in Bounty Hunter, Sundown and High Noon) and you have a
game with a lot to offer.
The game’s graphics might
not win any prizes considering the fact that much of what we see in this game
certainly lacks that visual punch that most of the recent Rockstar games seems
to offer. While the locales found here do a good job of bringing the old West
to life, it would have been a lot better if the game used more detail. The
character models themselves, though, are what really needed the help.
Characters look okay during cut scenes but plain looking during the game’s
action. Facial details are not the best either.
What the game doesn’t do
visually, it achieves something far better . . . offer convincing voices, sound
effects and a score that will bring back memories of Clint’s early Italian
classics like For A Few Dollars More. The voices work nicely for characters
like Red and Shadow Wolf and the dialogue isn’t bad at all. Bad guys tend to
repeat similar phrases during a level but it never really gets too annoying.
The music is homage to Sergio Leone and it tends to play in all the appropriate
moments. Combined with some excellent sound effects, the sound just works.
Red Dead Revolver isn’t as
quick in the draw as we’d like it to be but its action-packed moments are
surprisingly thrilling. The game’s controls and visuals could have used some
extra attention but it’s hard to not appreciate its finer moments, its plentiful
extras and a too-hard-to-put-down multiplayer mode. If you love a good Western
give this one a shot. If you’re not, this one still makes a great weekend
rental.
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#Review |
Gameplay: 7.0
Classic showdowns make Duels
something of a rare treat . . . although they require quite a sufficient amount
of practice to get right. Still, this is one action fueled game with enough
levels that mix up the action by putting Red in various neat situations (the
train level is one of the best) and by introducing five different playable
characters. I only wish the character’s movements weren’t so stiff to the point
of making most actions something of a not-so-smooth task.
Graphics: 7.0
Not what you might call a visual
stunner, Red Dead Revolver’s graphics are average at best. Character models
aren’t bad to look at but the facial details and character movement needed a lot
of work. Thankfully the locations look pretty good.
Sound: 8.0
One of the highlights of this game
happens to be its score and you have to love the spaghetti western vibe. The
voice acting is decent but the sound effects are delightful enough that you’ll
swear you’re watching the more intense moments of The Wild Bunch when the lead
really starts flying.
Difficulty: Medium
The game isn’t incredibly difficult
but you’ll find a large amount of levels that will definitely add more
challenge. The mere fact that you have to go through an entire level to save
the game makes the harder levels a bit frustrating–especially if those levels
contain Duels against champion gunslingers. The Quick Draw Competition, for
example, puts you up against the best of the best so there were times where I
had to replay the level more than twice.
Concept: 7.5
Red Dead Revolver also rewards
gamers at the completion of each level in Story mode . . . and these rewards are
rich with practically dozens of extras. Aside from unlocking weapon upgrades,
gamers will also get to unlock extras for the game’s multiplayer mode such as
extra characters and extra features. There are also two card games–Stud and
Texas Hold ‘Em and an extra mode called Bounty Hunter that allows gamers to play
a timed version of Story mode.
Multiplayer: 8.0
The game also includes a multiplayer
mode fit for up to four other players (using the PS2 Multitap). There’s Bounty
Hunter (first to collect the bounty limit wins), Sundown (the player who earns
enough kills wins) and High Noon (duel against friends to see who is the
fastest). These modes are wildly entertaining but my only complaint is that the
Xbox gets an extra multiplayer mode.
Overall: 7.2
There’s just too much to like about
Red Dead Revolver even though it isn’t the most perfect action game. It’s
faults do not quite damage the game’s basic appeal and while the controls could
have used some much needed polish, there’s just enough fun to make this a really
good time in the Wild West. Don’t ignore this one; it makes a great weekend
rental.
