Red Dead Revolver Review

It could possibly be Kevin Costnerâ??s fault, however thereâ??s no denying that the Western genre is well and truly dead in Hollywood. Sadly gamers who enjoy their dose of cowboys and Indians havenâ??t had a lot to shout about, with only Konamiâ??s excellent Sunset Riders from 1991 being the only title in recent memory to shout about.

Itâ??s a shame because thereâ??s no doubt that a Western provides the scope for all the crucial ingredients of a good videogame â?“ namely guns, action, horses and duels.

Thankfully RockStar have recognised the opportunity, although for awhile it appeared that we would never see Red Dead Revolver. Originally development began a few years ago at Angel Studios when the title was down on Capcomâ??s books, however despite making appearances at numerous trade shows, the Japanese publisher took the difficult decision to cancel the title and left many doubting as to whether weâ??d ever see it. Fortunately RockStarâ??s acquisition of Angel Studios and name change to RockStar San Diego resurrected the franchise, and resulted in work once again commencing on the Xbox and Playstation2 title.

Red Dead Revolver follows closely the search for revenge of the main character Red, as he attempts to discover those who killed his family back when he was a child. The introduction sets the scene well, as Red witnesses his mother burnt to death and his father shot down; picking up his fathers gun from a bed of hot embers, Red is left with a painful Scorpion emblazoned across his palm that acts as a lifelong reminder of his need to settle the score.

The game is essentially a typical action based â??run-and-gunâ?? title punctuated with a level of humour and style that elevates it beyond many in the same genre. Itâ??s a heavily driven arcade type of experience, right down to a 10 second continue screen (something we havenâ??t seen in awhile) and so you shouldnâ??t go expecting anything too deep, that said the mix of action, style and humour creates a thoroughly compelling experience that action fans are likely to enjoy.

As you progress through the game youâ??ll open up the city of Brimstone that acts a HUB to the game, allowing you to chat to the inhabitants to gain clues and information, or browsing through the numerous establishments ranging from the Saloon and the Sheriffâ??s Office to the Barbers and the Bank. Itâ??s here that you can buy new unlockable goodies such as new maps and characters to play in the multiplayer mode along with a host of other goodies. This structure suits the game well and certainly helps to prevent the issue of repetition rising too frequently â?“ a constant bane of action titles like this.

Starting off with Red youâ??ll encounter a wide cast of â??charmingâ? characters, whilst later in the game youâ??ll take control of a number of other characters including the English gunfighter known as Jack Swift to General Diego the leader of the Mexican army and the man responsible for the death of Redâ??s family. Each character have unique special moves granted by tapping in the right thumbstick; Redâ??s invokes a bullet time technique that slows down time and allows you to precision target specific points on an enemies body, whilst Jack Swift rapidly fires off his dual pistols and General Diego fires a flare to act as a target for his cannons to take out. Being critical thereâ??s probably too many secondary characters and the result detracts from Redâ??s quest of revenge and lessens his character somewhat, however it certainly helps to keep the experience fresh and like weâ??ve said this isnâ??t meant to be the deepest or most meaningful game youâ??ll play.

The game makes use of the typical camera/control mapped to the two thumbsticks, whilst left shoulder buttons are sued to whip out your weapons and the right shoulder buttons fire. Whilst pressing the left shoulder button a cursor is displayed to show where youâ??re aiming and the movement of the character changes so that you can now strafe and pull of some much-needed evasive rolls. Your character can hold three different weapons at a time, namely a handgun, a shotgun/rifle and a throwing weapon such as knifes or dynamite. Itâ??s a nice system that works well, responsive enough for the fast paced action of the game and rarely causing any problems.

In addition youâ??ll be able to hide behind objects and peek out with a few bullets in the classic Western tradition, whilst youâ??ve also got the ability to fight with your fists with a few basic melee attacks. The game also features a rather nifty duelling aspect that cuts in close to the characters and really heightens the atmosphere; itâ??s everything that youâ??d expect from a duel although the actual mechanics can be a little cumbersome to begin with.

Strangely the game feels much more enjoyable then it should; weâ??ve lambasted straightforward â??run-and-gunâ? games in the past because of the repetition and lack of depth, however Red Dead Revolver just works â?“ perhaps itâ??s just the novelty of having a videogame homage to classics such as The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, but thereâ??s something that just keeps you glued for hours upon end.

Naturally fans of a Western are likely to gain more amusement and thereâ??s everything here that you would expect, ranging from fights on top of a speeding train to punch-ups in the Saloon; however RockStar San Diego have implemented their own twist to the experience and as such youâ??ll find yourself fighting against legions of deranged clown cowboys and fighting in a cemetery against a guy carrying a coffin on his back which is hiding a sub-machine gun. Whilst this may sound slightly diverged from what youâ??d expect, we have to say that itâ??s all been brought together with a level of panache and youâ??ll soon find yourself chuckling along to the tongue-in-cheek moments that suit the game brilliantly â?“ it is after all an arcade experience and not a gritty, realistic simulationâ?¦

Although not being visually stunning and actually highlighting the lack of detail on close inspection, the overall visual look comes together and compliments the game. Making use of a blur filter, dusty particle effects and a grainy filter to give the effect of an old film, the worn-in look suits the game perfectly and helps to overlook any of its inadequacies. Perhaps the greatest aspect and one that certainly helps to create the whole look and feel comes from the level of destructible objects featured within the environment; during heated gun fights barrels will burst open, opponents shot down from the roof will collapse through the banisters, and objects used to cover behind will slowly diminish into nothing. Whilst the Xbox version features crisper visuals and a smoother framrerate, it has to be said that both versions are near enough identical â?“ although those who own both machines would be better suited to the Xbox version thanks to the shorter loading times.

As youâ??d expect from a RockStar title great care has been spent on the soundtrack, which features a number of well known Western tunes and the expertise of Ennio Morricone to compose many of the original tracks. Thereâ??s a wide range of music on offer, from solitary whistlers to plinky-piano Saloon tunes; every aspect suits the game perfectly and adds to the experience. Sound effects have that OTT nature, so you really know when a bullet whizzes behind your head, whilst the voice acting helps to bring virtually all of the characters to life.

The game features a variety of multiplayer modes, whilst these does feel slightly tacked on to the overall experience, we have to say that the Poker element adds an element to the mode, seeing players have to collect cards from downed opponents to collect pairs, runs, straights, etcâ?¦ This mode can also be taken online with Xbox Live!, although itâ??s not going to be an essential title for Live! addicts â?“ merely a nice addition to the single-player experience.