Red Dead Redemption Preview

15 Dec 2009 at 18:00:06 by Andy Alderson

We begin as the new star of the game, John Marston, awakes at a campsite which, Rockstar tells us, acts as a save hub in the game. John can pitch a camp anywhere in the game world (within reason – flat ground and a bit o' wilderness are required) and use it to save the game. We spawn with a trusty steed by our side as Rockstar explains that campsites can also be upgraded to give you other treats when you respawn such as ammo and a refill for your Dead Eye meter. The latter is one of the few links between Redemption and its predecessor, Red Dead Revolver, and is basically a bullet-time style ability to slow down time, enabling you to precisely aim and fire off multiple rounds very quickly.

Marston stands up at the campsite, we catch our first real glimpse of Redemption's open world environment and it's impressive. Most noticeable is the excellent draw distance enabling you to see rock formations well into the distance. Despite a quick disclaimer that we may see a bit of pop-in due to the early state of the code, it's hard not be impressed by the sprawling panorama in front of us, shimmering with heat (it looks even better at night). The game world will apparently consist of three huge areas – New Austin  and West Elizabeth make up the American regions while Nuevo Paraiso is based across the border in Mexico.

Of course, a huge game world means that hoofing it is no way to get around so Marston mounts his horse and straight away we see the excellent Euphoria middleware at work. Rockstar explains that as well as the Euphoria physics, horses were also motion-captured in San Diego in what we can only assume was a particularly messy session. As we trot down the hill towards a rudimentary trail , we encounter some of Redemption's ecology for the first time and it's not quite what we expected. A  surprisingly confident coyote appears to be attacking a poor Mexican bypasser and, after Marston puts a bullet between the dog's eyes, the injured man limps towards him, presumably to offer his thanks. At least that's what we thought. Suddenly the man's wounds don't seem to be much of a hindrance as he drags us off our horse and gallops off. The Wild West, it seems, is full of fucking toerags. Luckily, our hoss is well-trained and doesn't take kindly to its new master, bucking wildly and throwing him to the ground. At this point El Bandito's courage appears to have run out as he limps away, as quickly as possible. As Marston shoots him in the back (what? He deserved it) Rockstar explains that this act is “honour neutral” because he attacked us first.

Honour and Fame, you see, are the two central pillars of Redemption. Marston's fame will increase  by actions good or bad, while his honour is more of a morality barometer. And honour plays a major role in how the NPCs react to him. Play the game as a saint and you'll be rewarded with cheaper  prices at shops and people might just seek you out when they need some help. Play the game as vicious, cold-blooded scoundrel, however, and you'll likely find yourself being challenged to a duel by every law-breaking swine in town as people queue up to destroy your legend. An example of the Honour system at work comes when Marston crosses paths with a Mexican lawman who, being a bit on the incompetent side, has managed to let his two prisoners escape. Marston can choose to simply shoot the fleeing criminals in the back, grab some of their personal effects as proof and earn some cash, or capture them with his lasso, hog tie them return them to the lawman to earn honour as well as cash. Choice will play a big part in Redemption.

A similar choice arises later in the demo as we take on a bounty hunter mission in the crumbling white mortar town of Chuparosa. Picking up a Wanted poster to accept the mission, Marston is given the last known location of the wanted man on his minimap at the bottom left hand corner of the screen. Heading in the general direction of our bounty, Rockstar briefly interrupts our quest by bringing up one of the game's many treasure maps. Rather than adopting a simple 'X marks the spot' approach, Rockstar has cleverly made treasure hunting into a bit of a minigame – the maps contain cursory instructions as well as an environmental landmark to look out for, in this case a donut-shaped rock formation with a hole in the middle. Marston finds a  pile of rocks nearby and uncovers a gold bar, although we're told the treasure will not be exclusively financial.

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