Red Dead Redemption - Xbox 360

You want to know the hallmark of a truly great game? You don't want it to end. That's how I felt about Red Dead Redemption. I knew the ending was coming, but I didn't want it to. I wanted more, I wanted it to continue. I wanted to keep playing.

In case you haven't already guessed, Red Dead Redemption was an amazing game. From start to finish I enjoyed every minute of it.

Much like movie westerns there haven't been a lot of good video game westerns in the past couple years. Sure, there's been several western themed games released but overall they've been somewhat mediocre. When I first heard about Red Dead Redemption I looked at the track record of western games and figured it would be one more in a line of average games. Boy did I turn out to be wrong.

Red Dead Redemption pulled me in from the very start. Rarely does a game come along that hooks me so quickly and with such ferocity. It wasn't "Oh, I should really play some Red Dead Redemption!" It was "Oh, I should really do something besides play Red Dead Redemption... I've been playing for five hours straight."

Everything about this game just struck me as great.

The story was incredibly well crafted, you felt attached to the characters, you wanted to know their stories. You wanted to learn more. All while the main storyline kept you gripped and sucked in. Everything felt like it should be there, none of the side characters had me bored or not wanting to finish their part of the story. It was one of those games that I actually wanted to achieve 100% in.

The music was phenomenal. Amazingly well done, some of the best music I've heard in a video game in a long, long time. I was amazed at how well it flowed in the game. Red Dead Redemption did something I'm not sure I've seen in a game before, some of its music actually had lyrics. It was very interesting, it was sparsely used but when it was it very much had a very movie like feel to it. It made things feel very epic. I was very impressed with the music in this game, and I don't get to say that often.

I thought the writing was done very well too. Like I said, the story kept me interested until the very end and not once did I find myself bored or thought something was tedious. Often while playing video games I watch a movie or TV, with Red Dead Redemption I tried this and couldn't. I got so sucked into the game and what everyone was saying I would just stop paying attention to everything else entirely.

At the end of the day this is pretty much Grand Theft Auto set 100 years in the past... but Red Dead Redemption pulled me in far more then probably any GTA game ever has. Everything in this game just clicked for me. I finished it and just thought "Wow!"

Sure, Red Dead Redemption had a few minor flaws here and there, but nothing major. There were so many great things about this game that a few minor things couldn't stop it from being absolutely amazing.

If you're a fan of Grand Theft Auto games, if you've just been been waiting for a great western game, or if you just want a phenomenal game, Red Dead Redemption is a game that you need to play.

Squid.