Saddle up! Red Dead Redemption has arrived

Rockstar Games, makers of the fabled Grand Theft Auto series of video games has a new title out, sort of a GTA in the sagebrush entitled Red Dead Redemption.  I have only spent about 5 hours with the game but I can already say that this has Game Of The Year written all over it.  It's that fun and it's that good.

I won't get too much into the details here as I don't want to spoil anything.  It's a free roam game like GTA where you can advance the main story by doing missions, make money and create more fame (or infamy) for yourself by doing side missions, or just ride around the countryside and do whatever the heck you feel like doing.  So far I have helped a nice lady with her farm, defended it from prowlers, learned how to herd cattle, played horseshoes, lost $50 at poker, bought a room above the local saloon and hunted all sorts of wild game.  I have also had to kill quite a few people, including 2 in duels.  The game controls wonderfully and the amount of freedom you have is awesome.  You are tossed right into the game and the story unfolds slowly as you advance through the missions.  You can go forward at your own pace.  Random events pop up from time to time and you can quickly take action, or choose not to if you'd like.  For example, as I was minding my own business and riding along in the wilderness, a crazed man came upon me and said a lynch party was about to hang his buddy and he hadn't done anything wrong.  I raced to the scene and took out the bad guys as soon as I could.  Unfortunately, I didn't save his buddy.  After thinking about it for a second, it hit me: rather than shooting the bad guys first, I should have shot the rope the innocent man was dangling from as he struggled to free himself.  Awesome.  Sad to say I also arrived too late to save a prostitute who was being manhandled outside a saloon by a vengeful patron.  One of these days I will get this hero stuff down.

Of course, you don't have to play the hero.  You can rob banks, kill innocents, steal whatever you want, etc.  Your wanted level will go up and you will be hunted by the law and posses.  Like Butch and Sundance, you may find yourself wondering, "Who are those guys?" because from what I hear they are relentless in tracking you down.

The game is absolutely dripping with atmosphere. The graphics are top-notch, the music is spaghetti-western perfect and the voice acting is some of the best I have heard. If you like westerns or simply action games with terrific production qualities, run - don't walk - to your nearest game store and pick up Red Dead Redemption.  Or better yet, find a wild horse, break it, and gallop to the store.  Yeah, that's in the game too.  The horse-breaking, not the video game store.

BTW, I went with the 360 version but the PS3 has some extra content included for free.  Had I know, I would have picked that version.  If you have the choice, go that route, even though the video resolution is a little lesser.  From what I have read, you won't notice the difference in graphics.