I forgot to mention this last year, because it happened during personal issues in my life, but last year, I rented Red Dead Redemption for my PS3. I would say I got about halfway through that game before taking it back.
First, the good stuff. Games set during the Western Frontier are pretty rare. There is the prequel, Red Dead Revolver, there was a Wild West level in Timesplitters 2, and there was a 1997 first-person shooters made by LucasArts entitled Outlaws, which was basically Doom in the West. Redemption is probably the most authentic Western game ever made. Of course, being Rockstar, this game has more in common with Tombstone than a John Ford western, what with the (surprisingly realistic) bloodshed, curses, sexual content, and so forth. Unlike most other M-rated games, Redemption is actually quite mature in its presentation.
RDR's biggest strength, aside from the open-ended gameplay, is its story. Rockstar's games have always had strong writing, but their previous titles were always either parodies of gangster movies, or in Bully's case, a parody of high school movies. RDR is actually more dramatic, and also features the first playable character who isn't a morally questionable hero. John Marston is a man trying to redeem himself so that he can see his family again. He stands up to the corruption of his era, and is not afraid to kill if he has to. I haven't beaten the game, but I read what happens in the ending, and I gotta say, it's a powerful ending. Even if you hate the Western setting, you gotta admit, RDR's story is captivating. Of course, there is humor in the game (all pitch black humor, of course), but the story here is one I can say will make games look like a respectable artform.
The music is alright. The voice-acting is pretty good. I didn't find it as nuanced as the acting in the GTA games, but it is definitely a cut above most other games. I particularly like the voice and dialog for Seth. The graphics are pretty good. There's a huge draw distance, which really shows just how large the West was.
But now for the gameplay. If you play the game unpatched (like I did), you're going to encounter bugs, some of which freeze up the game. Also, some of the missions (both story and side) are really really difficult. Also, some wild animals are insanely dangerous. I also had a hard time aiming. Maybe it was because I was playing the PS3 version instead of the 360 version, but without the auto-aiming, I couldn't aim very well.
But here's the good part. RDR is the greatest hunting simulation ever made. Remember the hunting sim craze from the late 1990s? Deer Hunter and its ilk? RDR puts them to shame. I had more fun blasting rattlesnakes and hawks than I did the story mode.
Overall, I give it 8 out of 10. Definitely worth a look, but I wouldn't call anything about RDR outside of the story and hunting god-like.
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I recently played through another Rockstar game, this one LA Noire. This is perfect! I wrote that detective story not too long ago, I read the first half of Umineko, and now I can play a game where I'm a police detective! My mind is still fresh, so this one will be longer.
Again, Rockstar has written another great story. You play Cole Phelps, a beat cop in 1947 Los Angeles. He was a Marine in Okinawa during World War II, and wants to continue to serve and protect his country. After solving some cases (which are tutorial missions), he gets assigned as a homicide detective. The story is true to noir novels of the time (I say novels, because remember, in the 1940s, the Hays Office would never allow Hollywood to produce anything violent, vulgar, overtly sexual, or portray authority figures in a bad light either.) Just about everything from the story presentation, from the dialog, to the cases, to the characters, is top-notch. This is even more serious than RDR. This game is bloody, has epithets, uncensored naked dead bodies*, is not afraid to show the bigotry of the time**, and is absolutely dark in spite of the 1940s radio shows of the time. Save for a blatantly obvious Idiot Ball moment about two-thirds of the way into the story, LA Noire puts most crime dramas to shame.
The acting in this game is very natural. The actors' faces were mapped out when they recorded their lines, so the delivery is not limited to the voices, for it also includes the movements. You won't see any forced hamminess, dull line reads, or anything of the sort during the cutscenes. I couldn't recognize any of the cast, but this game certainly has some of the best performances I've ever seen in a game.
As for the actual game, it shines most during the investigations. When you're looking for clues, the game plays like Shenmue for the Sega Dreamcast. The environments are heavy in detail, and combing for clues can be time consuming, but rewarding. The other factor is interrogating persons of interest. When you ask someone a question, they'll give an answer. If you think they're speaking the truth, you select Truth. If you think they're witholding information, you select Doubt. If they say something that contradicts any evidence you found, you select Lie, and select the right piece of evidence. Watch, I'll give examples.
[Cop] Where were you on the night of November 27th, 2010?
[Me] I was at home, composing my fanfics.
[Cop] (Truth) So you were too busy writing to be at the crime scene.
[Me] Well yeah! I had fans to satisfy online!
[Cop] Does the name, "Dark Pulse" ring any bells?
[Me] Uh, no, can't say it does.
[Cop] (doubt) God damn it, xm! You're holding out on us! How do you think this will look in front of a grand jury!?
[Me] Okay, okay! Dark Pulse is a fellow fanfic author and friend of mine! He can vouch for my alibi! Just . . . . just don't bring up the subject of badfics in front of him, okay?
[Cop] Do you write your fanfics using Open Office?
[Me] No. I use Wordperfect.
[Cop] (lie) Really? We think you're lying, xm. We think you're covering for someone.
[Me] Wha, what!? Why would I lie to the police!? What makes you think that!?
[Cop] (selects correct piece of evidence) Your hard drive shows that Open Office is the only word processor program that has been regularly updated.
[Me] . . . Okay, fine! I'm a loser fanfic writer! There, are you happy now!? But because of that, there's no way I could've been responsible for the murder!
[Cop 2] His alibi checks out. Let him go.
If you botch an interrogation, the game will usually give you a second chance, but interrogations are tough. Oftentimes, you won't pick the right response. Much like real life cops, you will often finish cases without finding all of the evidence, without nailing the interrogations, or for convicting the wrong suspect. Then again, that's what strategy guides are for.
There are also action sequences in the game. You can explore a beautifully rendered 1940s Los Angeles, but there's not as much stuff to do like in the GTA games. You can solve street crimes, but those usually aren't as exciting as the cases. Navigation on foot is awkward, and is perhaps my biggest issue with the game. When you're chasing a perp on foot, don't be surprised if you bump into walls, fail to climb ladders on time, et cetera. Car chases, on the other hand, are fun. Your partner will shoot out tires if you get close enough. Gun battles are a little on the generic side. You have a couple of guns, (a Colt 1911 semi-automatic, a shotgun, a Tommy gun, and a rifle), and you can move in and out of cover, but they feel generic compared to the rest of the game.
I didn't finish LA Noire, but I got pretty far. I will give it 9 out of 10. There are some issues, but the setting is amazing. Definitely worth a look.
*Something I'm tired of otakus saying is "computer games from Nihon are sooooooo much more daring, because they show genitalia!" Really? Even though H-games pixelate the primary sex organs? Well LA Noire shows women's va-jay-jays uncensored. In an American game. In your face, you fucking fanboys.
**Sad but true, anytime in my home country before the Civil Rights Movements of the 1950s and 1960s, America was . . . not very progressive in terms of race relations. Notice the racism, sexism, and just overall what my mom calls "prejudism" present in Red Dead Redemption and LA Noire. It's actually true to history. In fact, if I had lived in America during World War One, I would've been discriminated against since I'm part German.
