VIDEO GAME REVIEWS

June 28, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

‘Red Dead Redemption’

Grade: A

Publisher: Rockstar Games, for Sony PlayStation 3 and Microsoft Xbox 360

Rating: Mature

Set in the Old West of the early 1900s, “Red Dead Redemption” ($59.99) is in a way like “Grand Theft Auto IV,” Western style.

But it’s also the opposite of “GTA IV” — both games offer a vast, open world to explore, but their respective approaches to how those worlds are constructed and what they contain are very different.

“GTA IV” offers a huge cityscape packed with traffic, people, skyscrapers, businesses — all the stuff of a modern American metropolis.

The fictionalized American and Mexican world of “Red Dead Redemption” has its pockets of civilization — ranches, towns, forts, even cities — but the majority of the environment is scrubland and desert, cliffs and hills. It has more in common with the post-apocalyptic wasteland of “Fallout 3” than it does the streets and alleys of “GTA IV’s” Liberty City.

The wilderness isn’t empty, of course. There are wild animals to deal with, and wilder men.

As former outlaw John Marston — a likable and engaging character — the player must track down and eliminate the members of his old gang. Marston’s wife and child are held hostage by federal agents until the job is done.

The fame and honor Marston accrues on his quest affect how people react to him — he can be a vicious desperado or a well-known hero, depending on how players want him to be. Committing crimes will put the law on his tail and a price on his head.

The path to the end is a long one, and players are free to get there by as direct or meandering a route as they prefer. The main missions of the game are doled out by various contacts, and there are many side activities to fill the time otherwise.

Players can track down and capture or kill wanted men; herd cattle; round up and break wild horses; hunt rabbits, deer, coyote and other of animals; gamble and drink; gather herbs; help out strangers (or don’t); and assist or hinder lawmen and other folks encountered on Marston’s travels.

Gunplay and riding around on horseback make up a lot of the game, as would be expected. The former is solid, with a variety of period weapons and a neat power called Dead Eye, which slows down time for a short while. The latter is the chief way to get from place to place and explore the countryside.

The game also features an online mode — up to 16 players are free to roam around the game world, or enter into free-for-all or team-based competitions of several kinds.

—Justin Hoeger, The Sacramento Bee