There's a lot that's familiar about Red Dead Redemption. No surprise, perhaps – after years of playing Rockstar's open world games we've a fair inkling of what to expect, but the mimicry of Grand Theft Auto IV in the opening minutes of Redemption is more than a mere wink and nudge to the studio's last big outing. Our hero makes his entrance on a boat brimming with undesirables and immigrants, setting shore on a land that's rich with opportunities for both the enterprising and the straight-up conniving. He's here to re-establish contact with someone who played big in the dark history that he's desperate to put behind him.
Only this time it's not a cargo ship carrying Niko Bellic to Liberty City's shores; it's a steamboat, bringing John Marston to the frontiers of an old America that's quickly being overturned by the new, and to Blackwater, a town that's getting its first taste of the wonders of the twentieth century. A Model T Ford that's offloaded symbolises the revolution that's to come, while Marston, a stubble-sporting Stetson-wearing n'er-do-well with a face as rugged as the plains of the game's fictional state of New Austin, is an artefact of an America that's soon to be no more.
Flanked by two well attired lawmen, he's quickly packed onto a steam train bound for the town of Armadillo, the carriages full of people chattering in awe of the changes taking hold across the country. Blackwater may be a town that's displaying the first symptoms of the death of the Old West, but Armadillo's truer to the traditional vision that the likes of John Ford and Sergio Leone made so familiar, unblemished as it is by the advances of technology.
It is, in short, a dirty old town, its pissed-on streets home to the legion of drunks and misfits that frame the first chapter of Red Dead Redemption's story. Outside the saloon men stumble, drunk on whiskey and giddy from the midday sun, prostitutes line the alleyways while wild dogs run free and every business, from the undertakers to the general store, is staffed by outlandish eccentrics. For Red Dead Redemption's opening hours, this will be what John Marston calls home.
Bill Williamson, the man who Marston is so keen to exact revenge on, has made his base in Fort Mercer, a well defended settlement on the outskirts of Armadillo, and Marston's first task is to ride solo there to establish contact. Williamson, it seems, isn't the talkative type – Marston pleads with him to come quietly, telling him that someone is out to kill them both, but he replies with nothing more than a slug to Marston's chest, leaving our man for dead at the gates of the fort as vultures gather nearby.
Not the greatest of starts to Marston's quest, for sure. Thankfully, help is at hand from the kindest of strangers, Bonnie McFarlane, the owner of an expansive ranch that Marston blearily wakes in. She shares Marston's grounded perspective, It's here that Marston's missions start in earnest, with McFarlane's ranch hosting a smartly integrated tutorial.
In exchange for temporary food and board, McFarlane asks for assistance on the ranch – opening up with a late night patrol of the grounds, disposing with the coyotes that threaten the livestock and the rabbits that threaten the crops as Marston gets to grips with Red Dead Redemption's shooting mechanics. They're not too far removed from those in Grand Theft Auto IV, though naturally a couple of year's hindsight has certainly helped tighten them up and the addition of Dead Eye – Red Dead's own take on bullet time – keeps them feeling fresh.
Life on the ranch goes beyond simply headshotting rabbits, and it's some of the more demure activities that are some of the most rewarding - the best of which is most definitely cow herding. Indeed, Red Dead Redemption easily dethrones Twilight Princess for the not-too-hotly contested crown of best herding in a game, its take on the art of bullying cows proving surprisingly brilliant.
A Tempest Looms, a later mission, best highlights this. With a heavy storm coming in fast from the horizon, a herd of cows must be guided swiftly back to the ranch. Herding is a simple yet fulfilling task – Marston must sweep the mass of cows on his horseback, flanking the herd to change its direction and breaking free on occasion to take care of stragglers. Doing this as the rain intensifies and the thunder cracks draw nearer is brilliantly dramatic, and we're only half-joking when saying this could well be Red Dead Redemption's Four Leaf Clover. This may be Rockstar's first real rural open world game, but just how rural it can be is still a little stunning.
There are, of course, more traditional mission tasks to hand. Having got back on his feet, Marston draws upon the people of Armadillo in order to gather resources to take Williamson head-on, and the first port of call is Marshal Johnston, the worldly lawman whose sole concern, as he says, "is making sure this town doesn't turn into a living hell."
And so Marston must earn this man's trust, starting with a mission in Pike's Basin to rescue some kidnapped ranch hands. While it's staple GTA fare, involving running from cover to cover in a prolonged shootout, it's enlivened no end by the glorious period backdrop. Taking place under an impossibly starry sky through a deep-cut canyon, the sense of wilderness has been nailed wonderfully and the atmosphere is near unique to Red Dead Redemption.
In Rockstar tradition, the errands soon get serious, and before too long there's a darker edge to Marston's workings for Marshal Johnston. Spare the Rod, Spoil the Bandit sees Marston and a small posse from Armadillo following a trail of destruction along the outskirts of town, with circling vultures marking disparate points where innocents have been slaughtered.
It's no shock to learn that Bill Williamson's at the trail's end as members of his gang hole up in a large country house. An epic gunfight through its halls ensues, the gunshot that kills the last of Williamson's henchman staining the white curtains in the master bedroom red. Things have got serious indeed – Marshal Johnston's got to respond to the terror that threatens Armadillo, and Marston's now got to gather a small army in order to take Williamson down.
And so the net widens in Marston's pursuit for recruits, and Red Dead Redemption's cast of eccentrics begins to grow in numbers. First there's Nigel West Dickens, a silver-tongued old crook pushing miracle cures. He's got the means to secure an armoured carriage that can penetrate Williamson's Fort Mercer, but first Marston's got to get him onside – and that means that the outlaw has to temporarily play second fiddle to the outlandish plans of the snake oil merchant.
That means travelling by his side and acting as a stooge in his colourful sales pitch, downing his miracle medicine in front of a sceptical throng and then firing off miraculous shots with a handgun to help him hawk his wares. The plan works – but only just - with Marston having to engage in a one-on-one fight before the crowds are truly convinced. West Dickens continues to capitalise on Marston's talents, employing him to partake in a series of races on horse and cart. It's another GTA staple that's reinvigorated by the period trappings, and Red Dead Redemption's horses make for a sturdy and reliable ride that's the measure of Rockstar's more traditional petrol-powered transport.
Seth Coot's the next of Marston's unlikely partners, a scrawny and panicked grave looter whose mind has been burnt out by a few too many hours in the heat of the mid-West. "I got a reputation as a man who do things most other fellas won't," he tells Marston as they both embark in pursuit of some elusive treasure, and it's a trait that ensures his missions are some of the more eccentric.
There are corpses to be escorted and scores to be settled with some old acquaintances, and all the while Seth is providing his own frazzled commentary. "Are we really livin' anyway?" he asks, "Do you exist outside my mind? Maybe we're both havin' the same dream and when we wake up we'll die?" "I certainly seem to be in some kind of nightmare," deadpans Marston in response.
Irish is the last to be introduced, a permanently sizzled arms expert who's got the means to secure a chaingun – just the thing for storming Fort Mercer. He's introduced in style, his head being held down in a trough of water by two of his associates, and Marston comes to the rescue, downing the men with his pistol. "They was me only friends in the world," says Irish, "And boy am I glad to see those bastards dead."
Given his area of expertise it's fitting that Irish's missions are some of the most explosive. There's a wonderful shootout that ends on the back of a speeding minecart, one hand desperately holding on while the other one is free to pull off some swift Dead Eye-enabled headshots.
All the while Bonnie McFarlane's ranch provides the sedate antidote to Marston's wilder adventures, though Williamson's menace soon encroaches on this idyll. The first sign of trouble comes when Marston and McFarlane escape the ranch for a summer afternoon's horse ride, the bond between them growing ever deeper. Black smoke on the horizon spells trouble; the barn's been set alight, and it's up to Marston to once again play the hero, braving the flames to save the livestock inside before grabbing a horse and dramatically leaping through the fire.
That's merely the beginning of her woes; soon after she's kidnapped and taken to the ghost town of Tumbleweed that's soon ringing with the crack of a prolonged gunfight as Marston once again comes to the rescue. Clearly, the time to take action against Williamson is coming ever nearer.
With the pieces falling into place, the assault on Fort Mercer begins. Marshal Johnston provides a level head by Marston's side, while inside the settlement Seth Coot provides a not-so-level one, ideal for distracting Williamson's men. Irish has provided the firepower in the form of an outrageously powerful minigun, while West Dickens provides the carriage in which it awaits.
It's the Trojan tactic played out in the Wild West, with West Dickens with his salesman hat squarely on boldly driving the carriage right up to the gates. "What would you say if I told you immortality was at hand," he tells the gathering masses, before Marston breaks cover and lets rip on all and sundry. As storm clouds gather Williamson's reinforcements arrive, though Marston's minigun makes small work of tearing through them before heading into the Fort itself.
There's a handful of stragglers that put up a last stand, but it's not enough – Fort Mercer's soon abandoned by Williamson's men, leaving Marston in a frantic search for his mark. He's not there – having caught wind of the gathering storm around him, Bill Williamson has set off for New Mexico. Marston must follow suit, bidding farewell to his new associates and marking the end of Red Dead Redepmtion's first chapter.
Taking around six hours of playtime – with head down and doing our very best to avoid New Austin's many distractions, all of which will be covered in a forthcoming preview - those opening moments of John Marston's adventure are at once familiar and unique, with the tropes of past Grand Theft Auto games given fresh life by the deftly executed period trappings. But what's also familiar is the brilliance on display in a game that's looking every bit a worthy successor to Grand Theft Auto IV.