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F Top 21 in 2010 - 4) Red Dead Redemption

Joseph Gieske Profile _ Twitter _ E-mail _ Homepage

2010 was a busy year and it saw the release of a bunch of great games. Staff and regular freelance contributors at Gameroni had the opportunity to play a wide variety of titles over the past 12 months and together we've compiled a list of 21 of our favorite games from the period. These are the ones that had the biggest impact on us, not necessarily the industry as a whole. We're sharing that list with you now, one title per day over a period of three weeks. Though there's only a loose order to this list, in general you can know that we liked games more as we work toward the number one selection. ----- 4. Red Dead Redemption (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3) Shooting played a large role in shaping the frontier, and thus is a large part of Red Dead Redemption. However, the game doesn't require you to be an expert gunslinger. A generous auto-targeting system makes sure you can perform like a crack shot, not to mention the time-slowing Dead Eye mode. While that may not make it the most strategic or skillful shooter, Red Dead Redemption is more about removing limitations. In this Old West sandbox game from GTA creator Rockstar, you can make protagonist James Marston do anything good or evil under the high noon sun. That's how the game can suck away hours of your time, as you try your hand as a bounty hunter, animal hunter, treasure hunter, or gambler. But these are fleeting diversions; what sticks with you is the tragic, cynical tale that Red Dead Redemption has to tell. James Marston starts out on the side of the law. He's been tasked by the government – with just a little persuasion; they've kidnapped his family – to hunt down the members of his old gang, and his journey begins in the two-horse town of Armadillo. No matter how bad you want him to be, James initially seems to be nothing but good. He does odd jobs on the struggling MacFarlane ranch, from herding cattle to chasing off rustlers and thieves. He aids the old sheriff in rounding up criminals. He saves young maidens taken by gangs; he protects homesteads from being overrun by outlaws. Marston can't help but look like a hero. It's not long, though, before Marston loses his golden touch. He heads south of the border, straight into the middle of a revolution. Both sides boast their own levels of greed and corruption, and nothing James can do will change their collision course. Not that one gringo could change a country's history, but even Marston's little tasks begin to go sour. He can buy a hooker's freedom from her pimp, just to find out she's run back to her old life... and found her death. He can liberate an indentured servant from a lifetime of slave labor, but will later meet the man doubly dedicated to opium abuse. He can avenge the grievance of a pregnant, abandoned girl, only learning its a deadly dupe after the deed is done. No wonder Marston just wants to go Home. The ideal of the Wild West hero is a myth. In the end, John Marston is just a man besieged by a lifetime of good and bad decisions, a point driven home by one of the most soul-crushing endings I have ever witnessed. It's the exclamation for a very long lesson, and Red Dead Redemption had me all the way. ----- Each of the posts that we make as we reveal our list of the Top 21 games of 2010 is written by one of the people on our staff and freelance team who advocated most aggressively for an individual title's inclusion. Check back tomorrow to see if one of your favorite games made our list, and be sure to leave your comments if you have any to share!

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