Xboxist

Red Dead Redemption Trailer Shows Serious Side

If there was any lingering doubt about Rockstar's desire to move video games forward as a genre, this new trailer should silence them. As with GTA IV, many fans will likely be unhappy about the serious turn the developer seems to have taken with Red Dead Redemption. After all, the first game was far from a realistic depiction of life in the old west. At one point in that game, your character does battle with a band of circus freaks!

The new game not only follows the narrative maturity of Grand Theft Auto IV but it also uses the same graphics engine. This choice seems like a good one: light and shadows are quite well done, while horses and people are accurately rendered. The effect of the engine is less focused on hyperreal details, and more on mood and atmosphere, making it perfectly suited to a Western game.

Compared with Red Dead Revolver, we now have a real western in the tradition of more mature films like Once Upon a Time in the West. In Redemption, players will take the reins of notorious outlaw John Marston and attempt to navigate a world in flux, caught between the lawless west and the expanding reach of government order.

It is hard to be disappointed with the way things are going: the trailer looks and sounds spectacular. We welcome Rockstar's newfound attention to narrative, and we look forward to seeing how this story plays out when we finally get our hands on the game.