Poll of the Day > do you think Red dead redemption has revived people's interests in westerns?

(+) Yeah! (+)

and if so then do you think A Broadway Musical Rockstar game would revive people's interests in musicals?
---

I'd respond but you'd never see it
---

Revived? It was never dead. Just reanimated.

not really, the game itself was a success but westerns still havent really come back into relevance
like what popular westerns have been released since RDR?
---

TheSlinja posted...

not really, the game itself was a success but westerns still havent really come back into relevance
like what popular westerns have been released since RDR?

Notable ones:
True Grit
The Homesman
Slow West
The Hateful Eight
The Magnificent Seven
Hostiles

Possible Westerns:
The Revenant
Hell or High Water

But either way I'd say you're right. Westerns are still being released but it's not like they're any more prevalent than they were before the game. But it's an NMB topic so whatever.

I bet they made Westworld because of Red Dead Redemption.

The first Redemption didn't really do anything, but that was before GTAV so I'm not really sure how many of the people who bought that are interested in RDR2, probably not nearly as much though.
---

Cruddy_horse posted...

The first Redemption didn't really do anything, but that was before GTAV so I'm not really sure how many of the people who bought that are interested in RDR2, probably not nearly as much though.

and yet people on gaming forums are hyping it up as GOTY and saying rockstar is the best all the time
---

The problem isn't the genre, it's the creators.
---

Cruddy_horse posted...

The first Redemption didn't really do anything, but that was before GTAV so I'm not really sure how many of the people who bought that are interested in RDR2, probably not nearly as much though.

Not true at all.

Red Dead Redemption was released to critical acclaim. Review aggregator website Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating in the 0100 range, calculated an average score of 95 out of 100, indicating "universal acclaim", based on 73 reviews for the PlayStation 3 version and 96 reviews for the Xbox 360 version.[38][39] Commercially, the game has also been very successful. By August 2011, the game had shipped over 11 million copies, 2 million of which were retail units of Undead Nightmare.[51] As of February 2017, Red Dead Redemption has shipped over 15 million units.[52]

Many critics praised the landscape, environment and graphics of Red Dead Redemption. Erik Brudvig of IGN lauded the environmental details, noting the player can even scare a flock of birds from the bushes as they ride past. He also noted that the game's dynamic events, weather and ambient sounds provide a rich experience for players. He summarized by stating "you can also expect a fantastic game that offers the Western experience we've all been waiting for."[49] Game Informer called the scenery "breathtaking", and the cinematic cutscenes "vastly improved" over Grand Theft Auto IV, and named it the "best-looking Rockstar game to date".[44]

The music, sound and voice acting in the game was also widely praised and spoken about. It won the Best Original Music and Best Voice Acting awards from GameSpot.[54][55] When talking about the sound design of Red Dead Redemption, Game Informer said "From pitch-perfect gunshots to the daunting rumble of prairie thunderstorms, the remarkable attention to audio detail brings the world to life".[44]

Critics and reviewers spoke about the successful use of the game engine, and made similarities of the controls and physics to the Grand Theft Auto series. Game Informer said that Rockstar "[transposed] the Grand Theft Auto gameplay template onto a Wild West setting".[44] Good Game reviewer Stephanie "Hex" Bendixsen said that "[Rockstar] really looked at what people liked and didn't like in their game design from [Grand Theft Auto IV], and included it here".[56] Eurogamer's Simon Parkin felt Red Dead Redemption successfully "re-clothes" the Grand Theft Auto framework in an "exciting, distinct and expertly realised scenario".[43]

The multiplayer aspect of Red Dead Redemption received mixed commentary from critics. GamePro's Will Herring praised the variety of multiplayer modes and the open gameplay, but noted that it put more responsibility on the players for keeping the game interesting.[45] Justin Calvert of GameSpot also gave high marks for the game's variety of multiplayer modes, but felt that there was a lack in customization options for players.[48] In a more critical view of multiplayer, Scott Sharkey of 1UP.com noted that games can suffer from griefing[b] due to the open nature of multiplayer gameplay. He also criticized the leveling and unlocking aspects, noting that "The first few minutes spent as a toothless miner riding a balky mule can be pretty humiliating".[40] G4TV's Jake Gaskill echoed this sentiment. He noted that the game often respawns players in a similar location to their death, which allows the killing player to repeatedly grief the other player.[57] Rockstar has since added a feature which allows for players being griefed to transport to another area upon respawn.[58]

Since its release, Red Dead Redemption has received a large number of awards. It won several Game of the Year awards from media outlets such as GameSpy,[59] GameSpot,[60] Good Game,[61] Computer and Video Games,[62] and Machinima,[63] among others.[64][65] The game's music also received awards for its original score from GameSpot,[54] Machinima.com,[63] and Spike TV.[66] Jos Gonzlez also received an award from Spike for his original song "Far Away".[66] The graphics received honors at the Korean Games Conference,[67] and from the television program Good Game.[68] Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare also received Best Downloadable content awards from Spike TV,[66] G4 TV[69] and Game Revolution.[70] At the 2010 Spike Video Game Awards, Red Dead Redemption won the Game of the Year, Best Song in a Game ("Far Away" by Jos Gonzlez), Best Original Score and Best DLC (Undead Nightmare) awards.[66] Red Dead Redemption was not nominated for any of the jury based awards at the BAFTA Video Game Awards due to Rockstar's refusal to submit the title for consideration; BAFTA cannot enter games without permission from the developers and publishers.[71][72]

Metacritic95/100
1UP.comA
Edge10/10
Eurogamer8/10
Game Informer9.75/10
GamePro5/5 stars
GameSpot9.5/10
GameSpy5/5 stars
GameTrailers9.5/10
IGN9.7/10

PlayStation Official Magazine - UK3rd best PS3 game of all time

I don't think people specifically have an issue with the western genre, it's just that there aren't that many good games made within it.

Maybe "western" is considered more difficult to write for than medieval or sci-fi because it's inherently more limited (as both medieval and sci-fi and magic and future tech).

There are "westerns" that have fantasy elements but many people seem to be more interested in just choosing another time period for their fantasy stories.

Can't say for other people, but I just buy games if I think they're good, not because they take place in a certain time period.
---

it's kinda why I'm meh on RDR2^....there's not much you can do with that time period if you wanna strive for realism
---

NightMareBunny posted...

it's kinda why I'm meh on RDR2^....there's not much you can do with that time period if you wanna strive for realism

Fucking what
---

Mead posted...

NightMareBunny posted...

it's kinda why I'm meh on RDR2^....there's not much you can do with that time period if you wanna strive for realism

Fucking what

I dont know what hes saying either. The first game achieved realism extremely well.

WastelandCowboy posted...

Cruddy_horse posted...

The first Redemption didn't really do anything, but that was before GTAV so I'm not really sure how many of the people who bought that are interested in RDR2, probably not nearly as much though.

Not true at all.

I meant in terms of influencing more Westerns or related stuff, of course I knew the game sold well and was critically acclaimed, it deserved it.

NightMareBunny posted...

it's kinda why I'm meh on RDR2^....there's not much you can do with that time period if you wanna strive for realism

I don't at all understand this, what is this supposed to mean?
---

it means a western themed game is pretty lacking in options and things to do when you get right down to it

only mode of transport being a horse...limited amount of weapons and your best bet for fun is cards
---

NightMareBunny posted...

it means a western themed game is pretty lacking in options and things to do when you get right down to it

only mode of transport being a horse...limited amount of weapons and your best bet for fun is cards

This is wrong on so many levels, there's quite a few different types of carriages that control differently in RDR1 and horse themselves do too, not to mention exploring is part of the game, there's plenty of variety in weapons even more than your typical COD game has and if you really think Cards is all you can do for fun you're just so simple minded. You're also completely omitting the interesting writing RDR1 had.
---

i played RDR1 and while there was some fun to be had it wasn't the god tier game many made it out to be
---

Cruddy_horse posted...

you're just so simple minded.

Its NMB. Of course he is.

Westerns never went away and, if anything, movies are more likely to get people interested.
---

Sure, and GTA led to a massive increase in carjackings