Review

The old West is a largely untapped resource for games over the years. Perhaps this explains why Red Dead Revolver has had such a troubled journey into existence. Originally announced back in 2002 this was due to be released by Capcom before they got cold feet, this looked to have gone the way of Activision’s Gunslinger until Rockstar stepped in to save the day.

In it you play the requisite mysterious lone gunman Red as he sets about cleaning up a town overrun with gun toting bandits. Fortunately, Red is a mean shot with a six-shooter so taking down a large army of enemies shouldn't prove too difficult. This isn't the type of game to get bogged down in plot, as a classic western tale of revenge, it's simply a case of grab your guns and get shootin'.

Additional weapons are available from a powerful shotgun to sticks of dynamite and the controls are being kept simple so that movement and aiming will quickly become second nature. A handy auto-targetting system will let the player choose which body parts to aim for on each unlucky enemy. It’s the nifty Dead-Eye mode that impresses most, slowing down the action to allow for easier targeting. Think bullet-time and you’re almost there.

Graphically it's looks stunning with some superbly atmospheric locations to walk through (avenging gunmen always look harder when they don't run) and the character animation is excellent too. Although it must be said the PS2 version tends to suffer from too much blurring to keep the speed up. Something which blighted GTA too in my book. Adding to the atmosphere is a truly wonderful soundtrack that references the great Ennio Morricone with plenty of twanging guitars and whistling.

Some could argue that it does get a little bit repetitive, but this is true of most shooting games and thankfully Rockstar have made sure there is plenty of variety in the levels to keep us playing. Occasionally you’ll even take on the role of additional characters for a couple of levels, including a gentlemanly English sharp-shooter, a not-so fair maiden and the obligatory native-american armed with a bow and arrow.

To keep you playing upon completion there are plenty of hidden extras to go back and replay all the levels to achieve. These include extra characters for the multiplayer mode that seems to have been added as an afterthought, but still manages to be moderately entertaining.

I had been looking forward to Red Dead Revolver for a long time before it arrived and it didn’t disappoint me. All credit to Rockstar for sticking with it.

About the Review

Platform

Microsoft Xbox

Developer

Rockstar San Diego

Publisher

Rockstar Games

Released

11th June 2004