Red Dead Redemption

btw did u dudes know that wild horses don't have horseshoes but non-wild horses do

o_O

so here's a question

If I have avoided every GTA game because of discomfort with the premise, would there be similar ethical considerations that would lead me to want to avoid this game as well or does the gameplay exist in a setting with fewer relatable-to-real-life ethical qualms?

imo its way way way more ethically sound than the other gtas. you will be killing peeps, but i havent really run up against anything where i had to kill innocent people, and the rewards for doing so because why not are minimal.

obv I don't have an issue with killing ppl, otherwise I would never play any game ever

you shoot a hell of a lot of people, is that a problem?

xps lol

your character is presented with option to be more honorable or not in a few given cases. there is a mission or two where you have to do some heinous stuff but the immorality of it is the point, narratively.

if you're asking this question at all, maybe go do something else

NOTE: i am not as far into the game as some other people are, so i cant say things dont get shady further on, but it feels like a concerted effort was made to give you a non (or at least semi) violent out - the fact that you can lasso and hogtie criminals instead of shooting them, and that you get more $$$ for doing so is a big indicator of a different approach i think.

Well my issues with GTA run more along the lines of "gang violence is awesome and btw aren't these minorities/immigrants amoral sociopaths; ps women are playthings" so if the storyline is more about framing issues like that in unflattering/impactful terms rather than "yay boobies/blood" (I know some of the later GTA games are supposed to be more mature in this regard but, you know, life's too short), maybe I'll check this out.

Personally, I feel that the honor mechanic does a good job of making you feel guilty for misdeeds. The presence of it makes RDR feel a lot less nihilistic than GTA. And even mistreating criminals can dock you honor. I lasso'd a thief and rode him around until he died and I lost honor. The whole thing kinda made me feel dirty and immoral.

All the missions you do for the government in Mexico made me feel so gross.

But in a good way.

ok wrt women, theres a lot of prostitutes in the game, but thats kind of a western trope at this point so eh, the plus side is that as a married man, you dont engage in anything w/them. also, correct me if im wrong, but bonnie has got to be the most fleshed out competent female character in rockstar history, right?

I don't have an issue with prostitutes in a game, either, unless they are there expressly for you to beat the fuck out of them

I enjoyed returning the favor to the mexican soldier who was all like "its no big deal, man!"

in that sense this game is hardly any different to gta, i haven't tried but I'm almost certain its possible to waste the prostitutes if you so desired. its an option, just like it was in gta.

Oh, GTA didn't encourage that? (lol you can tell I never played the game)

You can play the entirety of the GTA franchise without ever having sex with or killing a prostitute.

xp
no, i'm almost certain that no gta game referred to that act in its story missions.

both gta and rdr are reflections of a period in some kind of dark seductive world. RDR might seem less seedy to most, gta gang killings (no matter how parodic rockstar play it) probably feel a little harder to swallow for some people which is understandable.

RDR features a lot of rum goings on, mostly murderous in their flavour. Women being hung from trees, is probably the grimmest i've seen so far.

i should point out that the woman being hung, you had to rescue

i don't know why that's important, lol

ok, let's do this

My only problem with the game is that I think John Marston is too chatty while he's riding from place to place doing missions. I reckon he could have been more Clint y'know. Also does anyone know if you can just shoot the gun out of your opponents hand when you're having a duel after being busted cheating at cards? Having said that, riddling them with bullets is pretty fun.

i get what Dan's saying and here's a straight answer: yes, there's a lot less relatably icky gang bullshit and putting caps in people's asses. The game is about two steps away from racism; the first guy I met in Mexico might as well have been al pacino playing Tony Montana which didn't even make sense and there is a definite parochial "save us old white guy we cannot survive without you" vibe. Also there's a real disregard for life that even GTA never fostered; the game invites you to kill kill kill every animal you encounter... weirdly, that puts you somewhat more in game and of the time though?
All the above aside, I recommend this whole heartedly and would definitely say it's the best thing Rock Star has ever done.

wow, that is high praise!

Also does anyone know if you can just shoot the gun out of your opponents hand when you're having a duel after being busted cheating at cards? Having said that, riddling them with bullets is pretty fun.

Yeah, if you wait for them to draw before you do and then paint the X on their hand as it flashes white it disarms them and ends the duel immediately.

My only problem with the game is that I think John Marston is too chatty while he's riding from place to place doing missions

His shoehorned in philosophy discussions are almost as laboured as his "sick of this goddamn bullshit gonna shoot you in the head soon" talk to Irish.

Also Herbert Moon really needs to stop getting robbed and/or saying that thing about Jews running the country.

I have avoided every GTA game because of discomfort with the premise

Me too. The setting changes everything, though. It's basically Deadwood - there are no rules, there is no law, you have people living right up on the edge of survival, life was cheap. Which makes kill or be killed a legit choice a lot of the time. In GTA it's pretty much modern times, when there isn't really any defensible reason for carrying a gun.

And yeah, echoing what others have said the game really steers you towards being a good guy. Of course there's nothing stopping you from going all bnw on people's ass but from what I can tell the game gets harder if you do this.

Think the main character is a bit too moral and enlightened to ring true for the setting, really.

It's the best game I've played for years, though

Anyone else encountered the couple, the man of whom lies dead and the woman kneeling over him crying. As you approach she pulls out a gun, you think is she gonna shoot at me? But she puts the gun to her head and blows her brains out?
It's grimly quirky - if pointless beyond helping add to the frontier-life-is-brutal tone - details like that I love about this game.

I've rented Deadwood again because of RDR xp

okay you all have convinced me to get this game

Yeah I'm buying this on the way home.

ok ok i'll join the club too. which version tho - are there any diffs between ps/xbox?

woo-hooo X 3!!

360 is generally acknowledged to look a little better... plus i'm on it and i want more multiplayer posses

Apparently there's an achievement for getting 16 people in a single posse? COME ON ILX.

ordered for 360, fingers xed i'll get it for the weekend.

i'm 'gooole' on xbox if pps want to posse up. i'm on... pretty frequently

and yeah i've seen the suicide couple before!! the character model can be anyone, i know i've seen it with a dead woman and a distraught man, and two men i think. now that i think about it, i wonder if you can drop into dead eye and shoot the gun out of his hand like everyone else?

i'm "antzattax" for the xbox posse

i usually only get on this at the weekends where i can cream a good load of hours, but i may delve into through the week at random.

I nominate forks to invite us all to a posse and get us all the 16-person achievement.

It might be easier if we set a particular time.

Maybe sometime this weekend would be good?

;_; fu xbox ppl

where my PS3 thugs at?

Btw, I've posted my tag on the Xbox tag thread, but if anyone wants to add me, I'm 'Shinefield'

So I've got a ton of flowers, mostly from doing the challenges. Besides the bouquet stranger quest, is there any reason to keep them, or should I sell it all off? (Also re: pelts + meat and stuff. I had read that some people can turn that stuff into cool items, but I haven't run into any of that yet. Maybe it'll be on DLC?)

and yeah i've seen the suicide couple before!!

I just met another couple, in Mexico. This time though the woman drank from a bottle then just collapsed dead beside her partner.

It's not just the Mexicans who get a raw deal character wise, what about Irish??! Ah beggorah, dat's got ta be de wurst example of an over da top Oirish brouge oi've 'eard in a lung toime. And, oh look, he's a snivelling little coward.

Fun though.

ok i give in, loading this up now

Can we make a time tonight? 9:00pm EST? I'll turn it on and see who's down.

I'll be on at 9ish. Just invite me!

;_; fu xbox ppl

where my PS3 thugs at?

― drop it like it's hot, Elena (HI DERE)

Hi dere! I'm xboxless too.

Haven't picked up RDR yet though. :(

Yeah I'm PS3, or will be when I can find a shop with it in stock.

Ugh, hunting for skunks/raccoons other small things maybe me feel car sick.