Red Dead Redemption. What a classic. The treacherous tale of former outlaw John Marston helped define the PS3 generation, and the game’s storytelling, complete with crazy characters and typically tense western vibes, still holds up today. From the dusty beginnings of Armadillo to the bear-infested forests of Tall Trees, this is a sandbox adventure that has largely stood the test of time — although as you may have already predicted, the technical side of this PS4 re-release leaves much to be desired.
The package as a whole isn’t so bad. Multiplayer has been (somewhat understandably) scrapped, but the brilliantly eerie Undead Nightmare expansion is included. Alongside the main campaign, you’ve got a solid 30-or-so hours of gunslinging, all of which looks better than ever thanks to a substantial resolution boost. The title’s art direction is still great, and the improved image quality only helps to sell the finer details.
However, with a frame rate that’s capped at a stable but lacklustre 30 frames-per-second, and the baffling introduction of various animation bugs, this port of Red Dead Redemption ultimately disappoints. Indeed, during some cutscenes and in-game events, we saw character models snap into place, and, in a surprisingly creepy twist, refuse to open their mouths when talking. We saw objects spawn out of thin air, and wagons skip across the landscape. We visited mission markers where enemies simply teleported into view, while John Marston himself made a habit of slowly sliding away from cover during gunfights.
Now, we’re not saying that Red Dead Redemption on PS4 is a bug-ridden mess of Bethesda proportions, but we simply expect better from a near full price port of a game that’s 13 years old. It’s a real shame, because outside of some decidedly tedious mission design and typically dodgy Rockstar controls, this open world epic is still a blast to actually play. Satisfying shootouts topped off with the Dead Eye mechanic; racing across the map on your trusty steed; spending hours trying to win your money back in card games — it’s all great fun.
The bottom line here is that Red Dead Redemption deserves so much more.
