I'll start off by saying this: Red Dead Redemption is the best game I've played all year. I am ashamed for having doubted Rockstar's new epic, and as a result, I have only recently obtained it. I also got Undead Nightmare along with it; best zombie game I’ve ever played. Shit, it’s the only open world zombie game that I know of (that isn’t inside a god damn mall).
This game has Rockstar’s usual high quality voice acting and dialogue that really shows off the character’s personalities. I also gained an appreciation for older weapons. Never before has handling a revolver been so good. Being able to use the lasso is a unique experience that shall not be forgotten. Speaking of unique, as far as I know, this is the only sandbox western game that exists. The story was decent; you knew his motivation for what he does and all the cool shit he does throughout the game is to achieve that goal. The ending is the most beautiful one I’ve seen since The Ballad of Gay Tony. It’s just fucking brilliant.
The best thing about this is that it’s not just another GTA game. Rockstar actually added components to the gameplay that sets it apart from the exact same shit you can do in San Andreas and GTA 4. It’s as if the developers looked at Fallout 3 and said, “We should be more like them,” and they fucking are: there’s corpse looting, random encounters, fast travel (granted, GTA 4 also taxi fast travel, but god damn it this game does it so much better), and dead eye (doesn’t it seem like a cheaper version of VATS; and by cheaper I mean it makes killing extremely easy). I give this game a perfect 10.
P.S., if I learned anything from this game, it’s that a dog isn’t a man’s best friend, a horse is.