How the West Was Won: An Epic Night of Red Dead Redemption

Words by: Marco Fiori | Posted on: Monday 7th June, 2010 | Filed under: Features.

Tumbleweeds and Chickenfeed

The noon sun is high in the sky and it’s hot enough that even the tumbleweeds dare not leave the shade. My character scouts the room, searching for his two companions. A drunkard bumps into a leggy lady of the night. Words are exchanged and all hell breaks loose. When the dust has settled, the bartender lies dead, slumped up against the wall. Snoozer282, my greenhorn alter ego, stirs once his gang turn up. They ruthlessly execute the remaining bar-folk, leaving the prostitute alive, cowering in the corner ready to take the blame. A quick slip out the back and it’s an iconic ride into the sunset.

By now you’ve probably experienced Rockstar’s Wild West GTA, Red Dead Redemption. There are many moments like this, where a little bit of imagination goes a long way in the Free Roam multiplayer mode. The freedom of the co-op world is simply waiting for you to write the stories, alone or with friends. Two weeks after release, it’s been a hell of a ride and one that doesn’t look to be letting up any time soon.

Anyway, back to our intrepid trio. They trot into Tumbleweed and dismount. It’s too quiet in the abandoned town, the rotting wood barely producing a creak in the desert wind. Something isn’t right and the three of us know it. As we approach the church, all hell breaks loose. We’re forced into cover as rifle-wielding bandits exit the woodwork. They come pouring out, straight into our cover-protected fire. It’s not long until a stack of bodies lie in the baking sun. A glint of a revolver in the distance catches my eye and we sprint up the hill towards the supposedly abandoned mansion.

Bullets ping of crates, the crack of sniper rifles pierce the air. I take the basement, shotgun booming within the enclosed space. The other two players storm the front, executing a simple flank attack to wipe out the bandits.

It’s just another day in Free Roam. The authenticity was starting to wear off, the repetition of gang hideouts starting to feel like a grind. It was approaching 10.30PM and I was close to calling it a night. Then something happened. My imagination started to spread, contagiously shifting to my Xbox Live companions and unbelievably, to a rival posse that held no affinity to us. What happened next is astonishing.

Holed Up

DubiousLynx, rejoicing in his level 10 success, is cut short by the posse leader, ConcreteBuffalo. He’s spotted something in the distance. It’s another player – cautiously checking the state of Tumbleweed. ConcreteBuffalo slides behind cover and from an impressive range, pops the guy in the head – his lifeless body hitting the floor as his horse careers off a cliff.

We consult our map to see what’s next on the to-do list when we notice another two green blobs approaching. They’re not happy about the state of their fellow cowboy and they open fire without prejudice. The three of us are forced to dive for cover under a hail of bullets. With the help of cover and the enemy’s position woefully open, we gun them down.

As if taken straight from Aliens, more blips appear. It becomes all too apparent that we’ve been tracked down  and we’re outnumbered by at least two to one. Our only hope is the mansion as we retreat to the safety of the house.

We take our positions, feverously barking orders at each other over Xbox Live Party Chat. Two upstairs, watching over the hill while a shotgun wielding Lynx crouches by the downstairs entrance.  There’s nothing at stake in real life – death is a simple respawn, but the tension begins to creep in. Our pride, our skill – it must be recognised. The chatter dies down as the enemy posse circles the house, just out of our line of sight. They’re probing for an entrance.

Silence.

One makes the mistake of showing too much of his hat and he’s ruthlessly turned into mincemeat. Aware to the basement, DeviousLynx holds the enemy at bay with dynamite. Two fall to the explosion, but before he can retreat to the safety of the upper floor, another two rush through the back door and gun him down. Genuine sorrow sweeps over me and ConcreteBuffalo, but there’s no time to mourn. We know the end is near – the dispatched have already respawned and are preventing a gung-ho Lynx from re-entering the mansion.

Behind Closed Doors

A narrow escape leaves ConcreteBuffalo wounded, the blood pumping out through his wounds. He cries out, “Take that yo…” before the numbers prove too much. He’s dropped just as I run to the bedroom. I try the window – no luck. There’s no way out. I’m done for. It’s over. The minimap taunts me – it’s me against five. I line up at the door, shotgun fixed on the entrance. This is it, there’s no going back.

A stick of dynamite comes bouncing in the room and comes to a stop under the armoire. It throws me off my feet, my character dazed. As he regains his feet and I turn him round, he’s faced with 4 pistols trained at his head. As he reaches for his holster he’s riddled with bullets.

The vultures will feed tonight.

Ride Out, Hard

I sit back for a minute, we all do. There was nothing making the players doing this. There was no objective or rules. We were all given an open world and let loose. Such the power of our collective thought that we managed to create our own Western narrative. Rockstar require full kudos for creating a game that pushes people to interact in ways that exceed a simple deathmatch scenario.

The three of us are still buzzing with excitement, reliving the moments over VoIP. The adrenaline is still pumping, the raw childlike amazement refusing to leave our brains. We’re only a few feet from the mansion. The enemy posse have proven victorious, but they’re wise to our regeneration.

We whistle to our horses, and head off shouting ‘yehaws’ and ‘ride ‘em cowboy.’ We’re totally in character and so are our rivals. We head off in the direction of another gang hideout, maybe a day’s ride ahead.

It’s 12AM and the adventure has only just begun.

Marco Fiori has been gaming for over fifteen years and has been writing about his passion for over three. You can find the conclusion to this Red Dead Redemption session in the coming week.

About Marco Fiori

Marco’s been playing games since 1996 and has been writing about them for four years. RPGs are his strong point and he has an unholy love obsession with the Calibri font. Follow him on Twitter @M_Fiori

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