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Blog entry by Tory Arredondo

Red Dead Redemption 2 Needs to Avoid Hollywood Tropes

Red Dead Redemption 2 Needs to Avoid Hollywood Tropes

Dutch’s age in relation to Arthur’s doesn’t make sense. They look the same age and yet Dutch always refers to Arthur as his son. Arthur even says Dutch and Hosea raised him as a child. How young a "child" is in this game could v

What a low move to actually make assassin’s more powerful. The only thing saving the squishies before was the power of supports. Take away their power and they’re useless yet again against that gap-closing assassin. Is this what you want, R

In Rockstar’s effort to create a realistic game, like horses that have packages that shrink in cold weather, they certainly didn't go all the way in some regards. For example, you can somehow store a near infinite amount of random items in your beginning pouch, but heaven forbid you to put more than one animal carcass on your horse. Also, somehow, you can store an army of guns on your sidesaddle, but not on Arthur's person. There are a lot of inconsistencies, but hey, that's video ga

This is the prime time weapon for players wanting to build an effective Champion that deals quick damage while maintaining some good speed stats. The Statik Shiv, when reaching its maximum at 100 stacks can deal a massive hit as Shiv Lightn

The Red Dead franchise succeeds because it's playing into the most American fantasies of what the Wild West was, while keeping it grounded. It was a time were America was still getting its footing as a new nation. Things were being discovered by a people who had largely still never seen most of what the land had to offer, thus appropriately titled, the Wild West. It seemed like a hellish dreamscape where those from the east coast talked of savages and wild beast, men who idealized the same sort of lawlessness discussed among certain circles. Yet, it was none of these things, for a people having just arrived to a nation, it was much tamer than one might imagine. Instead, it was a place not overly populated and begging for people to settle its lands (I hope we see Natives in this game). The west was a place of opportunity and discovery, somewhere one could make their mark in a relatively easy way (for the time).

Red Dead Redemption was a blast, with numerous side quests, activities and Terraria crossover Event just a big open sandbox world to play in. Great game mechanics and design made it fun, a great story is what made it memorable. The pacing of the story doesn't ever hit any major lulls and the character of Marshton is sympathetic enough you end up rooting for him, since after all he's a good guy who just wants to be back with his family. And in trying to get back with his family he ends up being jerked around by the government. After jumping through endless hoops from the government they betray him. The ending of Red Dead Redemption is one of the sadder endings in a video game. The true ending occurs in 1914, and while there is a shot at setting things right, it ultimately feels hollow and unsatisfying. This sounds like a knock against the game, but in reality it is a testament to how powerful the narrative of Red Dead Redemption actually was.

Calling Red Dead Redemption Grand Theft Equine is a dumb joke, even by my standards, but the GTA influence is as visible as the scars on John's face. The game is played in a large open world map that spans part of Mexico and part of the western American frontier, divided into three regions that are unlocked as the story progresses. John's actions can influence his fame and honor which have an impact on how townspeople react to him. Helping innocent people fight off bandits may improve his reputation but gunning down those same innocent townsfolk will have the opposite effect. Like GTA titles there is a wanted system, where if John decides to commit crimes he can attract the attention of the law and depending on how far he wants to take it this may escalate into military involvement. John can surrender to the law men, kill them all or simply high tail it out of there until the heat dies down. The problem with the last two options is the law might give up on John but that just means they've decided to send a bounty hunter after him so they don't have to deal with him themselves.

Member the games you used to play? We member. The basement at the Hardcore Gamer office has a section known as the Crust Room, with an old grey couch and a big old CRT TV. All the classic systems are down there collecting dust, so in an effort to improve the cleanliness of our work space, we dust off these old consoles every so often and put an old game through its paces, just to make sure everything stays in working order. We even have a beige computer with a floppy disk drive.

As is clearly evident now, Rockstar have put a lot of effort into their online game mode in GTA V . So you'd we expect it to be smooth sailing when we log on, right? Wrong. So many reports have come through about the failures of GTA Online' s lobbies. They always seem unable to cope with the sheer amount they have to process. In my personal experience, they've always felt really choppy and slow. Often, I've been kicked out of lobbies for what seems like no good reason. The option to join your friends lobby when they are in free roam is a great one, making it easier to connect with your pals without having to bother them with invites. But, again it seems like such a temperamental feature, as I'm often being told I have no friends active, when I clearly do! I even had this happen with a guy who was in the same room as

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