'Red Dead Redemption' Hands-on Preview - If 'GTA,' 'Zelda' And 'Oregon Trail' Had A Baby...

In my last look at "Red Dead Redemption," the Wild West-themed open world game from the creators of "Grand Theft Auto," I made some comparisons to "GTA." Despite the setting, both titles clearly feature a lot of the same mechanics (stealing cars vs. stealing horses, shooting guns vs. shooting older guns, getting in trouble with the cops vs. getting in trouble with the law). This week I got to delve a little deeper, spending some hands-on time with a few of the missions. While there weren't too many surprises, it did give me a sense as to how the game actually plays and, surprise, it plays a lot like "GTA," with a smidge of "Zelda" and a dash of "Oregon Trail" thrown in for good measure.

'GTA 4'-Style Combat
The basic gun combat in "Red Dead Redemption" is heavily focused on cover, which was a major component of on-foot combat in "GTA 4." You'll be using rocks, pueblos and horse troughs to stop yourself from getting perforated, but the feel is almost identical to using the detritus of Liberty City as cover. The controls are the same, too, with the right bumper (at least on the 360) handling entering and leaving cover. The A button sprints, left trigger zooms your aim and right trigger shoots.

Dead-Eye Changes Things A Bit
There is one major combat change in "Red Dead Redemption" and that's "Dead-Eye." Killing enemies will fill a meter which can allow you to slow down time and nail shots you normally wouldn't have time to nail. At its base level, Dead-Eye just slows down time, but throughout the game it'll upgrade, allowing you to target and shoot enemies just by moving your crosshairs over them.

If you've played two other Western franchises, "Gun" or "Call of Juarez," each had a very similar mechanic, though the implementation in "Red Dead" feels like the most satisfying of the three.

Riding a Horse vs. Driving a Car
Obviously when you have a game set in the Wild West you're going to have a lot of on-horse action. Riding around in "Red Dead" feels a lot like riding around in "Zelda: Ocarina of Time." Your horse has a power meter and hitting A will cause it to gallop. Hit it too much and you'll tire the horse out, so you have to pace yourself. The horse will hurdle anything hurdle-able, so you really just have to steer and hit A periodically. It feels exactly how it should feel, and I have no qualms about this being the main mode of transport in the game.

The only thing I'd say is that, currently, if you want the horse to turn in place, it's painfully slow. Realistically slow, which I guess is the point, but when you're trying to get out of somewhere in a hurry, it'd be nice if you didn't have to spend 10 seconds leading the reins around.

Channeling 'Oregon Trail'
Just a friendly warning: Swimming equals death in "Red Dead Redemption." I managed to hijack a horse cart and was riding it around when I spotted a river. Something primitive screamed inside of me: "FORD THE RIVER!" And I did. It didn't end well. In fact, I was dead the moment I hit the water. So yeah, you can't swim in "Red Dead Redemption." It's not a huge deal, since water is really only used to mark off certain edges of the map, but it does seem a tad silly given that every open world Rockstar game has had swimming since "GTA 3." But not this one. Ah well, that's what sequels are for.

Closing Thoughts
"Red Dead Redemption" is undoubtedly a gorgeous game, and it plays rather well. I have some questions as to whether the Western setting can manage to stay fresh over the dozens of hours of gameplay time, but that's really something I won't be able to determine until it launches. In the meantime, "GTA" fans and "Deadwood" fans should keep an eye on it. Just don't try to ford the river. It's more dangerous than cholera.

Tags red dead, red dead redemption, rockstar games, rockstar san diego