I could mention the atmospheric pastoral score for Oblivion, or the stirring soundtrack for Baldur's Gate II (I challenge you to listen to any of the "battle" tracks and not feel hyped up). I could go hipster and sing the praises of Minecraft's excellently understated tunes. The Zelda series deserve some recognition, revolving as it so often does around music - especially Ocarina Of Time, which has proved itself to be so well-suited to remixes (and also to insanity...)
But in the end, it could only be this song:
John fuckin' Marston. Original bad-ass.
That's right, it's only taken me three blog posts to get around to talking about Read Dead Redemption, my current favourite game of all time. This post, unlike all others, will be SPOILER-FREE, for reasons discussed below.
If you haven't yet had the misfortune to hear me rant on about RDR, settle in. The style of the game can be roughly explained as "Grand Theft Horses" - you play John Marston, an outlaw trying to go straight in the time of the Wild West, who must travel around an expansive area, shooting bad guys, helping good guys, and completing missions. So far, so derivative, you may say. And while the basic premise of RDR may seem a complete rip-off of GTA (and, in fact, it was made by the same company), the crucial difference between this and the game I lambasted in my previous post was that, in RDR, you care.
Deeeesperado...why don't you come to your senses...
At the start of the game, you see John travelling in to the area by boat and train, and being met by two members of government, who obviously have some sort of hold over him, as they compel him to hunt down a member of his old outlaw gang. It soon emerges that John's wife and son are being held captive by these same officials, as incentive for John to toe the line.
Over the course of the game, you come to hear much more about John's background and history, his interactions with the gang members, how he came cast off his outlaw past and to become a family man, and how deeply he loves his wife and son. You soon start to become just as frustrated as John at being prevented from reuniting with them, and to sympathise with his cause.
Honestly, now I'm just posting pictures of him because I can.
This is why Red Dead Redemption is the first game I always point to in the ongoing debate about whether games constitute art. In my opinion, one good definition of art is "something that makes you feel something" (this is intentionally vague so as to encompass any possible special cases) - another is "something that makes you proud to be human" (not necessarily for the content it depicts, but sometimes for the fact that it's been created). RDR fits these in every possible sense. At the emotional climax of the game, I'm not ashamed to admit that I had tears in my eyes. The potential emotional investment in a game character is far higher than that of a film or book character - having actually controlled their actions for many hours of gameplay, if the developer has done their job well you feel a far deeper affinity for the character's hardships, desires, and joys. In John's case, you can almost feel his barely controlled rage, frustration, and contempt as he is forced to work for men he despises, hunting down men he once considered brothers, as the threat of violence against his family is held over his head. Although the entire soundtrack is excellent, the song Deadman's Gun, to me (and many others) best sums up the despair and determination that makes the Marston's story so heartbreakingly painful. You can listen to the track here (linked to quietube as YouTube comments are spoilerific), or a live version by Ashtar Command here.
John Marston hates spoilers.
You may notice that I haven't detailed much of the story, nor have I discussed this "emotional climax" mentioned earlier. This was intentional. I consider Red Dead Redemption, and in particular its story (though, if this were a different category, I could be waxing lyrical about the atmospheric and diverse locations (take notes, GTA IV!), the innovation in mission structures, and the extraordinary replay value in side missions), to be among the finest example of the video game genre, and as such I'm very keen to spread the word and get as many people to experience it as possible. However, just as you cannot really enjoy the plot of a movie by having it told to you, but have to take in the sounds and visuals of the work to fully appreciate it, the same is even more true of a well-crafted game. The experience of bonding with the character, the guesses and second-guesses you've inevitably made about the arc of the story, the enmity and alliances you involuntarily make with other characters, the sense of a shared history and an involvement in the game world - all of these are things that cannot be replicated in the telling, and the climax would be that much weaker for it. Thus, so as not to cheat you of such a wonderful experience, I will tell you nothing more about the story than that if I could wipe a single piece of media from my brain in order to experience it for the first time once more, it would without a doubt be this game. I beg you, I implore you, I plead with you; even if you're not a gamer, find someone who is, and ask to borrow this game for a few weeks. You won't be disappointed.
[To those who've already played Red Dead - yes, there are things that I haven't mentioned, or I may have seemed to focus on less-obvious aspects of the story. These were all intentional, so as to avoid spoiling this wonderful experience for anyone. Please respect that in the comments.]
"Some trees flourish, others die. Some cattle grow strong, others are taken by wolves. Some men are born rich enough and dumb enough to enjoy their lives. Ain't nothing fair. You know that."
No comments:
Post a Comment