At this point, I wouldn't be surprised if many were not actually aware that Red Dead Redemption is the second game in a trilogy. It's a shame since Revolver is a very interesting prototype for the central mechanics that would go on to define the Red Dead series, as well as a fun arcade-y spaghetti western third-person shooter in its own right.
The overarching story and its set-up are simple, much in the way that many Westerns are. Young Red Harlow witnesses his parents being slain in front of him and vows revenge on the men who did it. What follows is a cat-and-mouse chase across the American frontier as an older, grizzled gunslinger Red, and a bevy of other playable characters along the way exact vengeance on the gang.
Tonally, it's much more pulpy and comic book-like than the latter two games in the series, with bizarre caricature villains, like a sadistic circus troupe for instance, and a random bar fight level where you just run around and beat a dozen drunken rowdy men up. Thanks to this, though, the narrative, simple though it may be, works nicely with the more arcade-y shooter gameplay and gives it a nice, unique flavor separate from the other Red Dead games.
Unlike the later games, Revolver also has a strictly linear gameplay and level structure, with the small town of Brimstone serving as a hub to stock up on gear for the next batch of missions. It's a sensible decision for a (at the time) new IP and keeps the gameplay from feeling too repetitive as it goes (despite that still being the case somewhat).
The early versions of Dead-Eye and Dueling present in Redemption 1 and 2 are, of course, primitive in Revolver, but nevertheless, they still help to put a unique spin on the otherwise generic shooter gameplay loop from level to level. The handful of other playable characters outside of Red also help keep the gameplay fresh, as they each have their own unique weapons and skills to switch things up, and it's neat to see how they tie into the overarching plot.
On the whole, Revolver is a fun, if generic, spaghetti western homage with some really cool mechanics and characters that retroactively serve as an interesting prototype of the larger Red Dead series conventions. The repetitive gameplay does get tiring, but the linear nature of the game helps to keep things moving at a nice pace.
7.5/10
The overarching story and its set-up are simple, much in the way that many Westerns are. Young Red Harlow witnesses his parents being slain in front of him and vows revenge on the men who did it. What follows is a cat-and-mouse chase across the American frontier as an older, grizzled gunslinger Red, and a bevy of other playable characters along the way exact vengeance on the gang.
Tonally, it's much more pulpy and comic book-like than the latter two games in the series, with bizarre caricature villains, like a sadistic circus troupe for instance, and a random bar fight level where you just run around and beat a dozen drunken rowdy men up. Thanks to this, though, the narrative, simple though it may be, works nicely with the more arcade-y shooter gameplay and gives it a nice, unique flavor separate from the other Red Dead games.
Unlike the later games, Revolver also has a strictly linear gameplay and level structure, with the small town of Brimstone serving as a hub to stock up on gear for the next batch of missions. It's a sensible decision for a (at the time) new IP and keeps the gameplay from feeling too repetitive as it goes (despite that still being the case somewhat).
The early versions of Dead-Eye and Dueling present in Redemption 1 and 2 are, of course, primitive in Revolver, but nevertheless, they still help to put a unique spin on the otherwise generic shooter gameplay loop from level to level. The handful of other playable characters outside of Red also help keep the gameplay fresh, as they each have their own unique weapons and skills to switch things up, and it's neat to see how they tie into the overarching plot.
On the whole, Revolver is a fun, if generic, spaghetti western homage with some really cool mechanics and characters that retroactively serve as an interesting prototype of the larger Red Dead series conventions. The repetitive gameplay does get tiring, but the linear nature of the game helps to keep things moving at a nice pace.
7.5/10