Red Dead Revolver
Encyclopedia
Red Dead Revolver is a western
third-person shooter
video game published by Rockstar Games
and developed by Rockstar San Diego
. It was released in North America
on May 4, 2004, for the PlayStation 2
and Xbox
.
Originally developed by Capcom
, borrowing elements from their 1985 title Gun.Smoke
, the project was dropped in 2002. Subsequently, Rockstar Games purchased the game and expanded on it. Changing the feel from that of an American Western to a Spaghetti Western
allowed the developers to add more blood and over-the-top characters. The game reproduces a "grainy film
" effect and uses music from various Spaghetti Western films, including those composed by Ennio Morricone
.
"Griff" is later captured by the Mexican military and condemned to be shot as a spy. He offers to give the General, Javier Diego, half of the gold on Bear Mountain if he spares his life. Diego agrees. Later, the General sends Colonel Daren, his right-hand man, to kill Nate Harlow and his family. Daren shoots Nate and his wife, Falling Star. Nate's son, Red Harlow, manages to retrieve his father's gun from burning rubble and shoot Daren before he escapes, destroying Daren's arm in the process.
Years after his parents' death, Red becomes a bounty hunter. The game begins with him battling a gang led by Bloody Tom. Hoping to claim the bounty on the gang, he takes them prisoner to the town of Widow's Patch. In Widow's Patch, he is attacked by a gang lead by Ugly Chris. He and the sheriff
of Widow's Patch (named O'Grady) are able to survive the attack, but the sheriff is badly wounded, and must travel to the town of Brimstone
for a doctor.
After Red drops off O'Grady in Brimstone, the sheriff of Brimstone (named Bartlett) asks Red to take care of some criminals for him. This includes battling an evil circus with the aid of gunslinger Jack Swift. After all the bounties are taken care of, he asks for the bounty on the criminals' heads; he is told by Griffon, now the manager of the town bank, as well as governor of the territory, that the gold wagon has not arrived yet. He then learns that one of the townsfolk, Annie Stoakes, is in danger of losing her farm, and that Governor Griffon also owns the Bear Mountain gold mine. Remembering that his family was killed over that mine, he goes to talk to Stoakes to find more information. This leads him back to Sheriff Bartlett, where he discovers that General Diego and Colonel Daren are still alive and that there is a bounty on them. Red, with the aid of his friend Shadow Wolf, a member of his mother's tribe, attacks Diego's fort, where they manage to kill Daren. Red then decides to hit Diego where it hurts the most, and attacks and disables the train carrying his gold shipment north. In the ensuing firefight, Diego is mortally wounded. Diego offers Red anything he wants, any amount of money as he begs Red to spare his life. Red silently aims his pistol without replying and shoots him dead.
Later, during a quick-draw competition called the Battle Royale, which Annie Stoakes and Jack Swift both compete in, Red learns that Griffon sold out his parents to General Diego. Governor Griffon orders Red to be killed by quick-draw champion Mr. Kelley, but Red kills Kelley and pursues Griffon to his mansion, accompanied by Annie and Jack. There, Red shoots Griffon in a quick-draw showdown. For having killed Griffon, the sheriff offers to pay Red the gold he is owed. Red refuses, taking Griffon's Scorpion revolver instead. Red tells Bartlett "it never was about the money."
There are also numerous minor characters throughout the game, both friendly and unfriendly. Unlike in many other games, many of Red Dead Revolvers enemies have their own unique name, look, and personality, and their personal histories can be read about in the game's journal.
gave the Xbox version 74.87% and 74/100 and the PlayStation 2 version 74.59% and 73/100. As of July 2, 2010, It has sold 920,000 copies according to Joystiq
.
In 2010, the game was included as one of the titles in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die
.
hardware. Rockstar was fairly secretive with a game in the works, simply known as "Old West Project".
On February 4, 2009, Red Dead Redemption, a spiritual successor to "Revolver," was announced for PlayStation 3
and Xbox 360
for a Q4 2009 release.
It was later delayed until the first half of fiscal 2010, which spans November 2009 through April 2010 .
On November 27, it was announced that Red Dead Redemption would see a U.S. release date of April 27, 2010. On March 3, 2010, Take-Two Interactive announced Red Dead Redemption had been delayed to May 18, 2010, on which it was released in the US and 21 May in Europe and Australia.
Western (genre)
The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
third-person shooter
Third-person shooter
Third-person shooter is a genre of 3D action games in which the player character is visible on-screen, and the gameplay consists primarily of shooting.-Definition:...
video game published by Rockstar Games
Rockstar Games
Rockstar Games is a major video game developer and publisher based in New York City, owned by Take-Two Interactive following its purchase of UK video game publisher BMG Interactive. The brand is mostly known for Grand Theft Auto, Max Payne, L.A...
and developed by Rockstar San Diego
Rockstar San Diego
Rockstar San Diego is one of the development studios under the Rockstar Games umbrella. The studio pioneered open world racing games with the Midtown Madness and the award-winning Midnight Club series. It is also responsible for the "Red Dead" series of western games...
. It was released in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
on May 4, 2004, for the PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
and Xbox
Xbox
The Xbox is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Microsoft. It was released on November 15, 2001 in North America, February 22, 2002 in Japan, and March 14, 2002 in Australia and Europe and is the predecessor to the Xbox 360. It was Microsoft's first foray into the gaming console...
.
Originally developed by Capcom
Capcom
is a Japanese developer and publisher of video games, known for creating multi-million-selling franchises such as Devil May Cry, Chaos Legion, Street Fighter, Mega Man and Resident Evil. Capcom developed and published Bionic Commando, Lost Planet and Dark Void too, but they are less known. Its...
, borrowing elements from their 1985 title Gun.Smoke
Gun.Smoke
Gun.Smoke is a vertical scrolling shooter arcade game created by Capcom in 1985 . The game, which has a Western theme, centers around a character named Billy Bob, a bounty hunter who is after vicious criminals of the Wild West.Despite its name and theme, it has no connection to the western TV...
, the project was dropped in 2002. Subsequently, Rockstar Games purchased the game and expanded on it. Changing the feel from that of an American Western to a Spaghetti Western
Spaghetti Western
Spaghetti Western, also known as Italo-Western, is a nickname for a broad sub-genre of Western films that emerged in the mid-1960s in the wake of Sergio Leone's unique and much copied film-making style and international box-office success, so named by American critics because most were produced and...
allowed the developers to add more blood and over-the-top characters. The game reproduces a "grainy film
Film grain
Film grain or granularity is the random optical texture of processed photographic film due to the presence of small particles of a metallic silver, or dye clouds, developed from silver halide that have received enough photons. While film grain is a function of such particles it is not the same...
" effect and uses music from various Spaghetti Western films, including those composed by Ennio Morricone
Ennio Morricone
Ennio Morricone, Grand Officer OMRI, , is an Italian composer and conductor, who wrote music to more than 500 motion pictures and television series, in a career lasting over 50 years. His scores have been included in over 20 award-winning films as well as several symphonic and choral pieces...
.
Story
The game takes place in the 1880s wild west. Nate Harlow and his partner "Griff" have found gold in Bear Mountain. To celebrate the find, they commission the creation of a pair of twin revolvers, distinctive for the scorpion inlay on the butt of each gun. Nate takes one and "Griff" takes the other."Griff" is later captured by the Mexican military and condemned to be shot as a spy. He offers to give the General, Javier Diego, half of the gold on Bear Mountain if he spares his life. Diego agrees. Later, the General sends Colonel Daren, his right-hand man, to kill Nate Harlow and his family. Daren shoots Nate and his wife, Falling Star. Nate's son, Red Harlow, manages to retrieve his father's gun from burning rubble and shoot Daren before he escapes, destroying Daren's arm in the process.
Years after his parents' death, Red becomes a bounty hunter. The game begins with him battling a gang led by Bloody Tom. Hoping to claim the bounty on the gang, he takes them prisoner to the town of Widow's Patch. In Widow's Patch, he is attacked by a gang lead by Ugly Chris. He and the sheriff
Sheriff
A sheriff is in principle a legal official with responsibility for a county. In practice, the specific combination of legal, political, and ceremonial duties of a sheriff varies greatly from country to country....
of Widow's Patch (named O'Grady) are able to survive the attack, but the sheriff is badly wounded, and must travel to the town of Brimstone
Brimstone
Brimstone is an alternative name for sulfur. It may also refer to:* Fire and brimstone, an idiomatic expression of signs of God's wrath in the Bible* Brimstone , a DC Comics character...
for a doctor.
After Red drops off O'Grady in Brimstone, the sheriff of Brimstone (named Bartlett) asks Red to take care of some criminals for him. This includes battling an evil circus with the aid of gunslinger Jack Swift. After all the bounties are taken care of, he asks for the bounty on the criminals' heads; he is told by Griffon, now the manager of the town bank, as well as governor of the territory, that the gold wagon has not arrived yet. He then learns that one of the townsfolk, Annie Stoakes, is in danger of losing her farm, and that Governor Griffon also owns the Bear Mountain gold mine. Remembering that his family was killed over that mine, he goes to talk to Stoakes to find more information. This leads him back to Sheriff Bartlett, where he discovers that General Diego and Colonel Daren are still alive and that there is a bounty on them. Red, with the aid of his friend Shadow Wolf, a member of his mother's tribe, attacks Diego's fort, where they manage to kill Daren. Red then decides to hit Diego where it hurts the most, and attacks and disables the train carrying his gold shipment north. In the ensuing firefight, Diego is mortally wounded. Diego offers Red anything he wants, any amount of money as he begs Red to spare his life. Red silently aims his pistol without replying and shoots him dead.
Later, during a quick-draw competition called the Battle Royale, which Annie Stoakes and Jack Swift both compete in, Red learns that Griffon sold out his parents to General Diego. Governor Griffon orders Red to be killed by quick-draw champion Mr. Kelley, but Red kills Kelley and pursues Griffon to his mansion, accompanied by Annie and Jack. There, Red shoots Griffon in a quick-draw showdown. For having killed Griffon, the sheriff offers to pay Red the gold he is owed. Red refuses, taking Griffon's Scorpion revolver instead. Red tells Bartlett "it never was about the money."
Characters
- Red Harlow -- The main protagonist of Red Dead Revolver. His father, Nate Harlow, and his mother, Falling Star, a Native American woman, were both murdered by Colonel Daren, General Diego's henchman, years before the main storyline of the game begins. After his parents' murder, Red became a bounty hunter, capturing or killing criminals for money. He eventually finds out the names of the men who are behind the death of his parents and seeks to make them pay.
- Jack Swift -- A gentleman gunslinger who Red befriends on one of his bounty missions. Jack specializes in dual-wielding twin revolvers that he shoots with amazing speed and accuracy.
- Annie Stoakes -- A young woman struggling to maintain her ranch in the face of pressure from the bank, and violent attacks from a hostile outside group that wants her to sell the property. Annie is a highly skilled sharpshooter, specializing in using her rifle to make long-distance shots.
- Shadow Wolf -- Shadow Wolf is Red's cousin, from the same Native American tribe as his mother, Falling Star. Shadow Wolf and his tribe live on the slopes of Bear Mountain, and are facing violent pressure from Governor Griffon and General Diego to vacate the land because of the duo's gold mine. Shadow Wolf is a master of both the knife and the bow, and can shoot fire arrows at his enemies to set them aflame.
- Buffalo Soldier -- An unnamed African American cavalryman, "Buffalo Soldier" serves in the U.S. Army, protecting stage coach shipments from hostile Apaches. He is imprisoned by Griffon and Diego before being freed by Red. "Buffalo Soldier" can fire explosive musket rounds that can take out large groups of enemies.
- Sheriff Bartlett -- Bartlett is the local sheriff of Brimstone, responsible for maintaining law and order. He is the one who gives Red his initial bounty missions and assists Red in his quest for justice.
- General Diego -- General Javier Diego is a former Mexican general, now a renegade outlaw who commands his own private army of mercenaries and maintains control of his own fort in rural Mexico, near the U.S. border. Years before the game's main storyline, he captures Griffon, Nate Harlow's prospecting partner, during a battle with U.S. troops attempting to shut down his smuggling route north into the United States. Griffon offers Diego Nate's share of the gold mine in exchange for his life. Diego sends his henchman, Colonel Daren, and a group of his men to assassinate the Harlow family. Only Red escapes the massacre. Diego is currently partners with the now Governor Griffon, responsible for maintaining the gold mine at Bear Mountain and transporting the gold north to Griffon on his own private train.
- Colonel Daren -- Diego's henchman and right-hand man. Daren was the man who personally killed Red's family. During the massacre, Red manages to shoot Daren in the arm with Red's father's powerful Scorpion revolver, damaging it to the extent that it had to be amputated. Years later, when Red encounters Daren again in a firefight at Diego's fort, he discovers that Daren has replaced the arm with a powerful cannon.
- Governor Griffon -- Governor Griffon is the current governor of the U.S. territory where the game's events take place. Years before the game's main storyline, Griffon betrayed Red's father Nate Harlow by offering General Diego Nate's share of the Bear Mountain gold lode in exchange for his life, and told Diego where he could find Nate. Years later, he is the most powerful man in the territory, owner of the Brimstone bank and expansive landowner. He is the man responsible for attempting to drive Annie Stoakes off her land, as well as colluding with Diego to drive Shadow Wolf's people from their land on Bear Mountain.
- Mr. Kelley -- A nefarious gunfighter employed by Governor Griffon. Kelley has won the Brimstone Battle Royale multiple years running, always outgunning his opponent. When Red enters the Battle Royale, Griffin rigs the competition so that Red is forced to face Kelley in the final showdown.
There are also numerous minor characters throughout the game, both friendly and unfriendly. Unlike in many other games, many of Red Dead Revolvers enemies have their own unique name, look, and personality, and their personal histories can be read about in the game's journal.
Reception
Red Dead Revolver received mostly mixed reviews. Aggregating review websites GameRankings and MetacriticMetacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
gave the Xbox version 74.87% and 74/100 and the PlayStation 2 version 74.59% and 73/100. As of July 2, 2010, It has sold 920,000 copies according to Joystiq
Joystiq
Joystiq is a video gaming blog founded in June 2004 that has since become one of the most successful sites within the Weblogs, Inc. family of weblogs. It is the centerpiece of WIN's own network of video gaming blogs, which also includes a blog dealing specifically with the popular MMORPG World of...
.
In 2010, the game was included as one of the titles in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die
Quintessence Editions Ltd.
Quintessence Editions Ltd. is a publishing company based in London which is the originator of the "1001 Before You Die" series. Typically, the titles in this series are intended as reference books. They are illustrated books authored by multiple contributors...
.
Sequel
Rumors of a sequel began circulating in 2005 when Rockstar showed a video of an Old West horseback rider running on early PlayStation 3PlayStation 3
The is the third home video game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment and the successor to the PlayStation 2 as part of the PlayStation series. The PlayStation 3 competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
hardware. Rockstar was fairly secretive with a game in the works, simply known as "Old West Project".
On February 4, 2009, Red Dead Redemption, a spiritual successor to "Revolver," was announced for PlayStation 3
PlayStation 3
The is the third home video game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment and the successor to the PlayStation 2 as part of the PlayStation series. The PlayStation 3 competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
and Xbox 360
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
for a Q4 2009 release.
It was later delayed until the first half of fiscal 2010, which spans November 2009 through April 2010 .
On November 27, it was announced that Red Dead Redemption would see a U.S. release date of April 27, 2010. On March 3, 2010, Take-Two Interactive announced Red Dead Redemption had been delayed to May 18, 2010, on which it was released in the US and 21 May in Europe and Australia.