Red Dead Revolver Xbox Review

If you think about it, westerns are perfect subject matter for a game, yet there hasn’t been a great deal to speak of where you step into the boots of a cowboy and casually blast varmints away. Red Dead Revolver allows you to do just that as – the Clint Eastwood alike – Red, who by the traditionally unforgiving manner of shooting people is seeking revenge for the death of his parents.

Every element that is sure to appease the fervent western aficionado is here including the epic upbeat music, the stereotypical characters, horse riding and the massive saloon brawls. It’s evidently clear that the developers have watched many cowboy movies in their time. But even if you’re not a fan of western themed movies, there’s still plenty for the action fan. Providing that you’re a fan of the more arcadey style action of course and don’t mind polishing the game off more than once to get the most from it.

Just like Rockstars other shooter: Max Payne, Red Dead Revolver only has one difficultly level available initially and the game must first be completed on this to unlock additional, more challenging difficulties. This won’t sit well with those that want a challenge straight from the off and people that play their games just the once and then return them to their dusty shelves will most likely be equally disgruntled at the little time and ease it takes to reach completion. This could have been easily remedied if at least two of the three difficulties were selectable to begin with. But on the good side at least it offers a good amount of replayability for those who want to try their hand at every level of difficultly available.

Unsurprisingly at its heart, Red Dead Revolver is a shooter not dissimilar in vein to Rockstars own Max Payne, in not only that you shoot people, but that you also have access to bullet time style slow motion, titled “dead eye” which gives you a considerable advantage over opponents. It works slightly different to Max Payne however, allowing you to lock on to various parts of an enemy depending on how many bullets you have in your shooter.

Red Dead Revolver may for the most part require you to shoot people, but impressively there’s still a fair amount of variety throughout. There’s the obligatory chaotic saloon fight, which exchanges guns for fists and bottles. A thrilling train chase section is also present, which has you riding on your horse, chasing a speeding train. Furthermore there’s also other playable characters, each with their own unique abilities, this makes sure things never become dull and of course what’s a good cowboy game without tense duels?

A good performance on any level will unlock additional maps and characters, which can be utilized on the adequate multiplayer mode this gives you extra incentive to play through again. You can also purchase others from shops by using the money you have gained from blasting baddies away.

Graphically the game is fairly impressive, but never outstanding. The game runs smoothly for the most part, with only occasional slowdown. Pop-up is an issue, but barely noticeable when you’re in the middle of shooting things. The cut sequences have an old filter like effect that’s presumably meant to look like an old film, which is a pretty nice presentational touch.

Red Dead Revolver is a hackneyed shooter, but a good one at that. It may not be the lengthiest game around and is certainly not one for those who don’t wish to play their games more than once (shame on you we say!) to get the most from them but deserves to be played by both cowboy and action fans alike, good stuff.

8/10