Review: Red Dead Redemption 2

The Wii U can’t compete with the PS4 and Xbox One as is. Basically a PS3/ Xbox 360, the Wii U came too late, and despite having the best first-party lineup in 2014, has failed to keep up with PS4 and Xbox One. It’s time for Nintendo to get on, or at least close to Sony and Microsoft’s level. The New Wii U could be a game changer with more power, a new elegant design, and the adoption of a more traditional controller. Perhaps it could be enough to draw back third-party publishers. We can’t expect a new console yet, but an update (like the New 3DS) could turn around the Wii U’s fortunes.

The Red Dead franchise succeeds because it's playing into the most American fantasies of what the Wild West was, while keeping it grounded. It was a time were America was still getting its footing as a new nation. Things were being discovered by a people who had largely still never seen most of what the land had to offer, thus appropriately titled, the Wild West. It seemed like a hellish dreamscape where those from the east coast talked of savages and wild beast, men who idealized the same sort of lawlessness discussed among certain circles. Yet, it was none of these things, for a people having just arrived to a nation, it was much tamer than one might imagine. Instead, it was a place not overly populated and begging for people to settle its lands (I hope we see Natives in this game). The west was a place of opportunity and discovery, somewhere one could make their mark in a relatively easy way (for the time).

There is a linear story path to follow, but there are plenty of side opportunities to engage in. Each region has a few forts that need to be taken over, much like the same style as the battle at Fort Mercer. There are many characters that require assistance from John and these quests are usually entertaining. One quest involves a man with an undying love for his woman and another series of events from a quest giver involves a man who really gets under John's skin in the last quest he gives. Random events happen throughout the open world game guide such as highway robberies, hangings and other random encounters with strangers, making the game Open world game news feel alive. Rockstar games are known for their sense of humor and some of their dark humor naturally crept into Red Dead Redemption. One of my favorite achievements I ever unlocked happened in this game. A few years ago my girlfriend was hanging out at my apartment and I decided to show her this game (she may have bought it for me for a birthday present but I can't remember). I thought it would be funny to lasso a girl and leave her on the train tracks, like a mustache twirling silent film villain. As the locomotive turned the damsel in distress into a much gooier state of existence, an achievement popped up on screen. It's good to know that my sociopathic tendencies aren't so unusual that the developers weren't able to anticipate my behavior.

Assassin’s Creed: Victory was rudely outed December 2014 as the next Assassin’s Creed game, and there’s one thing everyone is thinking right now; please don’t be like Assassin’s Creed: Unity. Unity was a broken wreck at launch. Riddled with bugs, glitches, a Co-Op feature that barely works, and a continuously dipping framerate, Unity is the poster-boy for how not to launch a game. True, the experience has gotten better with patches, but that’s no excuse for launching Unity in the state it was in. Victory cannot achieve victory if it is in anyway like Unity. Hopefully, with Ubisoft Quebec leading development, we won’t have to experience an Assassin’s Creed wreck two years in a row.

The year is 1911. John Marshton was once a dangerous outlaw but has left that life behind to pursue the simple pleasures of being a family man. John is enjoying his new life until the Bureau of Investigation visits him to work out a deal with him and take his wife and kid into custody for leverage. As a former outlaw, John is facing some serious penalties for his past but the FBI is willing to cut him a break if he brings his former gang members to justice.