Third-Person Shooter Review: Red Dead Revolver

Red Dead Revolver is a game that has an interesting pedigree and was the fore-bearer of the influential Red Dead Redemption series. It started at Angel Studios in the early 2000s as a Capcom-funded spaghetti-western arcade-style third-person shooter that was a spiritual successor to the 1985 arcade game Gun.Smoke. When Take-Two Interactive purchased Angel Studios in November 2002 and placed it under its Rockstar Games subsidiary as Rockstar San Diego, the Red Dead Revolver beta was expanded into a full game which was ultimately released for PlayStation 2 and Xbox in 2004.

In the final game, both the Capcom and Rockstar Games fingerprints are quite obvious upon even a cursory inspection. It is still the arcade-style slapstick Western that began at Capcom. Alongside the damage indicators, there are score tallies. Each scene takes place in a round, where accuracy and damaged is assessed and duel opponents and stages for duel challenges are rewarded based on the total. Most enemies have to be shot several times to be defeated, even with precise targeting, although the smaller, weaker enemies can be defeated in one hit with a headshot.

However, it also has hallmarks of Rockstar Games in its DNA. A town can be visited between rounds, and Red can explore the shops located within, although in a much more limited way than Rockstar's usual output. Alongside the gun shops where Red can purchase and upgrade his equipment, there are also other businesses to be visited such as the saloon, tailor shop, and the bank. The purchases within have less to do with what they advertise than act as a place where Red can unlock background information on the lore of the game through journal pages and purchase duel stages and characters that weren't unlocked when the stage scores were tallied

It's by no means a masterpiece of game design, but it is really a miracle these two different styles of game development actually manage to work together at all. Going in after playing either of the Red Dead Redemption games is really odd, such it is such a different style of game. However, once you reconfigure your brain to treat it like an arcade-style third-person shooter, it actually becomes enjoyable.

The main enjoyment to be had in the game is in the story. As a spaghetti-western, it is enjoyably over-the-top in its presentation and story-telling. The game follows Red Harlow, a gunman who had witnessed the death of his father Nate Harlow and his Native American mother Falling Star. They were killef by a gang of outlaws lef by Mexican General Javier Diego and the American mercenary who called himself Colonel Daren. Red's dad found gold in Bear Mountain with a man named Griff and forged two revolvers to celebrate. The Mexican Army took Griff prisoner and Javier learned about the gold. All three Harlows were meant to die to conceal the existance of the gold, but Red got away by shooting Javier's arm off with his father's revolver.

Red intends to avenge his father's death, teaming up with the English trick-shooter extraordinaire Jack Swift, a rancher named Annie Stoakes, Red's cousin Shadow Wolf, and an African American soldier called the "Buffalo Soldier". Each of these characters, along with Red are playable in specific points in the story, alongside the villain Javier who is also playable for a short time.

Many of these characters served as templates for characters who appeared later on in the series. Annie Stoakes was a brave, headstrong woman who bucked the social norms of the time, much as Bonnie MacFarlane would years later in Red Dead Redemption. She also was a pro with a gun, much as Sadie Adler in Red Dead Redemption II. Jack Swift bears more than a passing resemblance to the second Red Dead Redemption game's Josiah Trelawny in both appearance and the fact that both characters tend to their own business while occasionally teaming up with their game's protagonists. Shadow Wolf's headstrong personality and willingness to put himself in danger for his family and his tribe was akin to Eagle Flies in Red Dead Redemption II. Charles Smith from Redemption II bears a similarity to both Buffalo Soldier and Red Harlow himself. All three characters are stoic, selfless, and unambiguously the most morally good among their peers.

Javier Diego shares both a name and a background with Javier Escuella. Both were part of the Mexican Army before the start of their respective games and both, unfortunately were let down by borderline offensive Mexican stereotypes. For Escuella, at least, he received some much needed character development in the jump from Red Dead Redemption to Red Dead Redemption II. It's a shame we won't see more character development from Diego, since it is pretty much a sure thing that Rockstar Games won't feature the Revolver characters in the future outside of campfire folk tales.

Red Dead Revolver is more of a curio to see from where the Red Dead Redemption series started than anything else. It's not as easily accessible as the Redemption games, however it could be worth a play to people who aren't averse to playing arcade-style third-person shooters. The spaghetti-western atmosphere alongside the over-the-top portrayal of the characters and the story manage to elevate this game from what would otherwise be a purely mediocre experience. It's not up to Red Dead Redemption standards, but it is certainly not a bad game.

Final Verdict:
3½ out of 5

Open World Action-Adventure Delivery Simulator Shooter Review: Death Stranding

Hideo Kojima has made a career out of making games with way-out-there storylines that somehow remain enjoyable despite their concepts, and often, despite their convoluted nature. Death Stranding is the most decisive of the games by Kojima Productions, but it still have all of the hallmarks of a Kojima title.

The game world takes place in a post-apocalyptic wasteland. An organization named Bridges is attempting to bridge the new cities of the land together into a reconstituted United Cities of America under the former president of the United States, Bridget Strand. 

The world has returned to the caste systems of olde, where people stay in the professions they had before the United States blew up as a result of the titular death stranding, which merges the world of the dead together with that of the living. Explosions known as voidouts take place when corpses blow up in a phenomenon known as necrotization which can only be prevented by cremation. 

The game follows a man who goes by the name Sam Porter Bridges, who is a legendary porter who works for the Bridges organization.  His profession is based on real life Japanese bokka, who transport packages over mountains and across rivers using nothing but their feet and wooden ladders. 

Sam is the only person known as a repatriate, which means that he can return to the world of the living after dying. He carries an unborn fetus known as a Beached Baby or BB that was taken from a brain dead mother and placed in a pod full of liquid that simulates the conditions in a mother's womb. BBs are treated as mere tools, as they can allow the holder to view the souls trapped between the living and dead world.

These souls, known as Beached Things or BT, appear in rain known as timefall. The timefall ages anything with which it comes into contact, meaning any vehicles or structures used by porters will quickly rust and will eventually collapse if they are not regularly repaired or upgraded.

The part of the game that makes it the most divisive is in its main gameplay. Sam is regularly given jobs to port packages to places throughout the former USA. The jobs that are marked as for Sam are those that are needed to be delivered in order to unlock more of the story. There are others marked as standard deliveries which are used to gain more stars at each delivery point. Alongside deliveries are long fetch quests, which require retrieving lost or stolen packages and returning them to their owners.

When not dealing with BTs or fighting or fleeing from enemy thieves known as MULEs, the game works essentially like a twisted Animal Crossing, minus the home building and collecting. It also lacks the decorating, except for the ability to craft and decorate Sam's backpack. The rest is there though, as Sam befriends neighbors, does favors for them and delivers their packages. This makes it a mostly relaxing game, especially when playing it after the end of the story.  The large open world, however, can be detrimental to its playability factor, as trips can be excessively long.

The character models and animation are top notch. Given Kojima's well-known love of Hollywood films, his studio employed well known personalities to portray the game's main characters. Two of the most publicized were those who were slated to work on Kojima's Silent Hills that was scrapped after he was unceremoniously fired from Konami. The main character of that game was slated to be played by Norman Reedus and it was to be co-directed by Guillermo del Toro. Reedus plays Sam Bridges, both in facial capture and voice, while del Toro provides the face of Sam's guide Deadman. Jesse Corti provides Deadman's voice. The actors are fantastic, and help suck you into the game's world.

Music is sparse, as it only occurs during specific points in the game's world, in some cutscenes, and in music played when upgraded structures are activated. Once a song is heard, it is added to the music list and can be played in the menu or inside Bridges shelters. Most of the time, the only sound heard is sound effects, which adds to the desolate feel of the game. The sound effects, whether they be from Sam's feet or the humming of vehicles such as dirt bikes or trucks, are well done.

Death Stranding is a hard game to rate. It is a very divisive game as its gameplay is not for everyone and music is sparse. However, it has a unique story, excellent acting and fantastic character models and animation, and it is a unique take on a delivery game. It is worth playing for anyone who doesn't mind games that consist of long deliveries and fetch quests.

Final Verdict:
4 out of 5

Open World Third-Person Shooter Review: Yakuza - Dead Souls

Yakuza: Dead Souls, known as Like a Dragon: Of the End in Japan, was a third-person zombie shooter spin-off of the Like a Dragon series, which was formerly known as the Yakuza series in the West.

It is a weird premise, as the Like a Dragon series has always been as much about visiting shops and talking to wacky people to open up even wackier sidequests as it is about yakuza drama. A zombie apocalypse doesn't seem like it could fit in that mold. But, as Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise would show years later, an apocalypse doesn't slow down business much. Shoppers gonna shop.

As a matter of fact, the premise actually plays to the game's benefit. Because people aren't exactly beholden to yakuza alliances when faced with a zombie horde, that allowed two yakuza from feuding factions to enter the mix. The Dragon of Dojima, Kazuma Kiryu, and the Lifeline of Kamurocho, Shun Akiyama from Yakuza 4 are back as protagonists. But they are joined by the Mad Dog of Shimano, Goro Majima, and the Dragon of Kansai, Ryuji Goda. The former is Kiryu's frequent series rival, while the latter was the villain of Yakuza 2.

Ryuji Goda survived his fight with Kiryu at the end of the game, causing him to be kicked out of the Omi Alliance. Somewhere along the line, he gets equipped with a metallic arm that transforms into a machine gun and becomes an apprentice to an elderly takoyaki cook. That pretty much sets up the tone of the game, which plays into the campiness more than any other game set in the Like a Dragon universe.

No one screams campiness more than Goro Majima, and Sega CS1 definitely had fun with his character here. It contains the funniest Majima scenes in the entire extended series, and that's saying a lot. This is the guy who randomly slammed his head on a desk to start an elevator after all.

It also has some really crazy sidequests, including one that even included Karens a decade before the COVID-19 pandemic brought those crazy entitled women into our real lives as well. On that subject, it was definitely surreal playing this during a global pandemic. What probably seemed silly in 2011 was extremely real when played today. There were people who refused to shut down their shops even though the evidence of the virus was right outside their door, the aforementioned Karens, and a woman who wore her medical mask on her chin instead of covering her nose and mouth.

The game begins with an open Kamurocho, but as the game continues, more and more of the city will be quarantined off in an attempt to keep the zombie virus away from the main populous. It is possible to enter the quarantined zones, which is necessary at some points to complete the main story, finish sidequests, and get businesses to reopen. In the case of the latter, the manager has you clear out the horde of zombies and monsters right outside the door. After that, the business will reopen and will remain open.

The shooting, which is the main gameplay mechanic, is unfortunately a little wonky. It takes a while to get used to the aiming and shooting mechanic, but, it becomes easier to use after trial and error. There are several different types of monsters, from zombies to screaming undead women who will bring more in zombies, to faceless wall-crawlers, and to big giant bosses. A lot of these enemies are really similar to those found in Capcom's Resident Evil games as well as Sega's own House of the Dead series.

Yakuza: Dead Souls is a fun spin-off of Sega's now-popular Like a Dragon series. The playable characters are fun, especially the always hilarious Goro Majima who has some of his funniest scenes ever in this game. The storyline is suitably campy, with crazy experiments and a former top yakuza turned takoyaki cook. This is probably the only game in the extended Like a Dragon universe where I'm not sure if the main story or the sidequests are funnier, and that's a good thing since playing into its campiness is by far the game's best strength. The shooting mechanic is a little wonky and takes a while to get used to, but the rest of the game more than makes up for it.

Final Verdict:

4 out of 5

Yakuza 4 review

Yakuza 5 (Remastered) Review