Retro Gaming: Red Dead Revolver (2004)

Though I haven't had too much time of late to watch (and comment on) any spaghetti-type films, I did recently take the opportunity to pop in an older Western-themed XBOX game.

Red Dead Revolver is the predecessor to the wildly popular (and playable) Red Dead Redemption. I have been playing Redemption, as well its numerous donwloadable updates, for nearly eight months, and though I have yet to "complete" all facets of the game, I have been hankerin' for another similar game play experience. About a month ago I came across its 2004 prequel, Revolver, on Amazon.com and purchased it for $14.

Originally developed by Capcom (a fact which can be seen in the nuanced anime-style facial expressions of the characters), it was eventually purchased and partially re-engineered by Rockstar Games prior to its release in 2004. Like most sequels/prequels, Perhaps the easiest context in which to consider Revolver is to do so in light of Redemption. Technological advances such as textured graphics and more complex environmental interaction (walking through a door into the main street in Redemption as opposed to walking to a door, cutting to a screen then magically reappearing on the street in Revolver), the storytelling and game play are remarkably similar... and to Redemption players, somewhat familiar, as some the main characters do turn up as playable characters in the XBOX 360 LIVE Mulitplayer mode.

If anything, the influence of the Spaghetti Western genre is more pronounced in Revolver. By employing a "grainy film effect" on scenes, in addition to the use of film scores by Morricone and others, Revolver plays like a more stylistic Western than the (at least to these eyes) ultra-realistic Redemption. Huge, gloppy blood spatters and appropriately broad characterization add to the Spaghetti-vibe. It is almost impossible not see the Eastwood's squinty-eyed Man With No Name, as the basis for Red Harlow, Revolver's games protagonist bounty hunter.

My only quibble is one that is likely the result of the system that I played the game. Originally released for the first XBOX system, I played Revolver on the more contemporary XBOX 360, which might be the reason that the graphics were not nearly as clear as those seen in the trailer above or in the pictures I've come across online. The high level of playability though, despite the visual inconsistencies, speaks to the overall quality of the game, offering an interesting look at the early beginnings of what woudl become the Red Dead Redemption franchise.