The lights are on
Red Dead Redemption is all about discovery. Placed in a gigantic open world, you’ll likely find something to divert your attention on the ride to your next mission: duels, stranger missions, hunting rabbits, to name a few. The best part is that all of this content makes sense in the harsh desert locations where the game takes place. Even side objectives involving cannibalism seem to fit right in with the setting and its inhabitants. Despite all of the tasks you can be pulled into throughout the game though, the western vibe is never conveyed as well as the moment when you ride into Mexico.The early game content pulls you all over the upper half of the world map, leading you to wonder when you’ll finally cross into Mexico over the Rio Bravo. Finally, after making a few unsavory friends, you’re invited by the criminal Irish to accompany him across the river. It wouldn’t be a western without a harrowing firefight, and the perilous log ride to the opposite bank delivers in this respect. After dispatching dozens of angry bandits eager to welcome their “friend” Irish into their land, you set foot on foreign soil. Upon bidding your drunken companion farewell, you climb on to a nearby horse, eager to see what the region has to offer in regards to exploration. Constant viewing of the map prior to arriving here lets you know that the area is massive, but it immediately becomes clear in person.The Mexican landscape pulls back more and more as you progress along the banks of the river. Whether you ride closer to the water or high atop the cliffs, the view is gorgeous. You can almost see the point where the horizon touches the sky. The vistas on display would be breathtaking by themselves, but another ingredient adds to this amalgam: music.The entire game contains constant background music appropriate for the western setting, but when Far Away by Jose Gonzalez begins on this ride, you feel like a cowboy. The slow acoustic build leads into the first actual lyrics in the game, trumping every sound except the rolling clap of your horse’s hooves, an appropriate soundtrack for such a surreal moment.The perfect confluence of sight and sound showcased here embodies the whole Red Dead experience for me. Throughout the game, John Marston engages in a multitude of different activities and missions, so many that I never had time to fully appreciate the believable world laid out in front of me. But riding over that hill in Mexico to the tune of a slow acoustic guitar made me forget everything else and just soak it all in.
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Arriving in Mexico was definitely a cool moment, though on my first time through the game the song didn't play for whatever reason, so I didn't really get that full experience until my second time through the game, and by then I don't think it had the same weight.
Still, definitely my favorite game this generation.
RDR was an epic game. I seriously hope Rockstar would release a sequel to this. It deserves one. A really fascinating open-world game that I've played.
This moment was mind blowing for me. The sun was going down and it was raining lightly. When the song started playing it started to thunder in the game. It fit the mood of the song perfectly. It was like a scene from a movie.
One of my favorite moments in any game I've ever played. By far.
I totally agree. "Far Away" playing while I'm riding into Mexico was an amazing feeling.
I always thought it was strange how Helgeson doesn't really like that part.
I actually didn't know I would be crossing over into Mexico until I got to that point. I thought: wow this game is huge, WTF THERE'S MORE!
we are learning about expansion to the west in school it makes me appreciate how accurate it is 3rd best game this generation
Simply the best game of any Gens console want a sequel but only if its good
I must have stopped playing right after getting done with that frustrating (and boring) shooting sequence on the raft. I don't remember this at all.
When this game first came out, everyone was raving about it and the reviews were great. However, after finally getting the chance to play it myself, I found it to be pretty underwhelming and disappointing (Except for the ending of course. That was awesome). That's not to say it's a bad game though because it isn't. I just think it's a bit overrated.
At this moment, I knew I was experiencing one of the best open world games that had been made up to that point. In fact, that still stands. Hopefully Farcry and GTA V can Ape it.
The music playing as you ride to see your family is cool too, but I am glad others were able to appreciate the Mexico sequence. Best part of the game.
One of my favorites of all time, this was my first rockstar game ever purchased and i gotta say that im a fan now got my gta5 pre-ordered already :) finished this game twice and one of the very few that I 100% completed, and im probably going to play it again but this time on ps3 idk how people say its overated lol i thought it was great but i guess you cant make everybody happy right.
Perfect pick. Love this game to pieces.
Any gamer that has not played Red Dead Redemption is seriously missing out.
I bought this game cheap this summer, but I just can't get into it. :/ what is wrong with me? lmao.
This is definitely one of my favorite moments in gaming, I played that part a solid half a dozen times because it just left me in awe.
This was probably one of my favorite moments in gaming of all time. I really appreciate little seemingly inconsequential details like a song having vocals.
This is one of the few games we can really say is true art.
I can't wait for a new Red Dead