Red Dead Redemption: Other Stuff

Legends and Killers: Legends and Killers brings back a 8 of the characters from the original Red Dead Revolver, as well as a new weapon (the tomahawk) and some new multiplayer maps. As nice as it is to see the old characters return, time has apparently not been kind to them. To put it bluntly, they're all ugly as fuck. Not only that, but only a couple of them actually sound like themselves. Lastly, the choices of character are odd. I was expecting Colonel Daren, or General Diego, or Governor Griffin, not Ugly Chris. Very disappointing.

As for the other stuff: the tomahawk is kinda cool, especially since at close range you can chop people in the neck with it, but it's essentially just a heavier throwing knife. The new maps are alright, and they're better than the old ones, but I don't play a whole lot of free-for-all or gang shootout matches, so it's not really for me. Also, it's a bit incovenient that you have to go to a different section to play them.

Recommendation: Unless you play the competitive modes a lot, give this one a pass.

Liars and Cheats: Liars and Cheats adds 16 new multiplayer characters from the singleplayer game, new modes and new gang hideouts, and should revitalize Red Dead's multiplayer for you, at least for a while. Online gambling has been added in the form of poker and liar's dice, though no one seems to be playing the latter. Since you can't gamble real money, you get virtual cash. Winning more gives you more experience and lets you continue playing. If you run out, you have to wait 24 hours before getting another allowance. It is fun to be sure, though there always seems to be one player who goes all in on the first hand, and I have yet to win a single game.

The other non-gambling mode added is horse racing. It's pretty much what you'd expect at first, but after a couple of checkpoints are passed players are given access to weapons. This turns it into a sort of extremely violent Mario Kart, and once again, it is quite fun. My only complaint is that there aren't that many tracks.

Recommendation: If you like poker or racing, and want some new characters to play as, give it a buy. Ten dollars may seem steep but there's a decent amount of content here.

Undead Nightmare: Now this is what I'm talking about. Undead Nightmare adds both multiplayer and singleplayer content and will really adds a lot to Red Dead.

John returns home to his family and all seems fine as he goes to bed. But when Uncle bursts in covered in blood, growling incoherently, things are clearly fucked up. Uncle bites John's wife, Abigail, and his son, Jack, and within minutes they turn. He lassoes them both, ties them up, seals them inside and is off to find a cure for whatever the hell is going on.

Undead Nightmare isn't just different in it's tone, but also in it's gameplay. Ammo is the only precious commodity now, and is used as currency, and the honor meter has been removed. It's all about survival now. Zombies are everywhere, and they aren't exactly easy to kill. Shooting them will slow them down, but only a bullet in the head will stop one permanently. What's more, there are some more dangerous variants to the standard, slow moving bunch, small and fast bolters, giant lumbering bastards who charge when close, and acid spitters who explode on death.

As you search for the cure to this plague, you'll run across towns overrun with the undead. Helping the few surviving townsfolk clear the town will bring out the sun and, more importantly, allow you to save your game there. This is important, since you can no longer save by camping in the wilderness.

The singleplayer of Undead Nightmare should last you a few hours at least and is fun, funny, and scary at once, and the other oddities included (such as the four horses of the apocalypse, which you can break and ride) just add to the absurdity.

Once you're done with singleplayer, there's a new multiplayer mode called undead overrun. The concept is pretty simple: you and up to three team mates fight off wave after wave of the undead as the difficulty steadily increases. Every round has a time limit, and once it runs out things go to sudden death, where the zombies have very high health and spawn continuously, and team mates can't be revived. There's a coffin that appears every round that, when opened, gives you ammo and adds time to the clock. Survive as long as you can.

Overrun is plenty enjoyable if you're into "last stand" modes, though it does get old eventually.

Recommendation: Unless you really, really hate zombies, you should get Undead Nightmare. It's great, plain and simple.

This was also a good review.