MMGN.com writes: The headline says it all really, and it is quite a bold statement. Rockstar Games could be considered one of the biggest, but more importantly, best developers in the industry today, yet I'm going out on a limb to say that the studio could have very well hit their peak with the release of 2010's Game of the Year winner, Red Dead Redemption.
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A lot of people are excited for GTAV... and Im going to say it *GASP* Im not that excited for it that much...
I eventually pick up GTA... but those are games I play to escape, and just kill everything. But with RDR.. it was so different.
I got it on opening day, and man was I amazed.. the story telling, the environment the characters...RDR had it all.
I love stories in games, and RDR had this emotional tale of a father trying to right his wrongs, and get his family back. I never felt compelled to kill a random civilian out of boredom like in GTA, nor was I forced not too like LA. Noire. When people bring up GTA 4.. I yell NIKO MY COUSIN, ITS ME ROMAN!.But with Red Dead, I have a serious discussion.
I wanted to be the good guy. Never was I compelled like this in a rockstar game, never was I so emotionally invested with the main character in a Rockstar game, I was heartbroken at the conclusion. People rave about the radio stations in GTA.I say nay. The score in Red Dead is breathtaking
http://www.youtube.com/watc...
http://www.youtube.com/watc...
I think its Rockstars best game... the GTA's are good, but in my opinion, they can not compare to Red Dead Redemption
Hell I bought Prototype 2 because I thought I would have that connection... nope I got this http://www.gametrailers.com...
I returned it after I platinumed it..Im a trophy whore don't look at me like that... but I got the incredible Max Payne 3 for only 10 bucks
@Jayjayff
Exactly why... when I played as Niko, I never cared when killing civilians... as Cole Phelps I couldn't because the game penalized you everytime you did... but with RDR you did not want to...because of how emotionally attached you became to Marston... thats why I think its Rockstars greatest game... I don't mind the disagrees... after all its my opinion, and Im going to stand to it
While I agree with you Nimblest, I kind of got the impression you was knocking GTA despite you saying the GTAs are good.
People need to remember that GTA4 was Rockstar's first game this gen. It's easy for people to look back and point out all the flaws of 4 as a reason why they aren't looking forward to 5.
I expect GTA5 to be a really really good. After playing the GTA4 DLCs and RDR, I've always expected the next GTA to be one hell of a game.
Well... yeah... I really enjoyed Red Dead Redemption MUCH more and I will give you my "agree" button but I disagree with you because GTAIV has a lot of great (and funny) characters like Niko, Brucie, Roman etc. GTA IV also has a great storytelling, the enviroment was really big and full of details but the problem is they simply removed some great ideas from GTA San Andreas (Gym, tunning car, airplane, bicycle, martial arts etc).
Red Dead Redemption is a deeper experience, no doubts.
Red Dead Redemption has a fresh concept (yes, I played GUN and Red Dead Revolver), better storytelling, an incredible character that you want to make him win and find his family, amazing world, great sense of exploration, amazing gameplay etc etc etc. I loved the song when I was going to Mexico, I almost cried.
Seriously, Red Dead Redemption is one of my favorite games this gen.
I think GTA V will come out and then Agent and then I would like to see this article updated. I do see why some people would think this. RDR was a pretty darn good game!
So its kind of dumb to make that statemeent when they only made one game since.
Makes more since to just flat out say red dead was better than max payne.Then again they are 2 totally different games.
Simply having open fields made the gameplay much more freeform versus the cramped streets of GTAIV.
If I have to go back to navigating crowded roads, I really hope the vehicles at least have more forgiving handling.
RDR will alway's be one of Rockstar's best games and if they are planning a sequel, then boy will i be excited.
If there's a sequel, prequel, or whatever.....it's a day-one buy for me.
Story was really brilliant though and Marston was a good character.
@arjman, so weird how one man's cure is another man's poison.
RDR is one of if not the best games ever made along with MGS3 and MGS4 for me(also MGS: peace walker should be played by MGS fan its an amazing game)
And Xbox has exactly nothing to do with whether or not Rockstar has peaked.
So your reason for bringing it up is.... oh I see.
Scale of 10 on the trolling meter you get a 3. Minus several hundred just for trying too hard.
Simply making a statement isn't trolling young man. Oh, wait, this coming from someone with an avatar name of Resistance_lord ????? Yeah OK.
You need to look up the definition of trolling there sonny.
I think I also had a pretty good connection with GTA's Lost and Damned. Unlike the Ballad of Gay Tony, I wasn't particularly compelled in TLAD to kill randomly because it had a much darker tone. I appreciate that you, too, liked this kind of weightier feel to some of Rockstar games.
I don't think that GTA V will be as engaging as RDR but I still look forward to it.
All GTA's made for console are developed by rockstar north, i have no idea why you thought san diego had anything to do with san andreas.
Infact, all rockstar san diego done before RDR was the midnight club series of games and even with RDR (story Written by Dan houser from rockstar north) they were under direction and in collaboration rockstar north.
So seriously, unless you rate the midnight club games over the GTA series then why would you favour san diego over rockstar north?
I would love to play RDR again... on PC, but that's a dream and I fear it will never happen.
RDR is one of my favorite games of all time. Best game of Rock*'s? I don't know. It's a question of taste.
Even though the GTA's may have had groundbreaking design and whatnot, I did not find them to be fun games. Just big, detailed worlds with poor gameplay, and flooded with immaturity that doesn't really feel like social satire (I think that's what is intended - but only gta3 did that well).
RDR was a beautiful world, but the game started out slow, and just like all R* games, involves some grown man being everyone's errand boy. It's somewhat annoying, but RDR is better than any other R* game, still.
L.A. Noire was brilliant,s well, but that was Team Bondi for the most part; Rockstar published.
Max Payne 3, well, it's a fancy shooting gallery in between strange cutscenes. And the multiplayer is an auto-aim fest that involves no skill.
ALSO: KEEP IN MIND THAT ROCKSTAR CONSISTS OF LIKE 10 DIFFERENT STUDIOS. THERE'S NO SINGLE ROCKSTAR.
Also, it's an awesome third person shooter with an involving story.
RDR is on a whole 'nother level in my eyes because Rockstar left out all of the things that prevented me from taking the GTA games seriously while focusing much more on the narrative. As someone who has watched too many western films to count, I thought RDR hit the feel of the genre just right, and I'm only saying this because looking back at it I don't remember the gameplay so much as I do the story, which almost makes it seem like I'm talking about a movie and not a video game. The gameplay was good, but it was certainly not the focus of the game, at least not for me.
I don't really think that Rockstar will continue this trend in GTAV so I'm gonna have to agree with the article, at least for now, that they really did peak with RDR and I would not expect them to outdo themselves with a sequel.
I mean, I loved it and thought it was a great game, but just because LA Noire and Max Payne 3 (supposedly) don't live up to the lofty goals set by Red Dead, that doesn't mean R* can't or won't get any better.
We can only hope that Rockstar keeps trying to raise the bar. We do not have many reasons to think otherwise.
... and even that is ignoring the fact that Rockstar has multiple studios.
I haven't gotten a chance to play MaxPayne3 yet, but it looks like they've improve a lot on the shooting mechanics, so hopefully that makes an appearence in GTAV.
hopefully max payne 3 on pc will change that
gtaiv on pc with a few mods, thats something, graphically at least, next gen consoles won't do
gtaiv on any platform is an amazing social critiqe, and the bredth and depth of the world only rivaled by skyrim/oblivion/morrowind
red dead was a great game, beautiful, atmospheric, but, it was ultimately shallow compared to gtaiv
Red Dead, while i didn't like the story had brilliant gameplay.
especially from a PC fanboy.
Honestly, I was not very excited going into Max Payne 3, but I bought it because it was R* and I trust them. After playing through the Singleplayer, I can say WITHOUT A DOUBT that this is my FAVORITE ROCKSTAR GAME to date and I've played them all.
Story - 10/10 Shit gets real. Not predictable. Keeps you hooked. Protagonist isn't some fancy pants do-gooder. A real guy with real flaws makes for a much more interesting story.
Dialogue - 10/10 Is actually funny. You'll want to listen to every word.
Music/Sound - 10/10 Excellent music and ambient music throughout the game. Variety of sound options with surround settups/headphones etc. Sounds Amazing on Astro A40s. Hear where your enemies are coming from.
Graphics - 10/10 Looks as beautiful as RDR and LA Noire and better in a few places because it's not open world and they can spend more time and energy on details. The best part is that it doesn't feel linear either. The action pushes the game forward constantly and you enjoy every fucking second of the ride. You don't feel like its a hassle to finish the game. I've played games like that. This isn't one of those whatsoever. I was Blown Away in every chapter.
Environments - 10/10 Fucking goregous. Sao Paulo. Wow. THe game does an excellent job of shifting your environment to mix things up too because the story is told Quentin Tarantino style (which I fucking love because it keeps you engaged and thinking).
Environmental/Character Detail - 10/10 Papers flying, Windows breaking, prostitues boobs jiggling and countless other details that add to realism
Action- 10/10 On par with Uncharted 3 (which is a huge fucking compliment). So far I've played 13/17 chapters and it hasn't topped the Plane Sequence in my opinion, but overall it has more frequent moments that make you say OH SHIT that are just as good as Uncharted if not better in a few spots. The transitions between cutscenes and gameplay make you feel like a total badass when you get control.
Please stop wasting your precious time reading this and go buy the fucking game. You will not be disappointed.
LA Noire was flawed but still a masterpiece IMO.. Haven't played Max Payne 3 yet, but it seems to be receiveing great reviews. I don't think GTA V will let fans of the series down. The fans that abandoned the series because the dark and more mature and realistic tone of GTA IV didn't appeal to them, might not come back for GTA V, but they have 3 fantastic Saints Row games to play if they want that "classic" GTA III/Vice City/San Andreas cartoony action.
I don't think R* have peaked at all.. with each 3rd person action release this gen, they have consistently pushed boundaries in terms of gameplay, narrative delivery, and graphics.
This articles beggars belief.
'While their games are enjoyable and memorable, I personally feel that Rockstar peaked with Red Dead Redemption. I doubt we'll ever see the studio combine gameplay, story and general feel that well ever again.'
Yeah, go you with your crystal ball.
Silly article.
N4G is littered with opinion pieces like this.
Also, for anyone disagreeing that Max Payne 3 is a stellar game you're either A) Too young to even know what Max Payne is B) Compare everything to an open world environment like RDR or GTA 4. Most fall into category B, and the fact they say it's lackluster and most review sites are scoring it 9 and above...clearly your opinion is sucking donkey anus.
I've played the original Max Paynes and Rockstar's rendition is keeping it in line with the originals. It closely resembles the first 2 games and I think that's the point.
Red Dead Redemption is a Rockstar IP while Max Payne was originally done by Remedy, so in a way, Rockstar had to follow what Remedy did or they would piss off the original series fan base.
At first I didn't like Max Payne 3... I have to admit, but then once I figured out how to play without dying every 5 seconds, it became a totally different game to me and I found myself playing and losing track of the time. I don't usually stay focused on a game so much that I lose track of time, so that must mean something.
I just played the first few parts in Favela and the game is really starting to pick up. I also really enjoyed the boat sequence.
One more thing... when I was walking through Favela, I kinda had the feeling that Rockstar stole the whole "cinematic interactive walking through a village" thing from Uncharted 2 and 3. That's totally an Uncharted thing and it seems like Rockstar tried duplicating it. That's just how I feel.
For the record, GTA IV and RDR are by far my two favorite games of this gen, so I have VERY high expectations.
I personally really enjoyed the first 2, so it was cool for this one to finally come out. I'm glad they've shown they can do other things besides GTA.
I also hope that if Rockstar does a sequel or anything that's close to L.A. Noire, despite severing ties with Team Bondi, I hope they add more replay value. I thought it was a great game, somewhat repetitive but it was new...I just couldn't bring myself to play it again.
On a side note, does anyone remember Smuggler's Run on PS2?
single player and multiplayer are awesome
Thats like saying Ferrari "peaked" at the 458, when in reality, the engineers are continually refining and evolving.
we thought we knew what to expect with San Andreas and that totally blew us out the water..
i still say GTA4 was a tech demo to see what they could do and just wet our appetite..while the following downloadable content was just a "see..we could do this all day with our fingers tied behind our backs"...
Red Dead Redemption was there love child of awesomeness..
GTA5 will be their magnum opus this generation..
Then when they put their effort into it, there games are extremely hard to pass up. Max Payne, GTA, LA Noire etc...You could say they hit a peak after every major release. But they had me back when they made GTA and Smugglers Run.