Red dead just flatout deserves every award it can get. Was John Marston the perfect anti-hero? No.
UNLESS you are a westerns fan...
Take a look back at the westerns of yesteryear and those of you who think Marston was "weak" or didn't fit a character trope obviously didn't grow up truly watching or appreciating the western genre. I'm a HUGE westerns person, my Louis L'Amour novel collection is matched ONLY by my game collection. And when you look at the best movies, from High Noon to Shane to True Grit (the original with Mr. WAYNE, not the new soon to be box office failure with a bunch of hack actors pretending to be good at their craft) you'd see that Rockstar hit the tragic western trope HEAD ON. I'd say it's their BEST game since BULLY, and they should be praised not for just getting the western drama right, but for once again stepping outside the realm of conventional gaming.
Most people would tell you westerns suck. Western GAMES haven't really been that great (Gun IMHO was pretty OK, a start... and Lucasart's OUTLAWS was freaking awesome back in the day.)
But in a year filled to busting with SEQUELS to the same damn kinds of games, more "military styled, cinematic shooters based on modern combat and action movies, all spread lovingly before a brown and boring backdrop made of brown and brownish brown, getting a different change of pace was awesome. I think the game fell a bit short here and there in areas that would have elevated it to "AWESOME" status, such as the ability to craft things from the various animals you slay (or at least be able to cook the meat for health ups or something).
But still, all in all, the game was great.
I think most people assume that Marston's JOURNEY is the actual story, and that is the source of their disappointment, but Marston's quest for redemption was never ABOUT MARSTON. It was about the next generation in a dying west, but how that outlaw spirit can never be allowed to... ah, forget it. If you didn't get it then, no sense in me trying to explain it now.
At any rate, Black Ops won because it was popular, nothing more. The characters weren't standouts to me at all... to be quite honest, Medal of Honor's DUSTY should have been Character of the year if you were looking for a military shooter hero, he had TONS more character than Woods.
But whatever. This is what happens when you let people "vote" on things without having to really consider or explain their decision.
UNLESS you are a westerns fan...
Take a look back at the westerns of yesteryear and those of you who think Marston was "weak" or didn't fit a character trope obviously didn't grow up truly watching or appreciating the western genre. I'm a HUGE westerns person, my Louis L'Amour novel collection is matched ONLY by my game collection. And when you look at the best movies, from High Noon to Shane to True Grit (the original with Mr. WAYNE, not the new soon to be box office failure with a bunch of hack actors pretending to be good at their craft) you'd see that Rockstar hit the tragic western trope HEAD ON. I'd say it's their BEST game since BULLY, and they should be praised not for just getting the western drama right, but for once again stepping outside the realm of conventional gaming.
Most people would tell you westerns suck. Western GAMES haven't really been that great (Gun IMHO was pretty OK, a start... and Lucasart's OUTLAWS was freaking awesome back in the day.)
But in a year filled to busting with SEQUELS to the same damn kinds of games, more "military styled, cinematic shooters based on modern combat and action movies, all spread lovingly before a brown and boring backdrop made of brown and brownish brown, getting a different change of pace was awesome. I think the game fell a bit short here and there in areas that would have elevated it to "AWESOME" status, such as the ability to craft things from the various animals you slay (or at least be able to cook the meat for health ups or something).
But still, all in all, the game was great.
I think most people assume that Marston's JOURNEY is the actual story, and that is the source of their disappointment, but Marston's quest for redemption was never ABOUT MARSTON. It was about the next generation in a dying west, but how that outlaw spirit can never be allowed to... ah, forget it. If you didn't get it then, no sense in me trying to explain it now.
At any rate, Black Ops won because it was popular, nothing more. The characters weren't standouts to me at all... to be quite honest, Medal of Honor's DUSTY should have been Character of the year if you were looking for a military shooter hero, he had TONS more character than Woods.
But whatever. This is what happens when you let people "vote" on things without having to really consider or explain their decision.
