timeformime

First, this game is best played with an Xbox controller, so PC purists should be warned that it doesn't work as well with a keyboard. In my opinion, this is true of most of Codemasters' racing games, and racing games in general. But if you do have a controller and an OK pc, you'll be treated to a really finely tuned experience with good graphics, though, as it's a 2008 game, they're a little blurry and not up to Dirt 2/3 standards. The game itself is all about the race, like they said in promos. The handling of every car feels different, and the strength of the game comes from the subtlety of the handling, not a stable of cars. In fact, you don't get a stable of cars. But that turns out to be a good thing, because it forces you to focus on mastering the controls, cornering etc, all for 4+ classes of cars. Muscle and Club GT couldn't feel more different, and you can't get that kind of experience outside of this game on PC, so here's hoping Codies sees fit to come out with a sequel in the next few years. Codies, the silent PC users who love racing games thank you for sticking with our console, because without you our platform's options for racing would be pitiful.

Metacritic users who rate this game below a 5 can **** it, because Skyrim delivers in every possible way for those of you who want to immerse yourself in a fantasy world. Buy it, you will have spent your money as wisely as possible this holiday season.

This is a wonderful game. Its atmosphere and graphics are what grab you at first and make you want to see what it's all about. I've been playing it all weekend, which says something about its ability to **** you in. I haven't been that hooked on a game since I got Oblivion 2 years ago. Let's face it, the market was long overdue for a professional, polished city builder that people could get into and get to love. It's got one flawed and frustrating system and a few other annoyances, but that's understandable since there's a fine line between challenge and broken mechanics - mostly you're just concentrating on dictating effectively and staying in power. Which is an awesome and unique theme that completely captures the feel of a small time dictatorship. As long as you're not afraid of looking up the fine points on the internet, get this game already. It's dirt cheap now, and you'll know you like it if you've played the likes of Caesar or Sim City before. 8.3 overall.

The sound, graphics, and presentation of this game are absolutely fantastic. For aesthetics it gets full credit completely. You can read about those anywhere, so I won't go into detail. Unfortunately, it's a game you have to get into and learn fanatically to have any chance at winning. This would be great if I had to develop a skill set - I go nuts for deep and difficult games, like Demon's Souls for example, that make you concentrate and get better to win. But memorizing tracks is pure tedium, not any kind of creative design choice, and that's all the challenge comes down to. Whether or not you know what's coming up, and if you can run the track perfectly enough for that gold to advance to the next track, which you'll have to memorize in the exact same way. There's no depth at all to the skill, it's just whether or not you know exactly what to do for that particular track. With some leeway and better difficulty options it would have been so much better to me, but as it is it's only for those who want to devote their lives to it for a few weeks. And that's why you haven't heard of it more, because it's impossibly difficult, and who wants to go through that just to win a game?

So, this is one of the best games I've ever played, hands down. It's not the grudgingly good score some give games that are rated well but not quite as enjoyable as expected, nor is it one that I am fanboyish about because I just happened to be in the perfect mood for it one sleepless night. Those games, and we all know there are plenty of examples of each, all have something to improve on. Yet RDR has nothing to improve on, it simply gives us a living, breathing world, and lets us romp around in it like the heroes of westerns would have, but with the self-conscious modernist philosophical twist Rockstar showed more crudely in GTA. The societal commentary is there, but more intelligent and not as nihilistic or snarky as in GTA. Much more consistent message and world all around here. So, the GTA formula is inevitably what this game will be compared to by anyone who ever played Rockstar's stuff since GTA 3. And it's a fair comparison because it's superficially just like GTA, but, unlike GTA, it is quite refined in action. There is no tedious travel because you can quick travel with a minimum amount of downtime, yet you can appreciate the landscape if you wish by just riding toward the sun and seeing where it leads you (try it at sunset, it's pretty and it's fun). The GTA formula could not, IMHO, get much more refined than this, because not only is it convenient, but it encourages you to explore and has a TON of stuff for anyone who wants to go outside the storyline and play around. There are 10 ranks in 4 different categories of various tasks, in hunting, shooting, picking herbs, and treasure hunting. I love all these activites, and it's fun to work on them because they feel so natural in conjunction with running around across the landscape. So rather than rehash what you can read in dozens of professional reviews, I guess I want to say, to clear away all the informational overload, how I react to this game overall, and how it fits into the landscape of gaming these days. This game is more like Oblivion than any other, I believe, because its best character is the world in which everything takes place. Except unlike Oblivion, its polish, detail, and mind-boggling variety will even impress the most pissy, jaded critics. The world has a personality of its own, and there are two basic themes that shine through this entire experience - a rustic nostalgia we all love from the best 50's westerns, and also the kind of serious humanistic character-driven drama we get from the best modern cinema. There are plenty of examples of both in this game, which is one of the biggest reasons that it succeeds so well, that it does not simply flip the bird to everyone the way Grand Theft Auto did. There is depth and maturity in, not only the story, but the whole world and style. This, folks, is a video game world if there ever was one, not just a haphazard collection of missions - so get it already if you have a PS3 or 360 and if you love quality games. And, on a side note, if jaggies bother you in your games you will have to get used to them, especially for the PS3 version, which has quite a bit of aliasing that distorts the otherwise beautiful landscape. Odd since the PS3 is so much more powerful with exclusives. As a PC gamer I am especially picky about graphics, but even compared to many other PS3 games the jaggies are pretty noticeable, and I heard the 360 version's graphics are smoother. To close, I did read about the exploitation of the Rockstar SD employees by executives, and I think it's a travesty - if someday a Rockstar SD employee might read this review, the silent majority of gamers wish you could've been given an extra year to make this game if that meant you could've worked a reasonable work week. To think that the few hundred men and women who made one of the greatest games of our generation had to worry about their labor rights being upheld is simply ridiculous. But in the end we all appreciate your blood, sweat, and tears, and we hope you continue to do more fantastic work in the future. The game speaks for itself.