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Red Dead Redemption Analysis Essay

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Critical Analysis of a Game:
Red Dead Redemption
Professor Shawn Graham
Jad Slaibeh
100804020
Submitted: Thursday February 7th 2013

The game I have chosen for my critical analysis is Red Dead Redemption. Red Dead Redemption was made, published, and engineered by a company called Rockstar Games (Rockstar Website). The major distributor of the game is a company who happens to own Rockstar, Take-Two interactive. Being one of the most successful video game developers to date, Rockstar is famous for creating the popular and controversial game series Grand Theft Auto. Rockstar differs very much from other video game developers because they are one of few who have grown and experienced the advancement of video games in …show more content…

I played the game on my Xbox 360 console. To capture the experience of the Wild West, Rockstar consulted some historical experts in the field, along with channelling a lot of time and money into the graphics of the game. According to a New York Times online article, Rockstar spent between 80-100 million dollars on developing the game (Schiesel 2010). I mention this statistic because this comes to show the new era of devotion Rockstar brought to video game production.

In any video game, soundtracks can be an incredible boost in its overall character. The soundtracks in Red Dead Redemption are authentic; it gives the game historical flavour. What I mean by this is you truly get a feeling of the Western experience. Rockstar brought on composers Woody Jackson and Bill Elm. In a behind the scenes video, the composers explain that it is essential for them to “find a balance, paying homage to what was there but also trying to add our stamp to the music” (GamerSpawn, 2010). Another interesting fact they mentioned was the ability for the game to launch certain lines of music to start based on your actions. For example, if you jump on a horse, a bass line rolls in. If the player is in a shootout, the music intensifies. The music helps reinforce the player’s connection with the historic west by creating familiar sounds associated with the Western era.

Before I mention the problem spaces of the game, I would like to continue back to explaining

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