I do not like westerns whatsoever. I love the Back to the Future movies but hated the third in the series because it was set in the old west.  I grew up with my dad watching spaghetti  westerns on the weekends and never once did I show an interest in watching them.  For whatever reason the wild west was never an interest of mine so I was not expecting much from Red Dead Redemption. The only reason I borrowed it from a friend was because so many people were talking about it I thought I had to at least give it a try.

Well kiss my grits! I’m so happy I tried RDR because it is easily one of Rockstar’s greatest games. The folks over at Rockstar have such an amazing talent when it comes to storytelling. Every character, whether integral to the story or just a stranger you meet in the desert, is believable. While most game worlds seem to be alive solely because you are there, Red Dead feels like the world continues to live and breathe even after the Xbox 360 is turned off.

The main storyline is the usual fare you find in an open world game but it’s by far the best executed. And while the main story is great, I found even more enjoyment from the stories of strangers I met along my journey. My favorite, for example, was very short and ended with a supernatural twist.

In the end, I have come out with a new appreciation for the western genre. After playing the game I found myself online reading about the United States’ expansion westward, and embarrassingly wanting to buy a cowboy hat and boots. But first, I must acquire a white Albanian horse.  Hi-yo, Silver, away!