Legends and Killers Now Available

Courtesy xbox360achievements.org, Red Dead Redemption's Legends and Killers pack is now available, and my completed achievement statistic is out the window.

Despite that upset, I've realized that these achievements are about as easy as they come.  I've already completed half of them (or more).  Now all I need to get a handle on is where the Microsoft points are going to come from.

I love Red Dead Redemption and this pack seems like it'll really revitalize my desire to get back into multiplayer.  Is anyone else planning on heading back out west?  Leave a comment with your GT if you're out there readers.  My Xbox Live gamertag is coolyfooly88.

Red Dead Redemption's Legends and Killers Pack Lands August 10th

I make my love of Red Dead Redemption no secret.  I am not reluctant to spend more time in single player or multiplayer.  Frankly, I think its the best game so far this year, the only possible contender being Mass Effect 2.

What good news that more is on the way!  The first of four planned DLC packs, Legends and Killers, has been detailed and readied for release on August 10th.

What does that mean?  For $10 in your console's brand of funny money, you'll get nine new multiplayer map locations, a new weapon (the tomahawk), and eight characters from that other Red Dead game, Red Dead Revolver.

Not too shabby compared to some other DLC pricing schemes, right?  As much as I question whether or not I really need to pick up this DLC, its been confirmed that new achievements will be thrown in as well.  That pretty much has me sold.  God knows I'll do what I need to do to maintain my completed achievement statistic.

Red Dead Redemption Co-Op Missions available today!

Video Games | Red Dead Redemption | Exclusive Co-op Mission Pack Trailer

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

While I might not have reached a 100% statistic, or even level 50 in Red Dead Redemption's online multiplayer, I'm sure the co-op mission pack will help me reach that second goal. I'm aiming to reach a completed achievement listing on RDR, but haven't had the time I'd like to do so. Hopefully, the co-op missions will aid in that while also adding a handful of extra achievements. Did I mention the DLC was free?

Finishing Red Dead Redemption

First, let me explain that I will not be reviewing Red Dead Redemption for PLAY READ WRITE. I've experienced a ton of the game and I don't need to go over it all again. Let me be frank and say that you should buy and play Red Dead Redemption. I don't need to tell you that it's a terrific game in all aspects and should be experienced first hand. Secondly,

THERE WILL BE SPOILERS

in this post. I don't know how I could avoid SPOILERS in a post titled "Finishing Red Dead Redemption," but I figured someone might come along and still find an excuse to get upset with me for ruining a great ending.

Truthfully, I think RDR's ending works so well because you don't really know when it's going to end. You've been chasing these outlaws for the entire game and them you're left to tend to the farm, drive cattle (ugh!), and ultimately teach Jack how to be a man.

Jack is RDR's legacy, and while Rockstar is plenty sure of connecting you with Marston throughout the campaign, connecting the player with Jack is a little shakier. If spending time with your son, rescuing him, and ultimately sending him to survive a coming storm doesn't prove the "daddening of video games" to be a successful trend, I don't know what will. Whether a player would like to defeat the mob and keep Marston alive is besides the point. How the player feels about taking on the role of Jack is a much more debateable prospect. In its ability to polarize, forcing the player to step into Jack proves its power.

In this way, RDR succeeds in ways a Grand Theft Auto never could. Giving Niko a family outside of Roman would have seemed forced and silly. Part of what made his family so believable was Marston's reluctance to reveal information about them. Perhaps Roman seemed so annoying and forced because the player immediately learns a little too much about him too soon. In a way, Roman works in his vaudevillian antics. While that tactic might work sometimes, a real connection, like that of an immediately family, has to be introduced and built more subtly. The player would reject a constant barrage of "I'm your son!" or "I'm your wife!" and so they would reject caring for these two digital players as well.

Congratulations Rockstar. I've never held your games in higher regard than I have with Red Dead Redemption. The title has trancended any of the immature trappings GTA's history tows along with it in favor of a mature story, marvelous combat, excelled pacing and a breathtaking connection between the player and the world you're involving them in.