Firstly, SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERSSPOILERSSPOILERS! Including the ending.

Ok, Secondly, I did NOT play RDR. My partner and her brother did. And everything I write in here is from watching their game play.

Press “Read More” at your own risk!

Now that I have those things out of the way, Red Dead Redemption is a great game! And by great I mean amazingly awesome! It’s nice to look at, and it gives you hours of game play. Plus the story line is really amazing.

The side missions can get kind of boring, continuously rescuing the horse, saving the hooker getting attacked, getting the stranded person their wagon back, or seeing the poor man or woman on the side of the road who asks for a ride and tries to steal your horse.

But the actual missions of the game are fun, and so are some the non-monotonous side missions. I do have to say, shooting people never gets old.

As you progress through the game, you get a certain bond for the main character, John Marston. He’s rugged and badass, what’s not to love? It helps that he’s probably the nicest character that Rockstar has come up with. And the fact that he’s fighting to get his family back yanks at your heart strings.

But, I feel, as quickly as you fall in love with John Marston, Rockstar rips him in a terrible ending. He dies. So how do you continue the game in the awesome free roaming game play that Rockstar loves? They give you the next best thing. His son.

And you’re left feeling empty. With no real attachment to the character, you’re left flabbergasted and annoyed at the ending.

What makes it worse, is their way of introducing the character was in some random, boring missions towards the end of the game. It seemed like they wanted you to feel connected to the family before ripping everyone away from you. But, in all honesty, I was confused. The missions were lackluster, you went from kickass Marston to shooting elk with your son. It leaves you missing the days of going into mines and shooting bad guys.

I wanted to make sure it wasn’t just me, as a person observing the game, who was annoyed with the ending. But my partner’s brother also voiced aggravation. And doesn’t have any attachment to the Jack (John’s son) character. He also said he wished he had saved on a different file so he could go back and play as John.

I think that Rockstar made a huge mistake when they waited until the end of the game to introduce the family. Especially since you end up playing as the son. If he had been introduced in the beginning of the game, as a character who doesn’t whine and bitch, you might actually understand that he had been through a lot at the end of the game and taken pity on him rather than being aggravated with him morbid and very boring conversation.

It seemed more like Rockstar wanted you to be able to continue the world, but kill off the main character. Unfortunately, his replacement was one we weren’t thrilled about.

Jack isn’t as interesting as the John character. And since there is no emotional attachment to him, and no missions to get that attachment, it makes the continuation of the game uninteresting. And it seems, only because my partner’s brother is interested in grabbing achievements in single player, that he will continue to play.

Red Dead Redemption flowed well, until the ending. And I was surprised by John Marston’s death, but I would probably stop single player mode after that. At least, for awhile.