Red Dead Redemption [Archive] - The Warring States of NPF

Arcanum

05-19-2010, 01:52 AM

I've been playing this game for most of today. Gotta say I love every bit of it. I also spent an hour playing Texas Hold 'Em, I was determined to be the last one at the table, which I was. And then I discovered Dirty Dice, and now I'm a very rich man. Also, if I didn't have the Duster outfit then I might look into getting new outfits and seeing how they look. However I do have the Duster outfit, and there isn't much more that I could want (except that second outfit that has the duster silhouette).

Also my XBL Gamertag is Hyperion MBD, so feel free to add me if you wanna posse up. Azisien I'll send you a friend request next time I'm on my 360.

Edit -- The one nitpick I have though is that there's no decent music while riding your horse. Now don't get me wrong, I was enjoying the ambient music and long stretches of silence, up until I first got into Mexico. At that point an awesome song starts up (it had lyrics too) as you ride along the edge of a cliff next to the river, and everything else gets a little quieter so you can better hear the music. I loved the whole scene but unfortunately the music stopped the instant I got off my horse, and I just wish there was some way I could get it back.

Azisien

05-19-2010, 12:49 PM

Just make sure to leave a note on if you're from NPF or not if you try to add me to XBL. I sometimes get random 9 year olds from Halo (which I don't even play) trying to add me. Alternatively, I guess I'll figure it out if your tag is similar to NPF user name.

I am really enjoying the game, though I'm accumulating a few little nitpicks. I'm not overly happy with the collision physics in the game. I guess I'm a bit spoiled but everything collision in GTAIV was awesome. In RDR it seems like if I run into a rock with my horse, the horse just teleports on top of it and wigs out a bit. I've seen a few people get teleported like 300 feet in the air in a random bug I hope they patch that one.

I was wrangling horses and I wasn't able to get clothes-lined by the ropes we used to drag the broken horses back to stable. All slight disappointments, considering so much has been invested in like, ragdoll and such.

Arcanum

05-19-2010, 01:53 PM

So free roam with a bunch of random people is a total mess. First off nobody ever forms a posse, or wants to join a posse. They all seem content with just running around shooting each other, but whenever someone tries to initiate an FFA game nobody seems to join. Also, 90% of the time we're shooting at each other with invisible weapons because the guns never ever load. Actual versus matches don't have this problem though, which is good.

Also, earlier today I was playing a free roam in Blackwater, which I don't have unlocked in the Single Player yet, and I wanted to go explore the hills. So I started to ride away and then all of a sudden me and my horse turn invisible, and stayed like that for a good 30 seconds.

So yeah there's some loading issues with the free roam, at least on the 360.

Azisien

05-19-2010, 02:26 PM

Some connection issues too. Had a posse going with some friends last night and one by one we all got booted.

And when I say booted, I mean it reset our modems.

Yumil

05-19-2010, 04:36 PM

My gamertag is Yumil

My major nitpick is that when you are disconnected off the multiplayer it throws you straight into single player. So I have to see a loading screen or 2 more than I would of if it thrown me to the menu and I load up multiplayer again, it's rather annoying.

DFM

05-19-2010, 05:03 PM

Why the fuck is everyone saying five finger fillet is easy it is hard as shit and it's pissing me off I don't even know what's going on.

Azisien

05-19-2010, 05:14 PM

It's probably a volume issue for multiplayer. Same thing happened to GTAIV. They sorted it out within a week or two.

Solid Snake

05-19-2010, 07:34 PM

I just decided this would be my eighth and final game purchase for my new PS3.
...Just ran out and bought it. Will be trying it out later tonight. At one point or another, every PS3 user here at NPF who owns this game is going to join a multiplayer experience and it will be awesome.

krogothwolf

05-19-2010, 07:37 PM

Yes! Another PS3 owner huzzah!

Solid Snake

05-20-2010, 01:21 PM

Hah hah hah...

So the day after I purchase Red Dead Redemption I go to put it in my PS3 for the very first time and it slips out of my hand and drops about two feet.
Now there's a small nick (not really a scratch, moreso a discoloration) on a small portion of the disc. Hopefully PS3 games are as durable as PS2 games in that regard -- I own a few scratched PS3 games that still play quite well. So far, I'm a few missions into RDR single player and I haven't run into any problems.

DFM

05-20-2010, 01:58 PM

I've found that I am very bad at cheating but I've gotten very good at dueling.

These things may be related.

Arcanum

05-20-2010, 02:24 PM

To be fair cheating is hard. I killed off my entire poker table while trying to learn, then decided to go do something else.

Also, I just found out yesterday that the $200 game of liar's dice was only available once while I was doing a quest for a stranger. Now it's only measly $20 games. I miss those $600 pots.

Also I fought off a pack of 30 or so wolves, then skinned them all. Made like $500 when I sold their fur, meat, and about 13 hearts. I love Mexico.

DFM

05-20-2010, 03:14 PM

Yeah, everyone at my table must be retarded because if a dude gets caught cheating, is challenged to a duel, then there's what sounds like three seconds of machinegun fire coming from the streets, and cheater walks back in and gets caught cheating again, I can't think of anyone who's reaction would be to challenge him to a duel.

Especially the fifth time.

Spoilers for the "American Appetites" quest: I always fail what I assume is the last one because I always shoot the dude with the torn up leg I'm like "You fucker I know it's you" I can't not shoot him.

Arcanum

05-21-2010, 03:05 AM

For "American Appetites" : Just go do what he says. Once you do that then you get the choice to walk away or shoot him (or hogtie him if you feel like being a nice guy [or hogtie him and then shoot him if you feel like being a bad dude {or hogtie him, put him on a horse, then find a cliff and ride straight at it, then jump off the horse at the last second, if you feel like giving him what he deserves. Also try to find a cliff that has coyotes at the base}])

Oh and I saw a bear attack a ram. The bear won. Shortly after I killed that bear and skinned both the animals I saw a cougar attack another ram. The cougar won.

I also learned that high powered rifles make beavers (and other small mammals) explode. Literally.

edit -- oh and I guess they fixed the multiplayer issues. (http://ca.kotaku.com/5544100/rockstar-patches-red-dead-redemption-invisibility-glitch)

Carade

05-21-2010, 10:03 PM

My preference is to Hogtie him, put him on the nearest train tracks and wait for it to come you need the patience of a saint, but it is god damned worth it.

DFM

05-22-2010, 12:44 AM

Once you get the hand of the mini-games they're actually all pretty fun. I wasted an hour or so just playing poker.

(Five Finger Fillet is still stupid though)

I also learned that high powered rifles make beavers (and other small mammals) explode.

I shot a bird with the bolt action and just sort of stared at the puff of feathers drifting slowly across the setting Mexican sun.

Meister

05-22-2010, 02:55 PM

The cougar won.
Cougars are completely bullshit animals, I hope they all die and will be actively working towards that goal.

my beautiful horse :(

I also have an irresistible urge to shoot as many people as I can in the nuts. Just to give the "stories spreading about you" aspect a bit of an individual spin, I suppose. The idea of justice is nice and all but I mainly want the cattle rustlers and horse stealers to live in fear because they know somewhere out there there's a man called John Marston and if he doesn't like what you're doing he's going to shoot you in the bollocks.

Arcanum

05-22-2010, 05:53 PM

I recommend investing in a horse deed, a good one (I personally bought the Kentucky Saddler for $750). That way whenever your horse dies you just pop open your kit, select the horse deed and press A, and you have a good horse again. And you can use the deed as many times as you want.

Also if you want to gain some levels fast online, just run the Pike's Basin hideout solo a few times. You get easily 2k per run, which is the highest among all the hideouts, and it only takes about 5 minutes.

And now for a rant:

So the ending is kind of a let down. Massive end-game spoilers: So after you kill Dutch you go back to your family, and then you have to do about 6 or 7 missions where you go get some cattle from the MacFarlane's, then teach your kid to hunt, then go find some wolves, then bring the cows out to pasture, then go back to the MacFarlane's to deliver some corn, then shoot some crows, then tame some horses, and it's just so goddamn boring. I mean, sure maybe that's what they wanted to do, to show you that a normal life after a crazy adventure is boring as hell, but still the pacing of the whole game just grinds to a halt.

And on top of that they throw a new character, this "Uncle" out of left field, and I don't even know why I'm supposed to care about this bitter old man. At first I thought he might be important, that they might reveal something, but nope, he dies in the last mission and I still don't care about him.

And to top it all off, at the very end John gets killed. Now I thought that that was an interesting way to end the game, and I liked how it played out. What bothers me is the post-final-mission sandbox. You play as Jack, John's son, about 4 years later. Now this is all fine and dandy except that I hate Jack's voice, and I hate the way he looks. After playing 30 or so hours as John, the switch just doesn't jive well with me.

Luckily I have a save right before the final mission so I can keep playing as John.
edit-- Goddammit! I can't change my clothes as John. This is very upsetting.

/rant

Yumil

05-22-2010, 11:37 PM

Spoilerish Rant
To be fair, Uncle wasn't really a new character per say, since he was mentioned heavily in dialog talking about his farm back home. Heck, John mentions, on the ride to the fort at the start of the game, that he left Uncle running his farm and he was in a hurry since he was sure Uncle didn't know what he was doing.

Revising Ocelot

05-24-2010, 09:20 AM

Someone pointed me to this video of Cougar Man. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVVXyKP1FVk) I am lamenting my lack of a next-gen console more than ever.

Meister

05-24-2010, 10:23 AM

horse deed
I did not know that! Very handy, thanks. Of course the first time I used it after a cougar killed another horse the cougar immediately came back and killed the deed horse as well. Cougars :argh:

Jagos

05-24-2010, 10:31 AM

Damn Meister. You love your cougars.

Raiden

05-24-2010, 10:55 AM

*spoiler rant*

Dude, the game's not over until you see the credits. Trust me. Take Jack over to Blackwater and get started on the last Stranger quest of the game. It's worth it and makes you feel a lot better.

DFM

05-24-2010, 12:44 PM

I did not know that! Very handy, thanks. Of course the first time I used it after a cougar killed another horse the cougar immediately came back and killed the deed horse as well. Cougars :argh:

I was out hunting and was sneaking up on a boar who was acting all shifty like and as soon as I raise my rifle I hear that fucking cougar yowl and one flies out of nowhere and knocks me on my ass. Marston is all "FILTH CRITTER!" as he rolls on the ground and the cougar runs away. I start getting up and then the boar slams into my head at full speed and I died.

Viridis

05-24-2010, 01:58 PM

Someone pointed me to this video of Cougar Man. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVVXyKP1FVk) I am lamenting my lack of a next-gen console more than ever.This game seems to bug out a lot (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7q7v4F8r9Og). A lot (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFoMvLmfFEY).
The game became self aware and realized it wanted to make things even more interesting.
Either that or one of the strangers I helped was Dr. Moroe.

Anyone encounter anything like this?

Wigmund

05-24-2010, 02:05 PM

This game seems to bug out a lot (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7q7v4F8r9Og). A lot (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFoMvLmfFEY).

But the bugs seem to be awesome. A crazed man who bolts around on his knees and attacks by slamming his crotch into you while screaming like a cougar and a horse-faced woman who is actually a donkey are things I have to find once I get this game. Oh god, flying Mexican gunslinging dog makes me want to screw over my rent just so I can find him and name him George.

Meister

05-24-2010, 02:05 PM

Not like this but I did at various points see a few crates floating in mid-air above a road (some riders actually got caught on them), a large rock with a horse's ass sticking out of it, and in one mission the game didn't spawn my horse so I got on my companion's horse by mistake, as it looked almost exactly like mine, and was very confused why the game would prompt me to "get on my mount" and why the guy wouldn't move from where he was. Had to fail and restart the mission to get things right.

e: the donkey woman works amazingly well for what I assume is just the wrong model / properties loaded. This should be a cheat.

Arcanum

05-24-2010, 03:52 PM

Dude, the game's not over until you see the credits. Trust me. Take Jack over to Blackwater and get started on the last Stranger quest of the game. It's worth it and makes you feel a lot better.

Yeah I did that after I ranted. And now that I've been playing as Jack for a while I've learned to tolerate him.

And in regards to the horse deeds, yeah I didn't get one until over half way into the game, because I thought I would only be buying a single horse, and at the rate I was going through horses it didn't seem like it was worth it. Then I just decided "eh what the hell" and discovered the deeds were reusable.

the donkey woman works amazingly well for what I assume is just the wrong model / properties loaded. This should be a cheat.

I second this.

Meister

05-26-2010, 11:23 AM

Looks like this weekend there's going to be a 30 minute RDR animated film on Fox. It's directed by John Hillcoat, who has also directed The Proposition, a Western set in Australia in which an outlaw has to track down his brother or the law is going to execute his other brother. Pretty good movie (and, as a fun fact, it was written by Nick Cave). I hope I'll be able find this streaming somewhere.

Azisien

05-26-2010, 11:25 AM

If you find it, please link!

Meister

05-26-2010, 11:59 AM

Will do! (If it's not on a specifically pirating site.)

Meanwhile, I'm pretty sure I actually liked the way Dead Eye on level 2 worked better than on level 3. It's really hard sometimes to spot enemies that are shooting at you from very far away, and automatic shot placement helped a lot with that. :/

Arcanum

05-26-2010, 11:37 PM

I agree. While level 3 is good for challenges and precision stuff (damn you "disarming 6 people without reloading or switching guns" challenge!) level 2 was easier and faster to use. I'm glad the multiplayer uses level 2 though (minus the slowdown of course).

edit/repost: Here's a trailer (http://xbox360.ign.com/dor/objects/14320288/red-dead-redemption/videos/reddead_trl_hillcoasttrailer_52510.html) for that short film. Looks like a trailer for the actual game to me.

krogothwolf

05-27-2010, 12:39 AM

Dead Eye level 2? and 3? huh? how is there multiple levels of dead eye

Arcanum

05-27-2010, 01:02 AM

Dead Eye Level 1: What you start with, slows down time and you shoot normally.
Dead Eye Level 2: Slows down time, let's you "paint" Xs on targets by moving your targeting reticule over them. Once you press the trigger you then shoot all the marked spots in rapid succession, turning your revolver or repeater into a machine gun.
Dead Eye Level 3: Let's you manually mark targets by pushing a button instead of auto targeting them.

You get a new level of dead eye at certain points in the campaign (I know you get level 3 shortly after entering Mexico, but I forget when you get level 2). And once you advance a level you can't go back to previous levels.

Carade

05-27-2010, 01:27 AM

West Dickens gives you level 2 in one of his missions.

Meister

05-27-2010, 03:58 AM

It would have been great if, in addition to pushing the button to tag targets, you could've held it down to auto-target.

Osterbaum

05-27-2010, 04:28 AM

I want a PC version. NOW!

Bob The Mercenary

05-27-2010, 06:25 AM

I've had the game for about a week and a half now. It's my new drug to replace Saints Row and GTA. Everything I was going to say about it has already been said.

-Incredible scenery
-Easy controls similar to GTA
-Texas Hold'em has taken control of my life
-Fuck cougars

I love just wandering around the countryside and finding the random sidequests and question marks to do. That and massacring an entire town ten times over, then moving to the next town and Dead Eying a random person a dozen times all over his body.

Still haven't tried multiplayer. By all means, add me.

krogothwolf

05-27-2010, 09:45 AM

I am Horrible at dueling, the only way I can win is to seemingly blow the guys head off. Can't disarm or anything, just blow the fuckers head off.

Melfice

05-27-2010, 09:59 AM

I am Horrible at dueling, the only way I can win is to seemingly blow the guys head off. Can't disarm or anything, just blow the fuckers head off.

Aiming at the hand or even the arm should be enough to disarm your opponent.

krogothwolf

05-27-2010, 10:22 AM

Every time I try I screw up and die, it makes me sad. So I just blow people's heads off now, it's easier!

Melfice

05-27-2010, 02:11 PM

That certainly works too, of course!

Meister

05-31-2010, 03:58 PM

Finally got out of Mexico. And was forcefully reminded that I'm back in a land where cougars exist. I'm getting better with them though.

I still enjoy it a lot but even so this game carries on a bit too long for its own good. Not so much in the main story, but the minor flaws every game has are accumulating to a point where they become notably annoying. I don't think I can bring myself to go out of my way to save one more lynch mob victim or fend off the 50th ambush with a helpless woman as bait (to Rockstar's credit, they keep introducing new random events even now, which helps).

Also I've been trying for Spurred to Victory as best as I could and made sure to look the other way when I so much as saw a hitching post and then I rode into Chuparosa and saved and I guess during those six hours my horse caught terminal horse cancer offscreen, keeled over and was shipped to Barnum's Salami & Glue Manufacture within the minute, so after saving I found myself with a brand new one. That settled that matter. Can't have been more than one mission away, either.:argh:

krogothwolf

05-31-2010, 04:09 PM

Spurred to VIctory seem's like a goofy choice for a Achievement/Trophy. Consider I've had my horse killed by cougars and wolves when just standing around. I even got off my horse during a fight once and it walked in the middle of it and got shot to death. So yeah, I didn't even try for that stupid one.

Solid Snake

05-31-2010, 04:29 PM

Hysterically enough, I got Spurred to Victory without even trying. I got attached to the fast golden Kentucky horse you get from the rancher chick, so much so that I restarted the game from my most recent save every time it died.
I even somehow managed to call that lovely horse into Mexico (despite the fact that it wasn't on the raft with Irish and I.)

Then I randomly got the "Spurred to Victory" achievement. Heh, nice.

(Of course if my PS3 has truly bugged out I may have to replay the entire game all over again...)

krogothwolf

05-31-2010, 04:31 PM

You don't need to restart it if the horse dies, the deed for the horses never disappear and are reusable so everytime it died I just reused my deed.

Solid Snake

05-31-2010, 04:32 PM

You don't need to restart it if the horse dies, the deed for the horses never disappear and are reusable so everytime it died I just reused my deed.

Right, but y'see, I don't even own the deed. I'm too cheap to spend money on that. I just happen to own the same damned horse I got from whats-her-name way back in that early story mission. Whenever it's died, I've restarted the game to ensure its continued existence.

Meister

05-31-2010, 05:30 PM

Horse deaths so far:

1. cougar
2. cougar
3. cougar
4. total existence failure while John was asleep
5. when I whistled, spawned on a steep rock above a narrow cliff path I was walking along and tumbled down the rock and over the cliff right in front of me trying to reach me

krogothwolf

05-31-2010, 05:38 PM

Haha, I got you a better one, My horse spawned 20 feet above me and fell on my head killing John! Plus the cougars, I hate cougars.

Nique

06-03-2010, 10:16 AM

Looks like the game overthinker got his new year wish... about a year late.

But it all looks sort of... I guess 'meh' is the right meme... like, "GTA but this time you're robbing trains!" etc. Sandbox style gaming = good, yes, but this looks about as compelling as what is almost certainly to become known as the film DC will always regret, 'Jonah Hex'. Which appears to be a really interesting concept but will most likely make poor (ab)use of western-film cliches rather than paying homage to them.

But it sounds like you guys are having fun with it. Why AREN'T there more western themed games?

krogothwolf

06-03-2010, 10:27 AM

These Horse deaths make no sense, Has anyone else had a horse just walk for a minute the croak? For no reason what's so ever? He wasn't hit by a bullet as I killed Bandito's, and while looting the bodies he walked by me and I stared at him as he just keeled over and died.

Hehe, I also totally ran him head first into a train, Horse died and I survived.

Is there a way to jump on the train from off the horse? I've always had to get off the horse and jump on while it's moving.

Meister

06-03-2010, 10:37 AM

Ride up to the engine or the tender car pretty close and you should get a prompt to "press X to jump on the train."

Mr.Bookworm

06-03-2010, 10:40 AM

Is there a way to jump on the train from off the horse? I've always had to get off the horse and jump on while it's moving.

There are a few spots on the train where if you pull up beside it, you get a prompt to jump on.

Also, I found the path to easy money. Go get the Stranger mission from the filmmaker in Armadillo, then go to the bar in Thieves' Landing. For the mission, the Liar's Dice table becomes high-stakes, with a $200 ante and a 600$ reward for winning. The trick is, even after you win the deed you need to get for the quest off of one of the guys, you can still keep playing, so if you're good Liar's Dice, you can make a metric fuckton of money. When I got bored of playing dice last night, I had like $6,000, and I could have kept going.

Nique

06-03-2010, 11:13 AM

These Horse deaths make no sense, Has anyone else had a horse just walk for a minute the croak? For no reason what's so ever? He wasn't hit by a bullet as I killed Bandito's, and while looting the bodies he walked by me and I stared at him as he just keeled over and died.

There is something hilarious about that and it improves my impression of this game by about, let's say a giga-jillion points. Because, man, if random Horse death is simply built into the game but NEVER mentioned in the manual or tutorial, that is a hella-good prank. If it's just a random glitch, well, that's pretty funny too.

krogothwolf

06-03-2010, 11:13 AM

I already have more money then I know what to do with. Got the More then a Fistfull like right after getting to Mexico. So, yeah, money is way to easy to come by in this game.

I never got the X thing, so I just got off and jumped on since I got tired of trying to figure that out, do'h.

Meister

06-03-2010, 11:19 AM

krogothwolf

06-03-2010, 11:33 AM

So, we were goofing around on at my friends house and decided to kill some buffalo....apparently we killed the last buffalo. It was shocking when we got the Trophy about that. I thought it was a nice touch to only have so many buffalo in the game.

Also, anyone know where the hell Foxes are in this damn game?

Marc v4.0

06-03-2010, 01:27 PM

Rode up into Tall Trees the other day and apparently the common grizzly is well known for living in packs. It was incredible. I was literally standing on a pile of dead bears and every time I'd skinned one, another would have popped up in the distance. They got me eventually but I completed the Bearly Legal achievement right then and there.

Bonus: I did it after the last mission. Gave me a chuckle.

This always happens to me, but instead of one more Bear showing up, it is two bears, then after a wave of twos they switch to threes.

Last time I was there it started again and I decided to cut my losses and make a run for it. When I decided to stop and take a shot at the bastard, I turnewd and found 6 bears behind me.

On random Horse death: Maybe they're getting shot or bitten or something and then bleeding out? I've clipped Wolves and Cougars before and watched them kill over in the distance as they flee, and figured they bled to death.

Toastburner B

06-08-2010, 12:08 AM

You what is worst than cougars?

Cougars who use a wolf pack as a distraction!

Seriously, I was shooting at a pack of wolves that was following me, and all I see is a blur and my horse dies. At first I thought it was a wolf, until it streaks past me again. "Oh crap," I think to myself, "it's a cougar. I have heard about cougars in this game. Where did it go?"

Then it runs up behind me and kills me.

Cougars. They are the ninjas of the old west.

Bob The Mercenary

06-08-2010, 12:41 AM

Just wait until the Master Hunter things you have to do in multiplayer. First, you have to kill a legendary wolf, then a legendary boar, then a legendary cougar. All of whom only appear once you have committed genocide on their respective species for a long enough kill streak. Then the legendary has about five times the hit points. I put six headshots into the cougar with my Springfield and he still managed to down my horse, then me.

Daimo Mac, The Blue Light of Hope

06-08-2010, 12:50 AM

You what is worst than cougars?

Cougars who use a wolf pack as a distraction!

Did they steal that from the Simpsons?

Meister

06-09-2010, 03:00 AM

7426

As if it wasn't cruel enough already. Swear she just happened to get laid down in that position.

Just about running out of things to do in single player. Probably about time I gave this multiplayer a proper shot. Sir Henry Beer on Live. (May not talk much. Drop me a line so I know broadly who you are, if you'd be so kind.)

e:
If you find it, please link!
Took a while but here it is. (http://uk.xbox360.ign.com/dor/objects/14320288/red-dead-redemption/videos/reddead_spc_shortfilm_full.html)

Arcanum

06-11-2010, 10:53 PM

I officially got revenge against the cougars. I was riding around in the Great Plains, and shortly after I killed the last of the Buffalo (it's not my fault they are easy targets, and tasty, and 5 gamerscore) I came across a cougar that was just lounging there. It didn't even notice me, let alone murder my horse and then me. So I ride up, hope off my horse, and just as the cougar starts to stand up I stab it with my knife. Now to my surprise, this cougar starts to run away. So I hop back on my horse and start chasing it down. The bastard wouldn't stop running so I pull out my lasso, caught the cougar, then jumped off my horse and finished him off with another knife stab. Most satisfying cougar kill ever.

Krylo

06-11-2010, 11:26 PM

Just beat it. Thoughts:

Beginning: Goddamnit Rockstar, can you please make a fucking free roam game that promises gangsters/cowboys/mobsters/green monkeys shooting people and let us goddamn shoot people within the first hour of the game? See: Mercenaries franchise. THIS IS NOT HARD.

Middle: I'm John Marston and I ride around the world saving whores, complaining about corrupt governments, arguing with Mexican Military Captains, and otherwise trying to make the West and Mexico a better place... so why the FUCK don't I have the option of working with the rebels from the beginning?

End: Argh cliched hero dies at the end bullshit, and no killing Ross with Jack 4 years later didn't make it better. Even when I killed his wife and brother first.

Gameplay was pretty excellent, though. My favorite thing to do ever is to get into a duel, shoot the knees out, then the left arm, and then the right arm. First they stare at the hole in their hand, barely standing, then flop to the ground, roll around franctically until they get onto their stomachs, and then try to drag themselves across the ground with their hands. Onlookers and myself simply watch on until they finally die pathetically.

Also good: killing every single person, especially lawmen, who have seen you commit a crime. Wanted level evaporates.

Though I must admit I never saw a cougar... I kept waiting to be cougar-bushed and it just never happened.