I waited at the counter of my local retailer for the midnight release of Red Dead Redemption (and Alan Wake, but on a students budget...one purchase is my limit). I picked up the copy and promptly drove home to kick my friends off the TV and put the disc into the drive. The single player is glorious. The story is a combination of Grand Theft Auto's startlingly realistic, cinematic and slow paced style with old west action and mannerisms. It feels like the wild west is the perfect environment for the world the Rockstar has been trying to make with their Grand Theft Auto series. Now when you break out the pistol and go on a rampage through town, you don't feel like a homicidal maniac gunning through New York, but instead the worst you can be is a crazy outlaw with an itchy trigger finger. The mood is just far more appropriate and really makes the single player stand out as a perfect sandbox world for the player.
Aside from the story though, the graphics look amazing, and the multiplayer sounds amazing from listening to my friends hooting and hollering. Unfortunately I'm restricted by the @#$%tiest internet that a college could provide. I actually think I heard the modem connect one night, like an old dial up connection. So terrible connection aside, the game is great, and the single player will save me while I wait to move to a better connection back home.
Steam was released on the Macintosh computers last week, which is kind of a big deal to some people. Steam, the premiere computer platform that competes with home consoles, is the greatest stride that Apple has made in gaming since the release of Tetris. Or maybe Super Collider.
Finally, today is the final day of the Halo Reach Beta. After two weeks of grueling "testing", which has resulted in hours of "work" put into fine testing the game, I have finished my contribution to this piece of technology, solidifying that I helped someone do something one time. Don't say I didn't do you no favors now, Bungie.
