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Red Dead Redemption is the newest sandbox-style game from Rockstar (developers of the Grand Theft Auto series) that now takes place in the Old West.

When you think about it, the antics involved in the GTA series are well suited for life in the old west — in fact, they were probably ideal depending on what side of the law you were on.

I’m not a fan of Westerns, so I had very little interest in this title leading up to release — still, I've been pleasantly surprised by the game.

The story opens in 1911, at the dying end of the Old West, with protagonist John Marston being sent back to New Austin. Marston was previously an outlaw who ran with a rough gang and now the government has taken him from his family to hunt down his old friends. Upon entering New Austin, John confronts his eldest friend, Bill Williamson, and quickly learns that he will need appropriate time and preparation to take these boys down. From this point on you are free to roam the lands of New Austin and begin building a name for yourself and making friends/enemies.

Red Dead Redemption follows the same basic setup as all GTA games: you’re given several people that appear on your map to visit and each one will have a series of missions for you to complete. Along the way you will encounter towns that have everything from general stores and saloons to games like horseshoes and poker.

You can also come in contact with “strangers,” who are people scattered about the map looking for help in various ways. Stranger missions are passive, meaning you can complete them at any time and even ignore them completely if you aren’t interested in continuing. The rewards for stranger missions vary from money to fame but the most interesting reward is that many of the plotlines for these missions are odd and off the wall. Rockstar definitely went out of its way to write in the dark things that existed in the final days of the Old West and they are entertaining, if nothing else. Since you’re currently a bounty hunter, you also have the option to check bounty boards and bring in or kill criminals — the reward is greater for bringing someone in alive, but then so is the challenge of getting them back to the sheriff.

Graphically, this game is a masterpiece, creating some of the best visuals I have seen in a game to date. Not only that, but the whole world is more alive than other sandbox games, including GTA. Rockstar used the Euphoria engine, which allows each computer-controlled character (NPC) to react in lifelike ways. If you slam into someone on the street, they will go toppling to the ground along with a curse and an insult to you. Likewise, if you shoot an enemy in the leg, he’ll go dragging it across the battlefield as he runs from you.

Draw distance suffers a little, I had random moments where the mountains I was approaching would suddenly double in detail, but overall it holds up quite nicely. This game has absolutely no screen tearing or slowdown (which is all too common in the later titles of this console cycle and is, frankly, unacceptable). Sound design is equally amazing with great voice acting from a cast that feels like it could make a movie version of the story. Everything from the subtle sounds of the countryside at night to the grandiose songs that are the background from some of the bigger battles are integrated to perfection. It got to the point where I couldn’t tell if the dog barking in the distance was in the game or in my neighbor’s yard and don’t be surprised if you get fooled by the random flies that buzz around during cutscenes.

If you’ve played a GTA game, you’ll be fine playing Red Dead Redemption right out of the box, but either way the game provides tutorials that can be skipped on everything in the game. Horseback riding took me some time to get used to as it’s a combination of tapping and holding the A (or X on PS3) button and monitoring the horse’s stamina. After a few hours it becomes second nature and you no longer have to think about it. Shooting has taken on the basic third person shooting and cover system we’ve seen in titles like Gears of War and Mass Effect II. This makes the combat, a feature that was always somewhat problematic in Rockstar titles, one of the best aspects of the game and no longer a compromise.

Mini-games like horseshoes or old school stand-offs leave a little be desired, but these are mere supplements to overall feel of the title. I do have some control complaints starting with how your horse moves and feels. Too often am I trying to make a sharp turn or avoid going over a cliff and my horse suddenly makes a counter-intuitive motion that results in major injury or death. You slow your horse down with RB (or R1 on PS3) and it just seems like a weird place to tap so I’m always forgetting what button to push, even later in the game. You do gain the ability to call your horse by simply tapping up on the d-pad, but sometimes your horse is so far away that it takes quite some time to return to you and at times this can result in failing a mission. These are all minor gripes, but they don’t go unnoticed.

Overall Red Dead Redemption has not only gotten me back into Rockstar games (I didn’t much care for GTA IV, although I found the episodes enjoyable) but also piqued my interest in a Western game. The overall combination of impressive storytelling, gorgeous graphics, crisp sound, and solid controls has me completely immersed. This game does not reward achievements/trophies often but unlike most games of this generation, I simply don’t care because I can’t wait to see what happens next. This is not one of those instances where you have to be a fan of Westerns to enjoy it; rather it makes you a fan of at least this western. Without out a doubt, at 15 hours in, I’m thoroughly impressed.

Check back for my full review and rating, which will be posted here once I've finished the game.