Red Dead Redemption is an open world, western action-adventure video game. Set during the decline of the American Frontier in the year 1911, the game follows John Marston, a former outlaw whose wife and son are taken hostage by the government in ransom for his services as a hired gun. Having no other choice, Marston sets out to bring the three members of his former gang to justice. Rockstar Games developed and published the title for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 platforms in May 2010.
Red Dead Redemption is displayed in a third-person perspective in an open world environment. The player interacts with the game world at their leisure and can travel the virtual world, a fictionalized version of the Western United States and Mexico, on foot but primarily by horseback. Gunfights emphasize a gunslinger, bullet time-style gameplay mechanic called "Dead Eye" in which players mark multiple shooting targets on enemies in slow motion. The game uses a morality system that judges the character's honor and fame by their in-game deeds. An online multiplayer mode lets up to 16 players engage in both co-operative and competitive gameplay in a recreation of the single-player setting.
Reviewers lauded Red Dead Redemption upon its release, with praise for its visuals, dynamically-generated music, voice acting, gameplay, and story. It has shipped over 14 million copies and won year-end accolades, including Game of the Year awards from several gaming publications. It is widely considered one of the greatest video games of all time. After the game's release, several downloadable content additions were released, including the standalone Undead Nightmare, which adds a new single-player experience in which Marston searches for a cure for an infectious zombie plague that has swept across the Old West. A Game of the Year Edition containing all additional content was released in October 2011.
Good Topic Nomination for the three subarticles of Red Dead Redemption, a video game whose importance is explained above. Rhain did most of the work here—I just did the downloadable content. Special thanks to the GA reviewers: @Teancum, Jaguar, and ProtoDrake (x2) czar 05:29, 10 August 2016 (UTC)