Right, I think I'll post up some initial reactions since I've clocked in a few hours with the game. I won't go into boring stuff you could read in a review like graphics, sound and gameplay, although they are all pretty fantastic. Especially the sound. Instead, I thought I'd write up a few things that have made me chuckle during the course of my playthrough so far. Bear in mind that although I'm playing story missions, I haven't even scratched the surface yet.
Anyway, first of all, the horses in this game are utterly retarded. I'm now on my fifth horse, with my most recent companion drowning itself in a lake. I was in a cabin looking for something, and I peeked out the door to see the splash. It would be frustrating to be losing so many horses, but the truth of the matter is, I actually find it pretty funny. The horse previous to that one died with a little more honour. I decided to take on three wild boars as I'd never seen any in the wild up until that point, and I wanted to kill them and skin them (Yeah, it's a bit brutal, but the variety of wildlife jumping around is amazing, and you can kill them all and skin them to sell their hides for cash cash money y'all) Unfortunately, boars don't much like it when you start shooting them, so I found myself in a confrontation that got my horse killed, and very nearly got me killed too. If it wasn't for a spot of luck, and some first class ducking and diving, I'd have been corpsified along with my steed. I came out OK though, and as well as skinning the three boars, I also skinned my horse.
Now, my second horse was just a WTF moment. I boarded a train at a place called Mercer Station. Got onto the passenger carriage and took my seat. When you do this, the game automatically toggles through camera angles. Obviously though the train was still stationary, as passengers were still boarding. Which was all quite a pleasant scene compared to what I'd been doing previously (Chasing down Bandits who were raping and murdering settlers) when I saw it. The friggin train was parked on my horse!
And this one did kinda smart, cause I'd captured that horse as a wild stallion and tamed it with a mixture of lasso action and manly manliness. I even thought I'd lost it in a moment that had me absolutely pissing myself.
Basically, I was going after a bounty head, and I was riding through the desert. When suddenly, on the hill, I saw the glorious silhouette of the wild horse I knew I had to tame. So I went after it, and tamed it I did. So enamored with the beast was I, that I abandoned the bounty hunt in order to take it back to town to tie it to a hitching post. This basically saves it, and makes it your active horse. So I did. Rode back to town, tied it up, and stared proudly at it whilst noticeably jealous townsfolk looked on in abject misery and soul crushing envy.
So, I resumed my bounty hunting mission, my confidence boosted by my new horsey. I rode out of town with a glint in my eye. On my way to my intended target though, I heard cries of help from just off the road. It was a guy saying;
'Please Mister, can you give me a ride? I wouldn't ask if I wasn't desperate'
Fair enough I thought. We can't all be World Class Horse Tamers. When I stopped to let him on though, the bloody bastard threw me off and jumped on himself. And as he rode away he shouted.
'I've got a better idea! You can walk!'
I wasn't beaten though. I'd shot a few birds right out of the sky already with my rifle, so I could sure as shit take this guy out. As I readied by gun and aimed though, I stood on a bloody rattlesnake and John fell to the ground clutching his leg!
So suffice to say, I was pretty gutted that some dick had just stolen my horse. Fortunately though, after a short period of time, when I whistled for a horse to come to me, it was the same one. Not that it did me any good anyway since it went and got run over by a train.
And my first horse simply perished due to crappy pathfinding. I whistled for it to come over and join me, and instead of crossing a conveniently placed rope bridge, it decided to leap about 20ft to it's death. So the moral of this story is, I won't be getting too attached to any of my horses, since they are absolutely thick as pig shit. It's a shame there isn't a glue factory in the game, otherwise I could make a killing.
There is a lot of ways to make money in the game, though. Probably the most enjoyable one being hunting animals. And like I said, there are a LOT of animals to kill. I've been running around the desert blasting any animal that dare be in my line of sight. I'm talking deer, rabbit, snakes, coyote's, skunks, armadillo's, raccoon's, crows, eagles, boars, something that looked like a sheep. A big horn or something. The only thing that's ever killed me was a cougar or a mountain lion. It fucked me up big time. I thought I could get the drop on it, but it was on me like stink on shit and absolutely wasted me in no time. I've only seen one though, so maybe it would be best just to haul ass next time one appears. If that's at all possible.
I've also had a little flutter with betting. The main one being poker in the back room of the Armadillo saloon. It's alright. Might be better if you can play it online with real people, as playing poker with AI characters isn't particularly fulfilling. Being able to get up from the table and shoot them at point black range with a rifle is though, so it's swings and roundabouts.
Anyway, I realise that this post is getting seriously massive now so I'll just wrap it up by saying that this game is superb. It's the kind of open world sandbox game that I love. One where the massive World actually feels alive. It really does make all the difference. You get the impression as you walk around that the NPC's all have a purpose and are doing something. The World is seriously populated, and the random events add a spice to proceedings that I really like. Like taking out Bandits who ride into town shooting their guns at the people on the street, saving somebody from coyote's or saving a prostitute from being carved up by a cowboy (This is a total nod to Unforgiven)
The NPC's really do feel like part of the World. I was standing outside the Sheriff's office, and I saw a guy playing fetch with a dog. So I walked over and stood beside him. He threw the stick for the dog then turned to me and said;
'Howdy Mister'
And one last thing that really has to be mentioned. The Euphoria Engine is absolutely the best physics engine out there right now. It just makes this game a joy to behold at times. The way characters react is just second to none. I rode through the centre of Armadillo at full speed on my horse, and collided with a guy who was walking down the street. The way he screamed and went flying into the front of a building was hilarious. The best one so far though, was when I was on the train that killed my horse. Obviously, as it was now moving. Now, you can sit in the passenger carriage like a reet square, or you can run around the train like a real cowboy. So I made my way to the back carriage and climbed on to the roof. My intention was to Indiana Jones it to the front of the train, then hopefully take control by throwing the driver off.
So I ran and I jumped and I ran and I jumped. Unfortunately, just as I got to the steam engine (You know, with the coal in the back and what not) I completely misjudged the distance and jumped right off the train. The way John smashed into the ground and rolled over and over looked absolutely fantastic. He even tucked his arms in like he was trying to protect his face.
Really makes me want to jump off more trains.
I'll need to get back on one anyway, as I never did find out if they can be taken control of.
Right. I'm shutting up now.
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