Hello! I’m back!
Did you miss me? Thought not. This has been probably the longest break in the glorious history of Pattaya Days and nobody gives a shit, least of all me. Because I have just spent a few days in America.
Very nice it was too. Spent most of my time in the open plains in the area that used to be the wild west. Stunning scenery, amazing sunrises and sunsets, and populated with interesting characters. Also had a chance to pop down to Mexico for a while.
Took some getting used to, but I learned to ride a horse and rode for miles across open country. Went hunting and shot some wildlife, herded cattle, played poker in an old saloon; very much the cowboy experience.
But I have to admit that I killed some people. They all deserved it mind you, but the body count was alarmingly high at times. But then you rather expect that from Rockstar Games.
Yes, I have been busy with Red Dead Redemption, a cowboy game from the people who brought us Grand Theft Auto. Grand Theft Auto 4 is one of the great games of all time, and not just because my son has his name in the credits. If I may quote myself, and I can:
GTA4 is an intelligent, beautifully crafted and continuously amusing offering of integrated art. It’s the integration of all the components which impressed me most. The key aspects of modern life brought together in a seamless satire which entertains, surprises and elicits admiration for hours on end.
Red Dead Redemption is similar in many ways to GTA4. Although we have swapped the urban grittiness of GTA for the vast landscapes of the old west, the structure of the game remains the same. There is much to do, including is a storyline with missions to be accomplished. This is extremely well done, with well-developed characters and lengthy cut-scenes to move the narrative along.
You are John Marston, an ex-member of a gang who has gone straight and settled down with a wife and child. Along comes the government to stir up your past and you are forced to go out on the trail to hunt down the remaining members of the gang. Your search takes you from the wild west, across the border to Mexico, and then finally north where the towns are more civilised and grizzly bears roam the forests around the snow covered peaks, just waiting to eat your horse and then you. It’s a well-told story with an excellent ending, an ending that leaves you free to go and explore the rest of the world.
As with GTA4, completing the story is only about 70% of the game. Along the way, there are plenty of other things to do. There are side missions where you hunt down wanted criminals, you can pick different flowers to gain status (they should call it the Brokeback Mountain badge), hunt a wide assortment of wildlife, respond to requests from people you meet on the trail; hours of cowboy fun await you.
Or rather, it doesn’t. Because Red Dead Redemption is not that much fun. The main problem is that the storyline is based on doing good. Sure, you can go a little wild and rob a bank, and then run away from the sheriff; but John Marston is essentially a moral man, surviving in a dangerous world and just trying to get back to his family. John’s lodgings tend to be a room in a saloon, where scantily clad girls vie for custom. But John is having none of that because he has a wife back home. One of the characters in the game is clearly showing interest, but John has a wife back home. When he shoots someone and loots their pockets, he apologises. And then he has this thing about picking wild flowers. John may go on to massacre most of the population of Mexico; but I do wish he would just fucking lighten up a bit. Geez.
Here’s the worst I can say about Red Dead Redemption: nobody is going to complain about it. Compare with Grand Theft Auto, where every release is accompanied by a chorus of complaints from self-serving moralists who complain about the violence, the language, the sex and the sheer up-yours anti-establishment vigour that pervades the game. That’s what I love about GTA, the certain knowledge that it’s pissing people off.
I enjoyed Red Dead Redemption; but once I had spent the thirty hours required to finish the main story, I didn’t feel particularly inclined to continue. Didn’t try the multi-player though, that might be fun. As for me, I want to get back to the world of foul-mouthed gangsters who shoot policemen, have sex with prostitutes, mow down pedestrians in stolen cars and wouldn’t even look at a flower unless it could be transformed into something you could inject. Now that’s a life worth living.
Comments 🔗
2010-08-22| biggrtiggr says‘I want to get back to the world of foul-mouthed gangsters who shoot policemen, have sex with prostitutes, mow down pedestrians in stolen cars and wouldn’t even look at a flower unless it could be transformed into something you could inject’
…………. sounds pretty much like where you live!!!!
2010-08-22| genuinej saysOf course we’ve missed you. Well, I have at least. Returning to our minor skirmish regarding re-naming to “Pattaya Somedays”, despite Billy’s support of your case, and despite my appreciation that inspiration is not always to hand, the evidence of falling output is clearly there. 88 fewer posts from Feb 2010 to date than 2009. I hope it’s not connected to creme eggs. You may have to settle for Cadbury’s flakes in Nov.
2010-08-23| farang_jai_dee saysYou where gone? I wondered why I kept on reading the same post day in and day out! Welcome Back! (seriously)
2010-08-23| Spike saysbiggrtiggr, your ip indicates you are residing somewhere near Milton Keynes. I wouldn’t swap location.
genuinej, I only write when I feel the urge which, like many things, seems to arise less frequently than it used to. One day I will just stop.
farang-jai dee, I missed you too.
2010-08-23| Mike saysWas just wondering if you made your way to the Bira Raceway last Sunday? Cost only 50 baht to see some really cool cars and motorcycles racing. I was hoping you had some pictures to share - now I see you were playing games :-)
2010-08-23| Spike saysMike, there was a plan to go and fix a video to a race car; but it never happened.
2010-08-23| biggrtiggr saysNo, not Millstone Keynes………. Wyre Piddle actually, much more agreeable……. but I take your point!!!
2010-08-24| Spike saysI take it back, I would love to live in a place called Wyre Piddle. Looks really beautiful too. All it needs is a few gangsters to liven it up. They could call themselves the Wyre Piddle Crew and conduct raids to steal cosmetics from the Vanilla beauty salon.