That's just creepy. The worst bug I've encountered was a near-total control lockup (I could only move the camera).

I think Sun's comment was more of a jab at the visual downgrades, which aren't a big deal in the grand scheme of things. The difference are:

- 360 is full 720p (1280x720) while the PS3 is 1152x640. 2X MSAA and QAA respectively.
- 360 is double buffered sans v-sync so when stressed, it'll tear slightly while the PS3 is triple buffered and v-synced so it slows down instead of tearing when stressed.
- Shadows are missing in further distances on the PS3.
- More foliage on the 360.
- The usual DD 5.1 640kbps on 360 and the PS3 supports LPCM 5.1. I can vouch that there really is no difference with the LPCM option; not volume or quality sadly.
- Extra costume and mission on PS3.

Some comparisons:

http://www.lensoftruth.com/?p=19855

Should this hit the PC, I'm definitely opting for that version.

In a game this size and scope I expected bugs and glitches, but that's not the flaws I were talking about.

And the PS3 version has an extra mission? What mission is added?



I'd already elaborated on a few problems a page or two back. But I'll go into more detail if you want.


Like I said before, it would have been far less frustrating if GTA death system was used. Where you just go to a hospital, instead of reloading your last save. I don't think it works well in an exploration heavy game.

Also since RDR is a sandbox game, lots of travel is going to be involved. Endless travel gets boring quick so the method of travel HAS to be fun and engaging or it will get very monotonous and break the pacing of the game a lot. In GTA the cars all had relatively good controls and physics and it was fun to drive them around weaving through traffic. That made traveling from one side of the map to another bearable in most cases. But the Horses in RDR are much less fun to ride. On many missions I found myself sitting there doing nothing but simply holding X down while my Horse followed someone and steered itself across the entire map for about 5 minutes. Gameplay wise it was very boring, thankfully most of the time characters talked to each other which was a relief. Also the horses lack any of the fun physics the cars have, and just aren't as fun to ride around as cars were in GTA. I know there is no other alternative to Horses in a western, but I just don't feel like they were a goo enough method of transport. Rockstar should have put more effort into how the Horses worked, maybe try to make the player more involved instead of just holding X endlessly. If you need to travel somewhere in the game, you basically just hold X or tap it and direct yourself for miles on end, there is no traffic to dodge, no cop cars to look out for, no pedestrians to run over, and no corners to drift around. After a while you just can't be bothered and you just resort to using the campfire to trip skip a lot of the time. Which takes you out of the experience.

Also another thing that should have been only minor but which I thought was very annoying is the unskippable cutscene when looting an enemy's body or skinning an animal. It's a very common thing to do in the game and in the middle of a firefight it's very annoying having to watch the cutscene over and over again when picking ammo of a dead enemy, and add that you can be killed in the cutscene to, it's annoying. Also I will mention the massive amount of pop up hints during the first part of the game is so distracting and annoying, they should of put it all in the manual.

A lot of the flaws also come in the form of general criticisms of sandbox games. Like repetitive mission structure. Go here, shoot people, go back. Go there, shoot people, go back. Over and over again. It wasn't the most repetitive sandbox but it's still very repetitive in places, especially the travel missions where you just ride for 5 minutes doing nothing.

However I thought the writing and dialog was very good and I enjoyed the story, especially the ending. And the shooting and gun play was fun as well. And it's got some great tech in it too.

I used all that travel time to see how many random events I'd encounter, and of course, hunting. I skinned a lot of animals, especially wolves when they attack me or other random travelers.

Oh, the Solomon Folly Gang Hideout is and the Walton Gang outfit are PS3 exclusives. Surprised you missed it since there was a sticker on the package.

There was no sticker on my package. Weird.

The random encounters were a very cool think I thought. Made the long travels more interesting. Though by the time you get to New Elizabeth you have seen them all and sometimes it's annoying stopping to go chase down a stolen carriage.

@Axm
I wasn't talking about bugs, it's just that the PS3 version is significantly inferior overall, just like GTA4.
Rockstar proved once again that they're (lazy?) developers who actually don't know how to manage multiplatform game development.

Just look a these 2 screens, differences between the ps3 and 360 versions are clearly evident.
http://pds20.egloos.com/pds/201005/19/0 ... dbd11c.jpg
http://ded.zenblue.net/360_RDR_arrows.jpg

But the differences really do nothing to hinder the experience, nor is the port a bad looking game evident from all comparisons. They seem even smaller when you play the game. Disappointing? To an extent, but I've heard of exaggerations to a point of comparing them to bad ports like Bayonetta or even the 360 FFXIII, which is absolute nonsense.

Then again, the quality of games overall isn't the only thing that took a dip this gen. Gamers have gotten really anal thanks to 500% zoom and frame rate analysis. I can't wait for someone to go back and do the same for some classics from the 90's and early 200's so we can really know how wrong we were to think they're good.



All this talk had me boot up the game, and I did encounter a couple of new ones with wild boar attacks and a woman hostage being forced by bandits to lure you.

I've yet to hunt every animal either.

Its looks slightly worse, which is to be expected with any game not specifically developed for PS3. Its not very significant and certainly shouldn't deter you from buying the game were you otherwise inclined to do so.

I wouldn't call Rockstar lazy just for a slightly inferior port (who really cares about graphics anyways?), RDR is such a massive game it's not something you would play then call the devs lazy.



I love going hunting in Tall Trees, bear hunting is fun. I still don't have a Buffalo Rifle yet, it's never available in stores. I think once I get that I've got every weapon.

I checked my stats and it says I've encountered about 32 unique random encounters so far. I wonder how many things can happen in total? I think I've encountered a few and died strait afterwards and they never saved, so it's higher than that.

Their engine (RAGE -Rockstar Advanced Game Engine) does favor the 360 hardware; hell, even Midnight Club was sub-HD on the PS3, and that's a mere racing game. Not a secret that MS was more involved with third parties from the get go, while Sony didn't shape up until mid 2007. According to Lens of Truth, in a panel at the University of San Diego, some members of the Rockstar team said that the 360 version "got more love". Go figure

Anyway..

I don't think we were wrong for thinking they're good. What truly makes a game good is its core gameplay, frame-rates, resolution, sound quality etc all augment the experience but its the mechanics that make any game.

I notice you get hung up on visuals. I'm not criticizing, just kinda chuckling at the newer generation of gamers. You may even be older then me lol but you can see when we picked up a controller based on our ideals.

As for Rockstar Sony has made some comments that while not specifically malicious can be interpreted in a way that is patronizing. Those comments did have an adverse effect on the working relationship although other issues arose with how Sony handled 3rd parties in the past. Many of those problems have passed so the Red Dead differences were not caused by those issues.

Red Dead has been in development for a looong time. I caught glimpses of an early version when I worked for 2K Games (This was around the time of Bioshock & The Darkness) Odds are it started its life on 360 and was then ported down the line.