RDR or GTA4?

I have got RDR on order (PS3 version) and am due to pick it up on Tuesday but i still have doubts.

Basically because of GTA4 i am worried about the frame rate. I could tolerate the graphics being a mess but the frame rate done my head in and so GTA4 got put in the drawer and forgotten about.
Fast forward to RDR and here we are again, same 10/10 reviews everywhere except this time i was wiser and thought i would wait and see what the general public thought of the game.

It looks like it is worth getting, i don't see too much whining about the frame rate except maybe in towns. So is the frame rate much much better than GTA4 then? Are the frame rate drops in towns only minor?

Please no Xbox360 vs PS3 squabbling, i am only interested in the PS3 version.
 
Having not played much of RDR at all (like 13% or so, so this isn't a fair argument from me at all), I prefer GTAIV atm.

Characters are good, just not as good/funny as GTAIV (Niko + Roman just worked). The graphics are definitely better and the frame rate is 100% improved. I could see myself doing more in RDR that GTA, but story wise I don't think it will be better, of course as I say i haven't touched much of the story at all.

I like the RPG elements like skinning and plant gathering, gives you something to do when you're bored. The addition of wildlife is great, been attacked by coyotes more than once!

MP is improved too. Although this could be down to the frame rate because whilst I never had a problem with the frame rate in SP in GTAIV, MP wasn't playable to me at times, so I basically ignored it. But it is great in this with the right teammates.
 
I always find games like this fun for a while then the novelty of the environment and theme wears off and it becomes quite boring.
 
C64 said:
I always find games like this fun for a while then the novelty of the environment and theme wears off and it becomes quite boring.
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Thats why I always play them like a good guy instead of going crazy and shooting up the place. Helps immerse you into the world doing this IMO.

I think I put in 60 hours into GTA4 before I felt I had done everything there was to do with that game.
 
I've got RDR today and I really like it, though It's not comparable.

in GTA4, stealing a heli and going on a rampage was something I could do for hours, however I'm feeling I'm going to sell this after I've completed as it's not as much fun.

I'm still enjoying it, but it has not beaten GTA4 for me, GTA4 was the best game I've played this gen.
 
i am liking red dead at the moment, i have 100 percented gta 4 on both xbox and again on pc and the same with the episodes and by the end of the second playthrough i was so sick of liberty city even though i love the game, playing red dead is familiar but its so much more relaxing without all the busy streets and satire filled radio ads, im also really enjoying playing as mr marston, he comes across very polite but is a badass in a pinch, if i had to pick its always going to be gta4 but i think they differ enough to not warrent such a quick comparison.
 
i think open empty plains suits rockstars idea of free roam gaming than a cityscape. GTAiv was empty of content and felt it. RDR is a bit empty but then thats also part of the game and the atmosphere and enjoyability is better than GTAIV for me.
 
Hmmm it's a tough one as I really loved GTA. Think it's close but GTA might just shade it for me. Although I love the Western setting there doesn't seem to be an awful lot to do. Perhaps I haven't done enough yet but that's my inital feelings.
 
Robert1986 said:
GTA4 whores or RDR whores?

:D
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GTA4 whores all the way. :p


Back to the question in the OP though, so far I'm finding RDR to be more immersive. It makes you feel like you're controlling a proper badass, all the characters I've met so far have been completely different to each other and I just feel like the non main characters have got a bit more meat to them than in comparison to the ones in GTA4. In GTA, save for Roman, Niko and maybe Dimitri, I just couldn't really give a rats ass about anyone else because their stories didn't really develop into anything. Mallorie never did anything outside of cutscenes, Packie just wasn't funny, the whole Irish mission structures were a bit bland, especially the bank robbery which could have been epic but just played out exactly the same as if you went on a sporadic rampage.

That's how I felt about most of GTA4, there were 2 or 3 characters in the entire game that were really memorable, and then everyone else was just a complete afterthought, the missions are fun for a while but then you get bored of the exact same thing in almost every mission. It's basically you play 9 or 10 boring filler missions until you get to a quirky one such as collecting the diamonds from the trash bags and putting them in the bin lorry, the kidnapping mission where the woman is grabbing the steering wheel forcing your car to crash, or the one where you take a picture of the gang members and send it in a text to find out who's the guy you've gotta kill. :) Those were memorable, but drive, shoot, repeatedly mission types were not fun.

Onto RDR though and I felt immersed from the very first mision. Now, I'm not very far into the main story, I've done a lot of Bonnie's missions, saved her from being hanged, done some of the marshals missions but I think the real fun comes from the side missions and random encounters. I think the distances between riding places while on a mission is spot on, several times now I've been riding and thinking "How much further now, I've been going for ages" and just as I'm contemplating pulling the map up I end up at my destination. A major problem I had with GTA4 was the sound, apart from the excellent radio stations and the cut scenes, everything else seemed a bit underwhelming. The guns didn't sound meaty enough, there wasn't enough variety but in RDR that's just not the case. Every weapon I've used so far sounds how I picture it's supposed to sound, the pistols are great and I think everyone can recognise the sound of the bullets ricocheting like you get in the old western films. :D

If I had one complaint it would be that the map is absolutely huge and on multiplayer you really need faster horses. I'm a level 19 or 20 and I'm still riding around on a horse I unlocked at like level 6, very frustrating when you and your posse need to ride somewhere inconvenient. There are the transports in most towns, but usually if you need to do something in free roam it's not really the towns where you want to be. Hunting or herb collecting for example need to be done in the wilderness and planes and it sometimes takes a heck of a long time to get places but I guess that's just a minor gripe of mine.

GTA4 is by no means a bad game, but in my so far limited experience of RDR I just find that poor old Niko and friends pales in comparison.
 
Just noticed the fight mechanics are terrible in RDR compared to GTA4.

One thing I really like in RDR is the checkpoint system in missions. If you fail, you sometimes don't have to start the entire mission from start.
 
Not got this yet but will order it soon. What's it like for random violence, shooting innocents etc. I take it the law don't have a swat team turning up to spoil the fun, or do the cavalry arrive just as you're getting into the slaughter groove?
Always get a slight case of bloodlust when I'm playing GTA style games :)
 
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