Red Dead Revolver is an action-adventure game released in 2004. It was created by Rockstar San Diego and published by Rockstar Games. This game is the first in the Red Dead series and was available on the PlayStation 2 and Xbox in May 2004. Set in the 1880s during the American frontier, the story follows bounty hunter Red Harlow as he seeks revenge for the murder of his parents. The game includes a local multiplayer mode where up to four players can compete against each other or computer-controlled characters in unorganized battles.

Angel Studios started developing Red Dead Revolver with funding from Capcom in 2000. Later, Angel Studios was bought and renamed by Rockstar Games as Rockstar San Diego. After Yoshiki Okamoto left Capcom in 2003, the game was canceled. Rockstar Games later bought the rights to the game and restarted its development. The game received mixed reviews from critics and sold moderately well. A follow-up game, Red Dead Redemption, was released in May 2010. A third game, Red Dead Redemption 2, was released in October 2018. Both later games were highly praised by critics.

Gameplay

Red Dead Revolver is a third-person shooter and action-adventure game with a linear storyline. Players can fight enemies using handguns, rifles, shotguns, and throwable weapons such as hunting knives, molotov cocktails, and dynamite. New weapons can be bought at the end of each level. Levels usually end with a boss fight, and each boss has a bounty that players collect after defeating them. Each level uses a rating system that gives players rewards like new weapons or characters for the game's multiplayer part, based on how well they complete tasks such as finishing the level quickly or shooting accurately.

Although the game does not have an open world, players can explore the small town of Brimstone between levels. In this town, players can interact with non-player characters (NPCs). Throughout the story, players mainly control Red Harlow, a bounty hunter. However, in some levels, they can also play as other characters, such as Jack Swift, a trick-shooter; Annie Stoakes, a rancher; General Javier Diego, a renegade army officer; Shadow Wolf, Red's Native American cousin; and a soldier known as the "Buffalo Soldier." Each character has a special weapon, such as Red's revolver, Jack's twin pistols, and Shadow Wolf's bow and arrow.

A game feature introduced in Red Dead Revolver and used in later games is "Dead Eye," a targeting system that slows down time to let players aim accurately. After aiming, the player character automatically fires at the marked spots quickly, causing a lot of damage. Dead Eye is also used in duels, which have four steps:

• Grabbing – the player moves the character's hand toward the weapon.
• Drawing – the player pulls the right analog stick to take the weapon from its holster.
• Acquiring locks – the player uses the right analog stick to aim at the opponent and mark spots.
• Shooting – once the slow-motion effect ends, the player fires rapidly at the marked spots.

The game includes a local multiplayer mode for one to four players, with up to three AI-controlled bots. There are three game modes, mostly free-for-all battles where the goal is to be the last player standing. The multiplayer mode uses most maps and characters from the single-player story, with a few exclusive ones. Though the game did not support online multiplayer, it was compatible with Xbox Live through the "Live Aware" feature. It is now supported on Insignia, a replacement server for Xbox.

Plot

In the 1870s, prospectors Nate Harlow (Kurt Rhoads) and Griff (Bert Pence) found gold in an area called Bear Mountain and celebrated by making two identical revolvers, each taking one. Later, Griff was captured by the Renegade Army. He convinced a bad army general named Javier Diego (Robert Jimenez) to let him live by promising to show where the gold was hidden. Diego told his right-hand man, Colonel Daren (Dennis Ostermaier), to kill Nate and his family to keep the gold's location a secret. Daren and hired guns killed Nate and his Native American wife, Falling Star (Messeret Stroman), but their teenage son, Red (Jason Fuchs), escaped after shooting off Daren's left arm with his father's revolver. The heat from the gun left a scorpion-shaped scar on his hand.

Twelve years later, Red (Robert Bogue) became a cruel bounty hunter. After killing a gang of outlaws led by Bloody Tom (Christian Tanno), he took their bodies to the town of Widows Patch to collect the reward. There, he was attacked by Ugly Chris (Erick Devine) and his men, who controlled the town. Red killed the gang with the help of Sheriff O'Grady (Stephen Schnetzer), though the sheriff was hurt during the fight. Red took O'Grady to Brimstone, the nearest town with a doctor, and stopped a train robbery on the way. In Brimstone, Red met local lawman Sheriff Bartlett (Gene Jones), who offered bounties for dangerous outlaws. While collecting one, Red met and became friends with an English trick-shootist named Jack Swift (Gregg Martin). After saving Red, Jack killed his dishonest former employer and his helpers.

After completing his tasks, Red returned to Bartlett, who told him the wagon train carrying his payment had not arrived. At the Brimstone Bank, Red heard a local rancher, Annie Stoakes (Carrie Keranen), mention the gold his parents were killed over. Curious, he visited her ranch after it was burned by Governor Griffon as punishment for her refusing to sell her land. Red promised to give her all his bounty money once he received it in exchange for information about Bear Mountain, which he learned was partially owned by Griffon. Later, at a saloon, Red overheard thugs talking about Colonel Daren and killed them in a gunfight when they refused to share more details. Bartlett arrested Red but released him after learning he was Nate Harlow's son and explained the details of his parents' murder.

Red left to seek revenge on Diego but was captured by Daren after destroying one of their supply trains. While imprisoned and forced to mine gold as a slave, Red befriended a fellow prisoner called the "Buffalo Soldier" (Benton Greene). They were rescued by Red's Native American cousin, Shadow Wolf (Chaske Spencer). After escaping the mines, Red and Shadow Wolf attacked Diego's camp and killed Daren, though Shadow Wolf was seriously hurt during the battle. Diego tried to flee by train, but Red chased him and killed him. Meanwhile, Buffalo Soldier went to Brimstone to ask Governor Griffon for help, only to learn Griffon was working with Diego and ordered Buffalo Soldier imprisoned.

Later, Red, Annie, and Jack joined Brimstone's yearly quick-draw competition, hosted by Griffon and Bartlett. Griffon tried to ensure Red was killed, but Red defeated all his opponents. Angry, Griffon tried to kill Red with a revolver, which Red recognized as the same one his father had. He realized Griffon was actually his father's traitorous partner, Griff. As Griffon tried to escape, he ordered his henchman, Mr. Kelley (Joseph Melendez), to kill Red. After defeating Kelley, Red attacked Griffon's mansion with Annie, Jack, and Bartlett. After fighting through guards, Jack sacrificed himself to let Red kill Griffon in a duel, while Annie rescued Buffalo Soldier. After avenging his family, Red thanked his allies and was offered the gold he was owed by Bartlett, who praised him for helping Brimstone. Honoring his promise to Annie, Red told the sheriff to give the gold to her and Buffalo Soldier and left with Griffon's revolver, saying, “It was never about the money.”

Development

Angel Studios started working on Red Dead Revolver with help and money from Japanese video game company Capcom in 2000. This project came from a partnership between Angel Studios and Capcom on a version of Resident Evil 2 for the Nintendo 64. Capcom’s Yoshiki Okamoto then suggested an original idea called S.W.A.T. Later, Okamoto recommended changing the theme to a Western style, which led to the name "Spaghetti Western Action Team." This idea was inspired by Okamoto’s earlier work on Capcom’s 1985 game Gun.Smoke and a movie called Blindman. Artist Akira Yasuda, also known as Akiman, moved to the United States to design characters for Red Dead Revolver.

Capcom announced the game in March 2002. However, development faced challenges, partly because of differences in culture between the companies, and the game was not playable at the time.

In November 2002, Take-Two Interactive, the parent company of Rockstar Games, bought Angel Studios. The studio was then moved under Rockstar Games and renamed Rockstar San Diego. After the purchase, Rockstar Games leaders reviewed projects at the studio to decide which to keep. Dan Houser, a creative director at Rockstar Games, said the game "looked very good" even though it was not playable. The development problems caused the game to miss events like the 2002 European Computer Trade Show and the 2003 Electronic Entertainment Expo. Okamoto left Capcom, and the company canceled the project in August 2003. However, Rockstar Games later bought the rights to Red Dead Revolver in December 2003 and allowed Rockstar San Diego to develop it into the first game of the Red Dead series.

Red Dead Revolver was released for PlayStation 2 and Xbox on May 4, 2004, in North America and on June 11, 2004, in PAL regions. The PlayStation 2 version was later released on PlayStation 4 on October 11, 2016. The Xbox version became available on Xbox One through backward compatibility on November 15, 2021.

Music

The game's soundtrack includes music licensed from real spaghetti western movies. The main title theme is from Luis Bacalov's score for the movie His Name Was King. Other songs are from A Sky Full of Stars for a Roof (with music by Ennio Morricone), A Bullet for the General, Django, Prepare a Coffin, Minnesota Clay, Have a Good Funeral, My Friend… Sartana Will Pay, and many other films.

Reception

Red Dead Revolver received "mixed or average" reviews, according to Metacritic, a website that collects game reviews. In Japan, where Capcom released the game in 2004—nearly a year after canceling the project—Famitsu gave it a score of 31 out of 40.

The Times awarded the game four stars out of five, noting that it "has a strong, coherent storyline that helps Red move from a beginner to a skilled bounty hunter in what proves to be one of the best shooting practice games." Maxim also gave it four stars out of five, stating that "Show-offs can even stealthily duck behind cover and shoot at foes' feet to make 'em move like in a dance without medicine." Entertainment Weekly gave it a C, saying that "The game misses its mark: Instead of the gritty, scrub-brush humor of a Sergio Leone film, Revolver feels like a rootin'-tootin' Disneyland ride." Kevin Gifford of 1Up.com gave the game a C+, stating, "The atmosphere in Red Dead is the real thing—not the fake version of Dead Man's Hand—and that alone should satisfy the audience it was made for. If you can forgive all of its faults, you'll enjoy the few hours you spend in Red's world."

The game was nominated for GameSpot’s 2004 "Best Licensed Music" award, which was won by Battlefield: Vietnam. In 2010, the game was included in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die.

According to market research firm The NPD Group, Red Dead Revolver sold 140,000 units during June 2004 and had lifetime sales of 920,000 by July 2010.

Sequels

In 2005, the first look at a follow-up game was shown during a Sony press conference by Rockstar. The next game in the series, Red Dead Redemption, was officially announced for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in 2009. After some changes to the release dates, the game was finally released on May 18, 2010, in North America, and on May 21, 2010, in Europe and Australia. It received praise from critics, who highlighted its gameplay and improved technology compared to the earlier game.

In October 2016, Rockstar confirmed the development of Red Dead Redemption 2. The game was released on October 26, 2018, for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. It was later released for Windows on November 5, 2019.