The three year CEO of Take Two publishing will resign from his post at the end of the year, according to a company press release. The reason for this? An extended family vacation/move to Asia in early 2011. In an attempt to fill the gap, chairman of the company Strauss Zelnick will also take on the responsibilities of the role.

Several games hardly need an introduction since they’ve become staples for their respective developer, such as GTA, Madden, etc.  Red Dead Redemption, on the other hand, is an exception as the second installment in the Red Dead series and is the first Rockstar has made entirely on their own.  The game has gone from being another rumor mill title to being quite the eye catcher with promises of several activities and a strong core single player in an open world Western environment.  Just how well does the end product of this ambitious title hold up?

In Redemption’s main single player you assume the role of John Marston; former gang bandit turned bounty hunter who wants nothing more than to start a new life with his wife and son.  Unfortunately, this means hunting down Bill Williamson, a once fellow outlaw to Marston.  Along the way, Marston meets with a considerable amount of individuals, generally crooks, liars, tyrants, manipulators and anything in-between.  While the story’s premise is decent enough, the actual experience is little more than a gigantic goose chase with an ending that feels too out of left field for comfort.  Most of the cutscenes involve Marston hoping to acquire information and being told to carry out activities for the supporting characters.  You’ll still get much of the symbolic commentary on society through conversations which Rockstar is known for hosting, but these and certain gunfights are ultimately the highlights of the main conquest.

John Marston finds several friends and enemies throughout his journey in Redemption

The campaign might not be terribly interesting, but the world you’re free to explore is.  If you focus strictly on the single player you’ll see much of the environment and get at least fifteen hours worth of gameplay.  Putting in the time for side missions and other plentiful activities will bring in even more game time.  While you’ll participate in several widespread shootouts no matter what your progression style is, events such as horseshoe tossing, poker and blackjack, one-on-one gun duels, bounty hunting and much more help give the game some variety.  Although many of these can be quite fun, some, such as herding cattle, can prove to be a chore even if it does compliment the setting.  Most events incorporate their way into the single player with proper tutorials familiarizing yourself with the controls on-the-go, so you’ll garner a fair share of events to play, both the fun and not so entertaining.

When exploring the game’s wilderness, players can expect to find a wide variety of creatures which can be killed and skinned to gain more money.  Bears, wolves, cougars, skunks, snakes and other animals can be hunted down or you can find horses, mules, buffalo or even zebras to tame and ride, should you choose.  Additionally, there are unscripted stranger encounters throughout the lands and in towns.  These are usually people who’ve had their means of transportation stolen (horses or stagecoaches) or prostitutes about to get killed by less-than happy customers.  It’s a small touch but helps to sell the game’s dangerous atmosphere and should help keep most players on their toes.

Battles can get close and frantic, but they never feel impossible or over-challenging

Control-wise, Redemption feels tried and true to Rockstar’s ever-popular GTA series with a few minor changes.  The time-slowing Dead Eye feature from Revolver returns with three levels to attain.  And instead of driving cars or piloting helicopters, you’ll be riding horses and, occasionally, stagecoaches and trains to get around.  Should you find yourself in a rush, however, you can always set up a campsite and travel to either a previously visited town or to a waypoint set on your map.  During combat, the controls hold up relatively well but it’s inevitable that you’ll encounter some hiccups, primarily when trying to take cover.  As with most titles nowadays, your health will regenerate in a few seconds after being shot while Dead Eye takes a bit longer.  Killing more enemies will boost your restoration time.

As one might expect, Redemption also comes complete with a note-worthy multiplayer.  Your single player feats have no effect on the multiplayer and vice versa, leaving you with little more than a handful of characters and a mule as your default mount.  Players can choose to join Free Roam with others and have a small variety of objectives.  The most beneficial of these is completing Gang Hideouts, which has you kill a large number of enemies in a single area, rewarding money, weapons and XP.  These can be tackled either solo or with others, with the potential difficulty being harder than any of the game’s missions when going alone.  From there, you can take part in more conventional modes, both kill and objective-based.  Of course, you can always decide to have fun, senseless shootouts in Free Roam as well.

The game can become quite breathtaking when looking over a long distance

One area that Rockstar has usually been credible with is creating a polished, good-looking open world game.  Fortunately, Red Dead Redemption manages to please our eyes with only a few hindrances.  Many of the game’s best-looking moments are when you’re on top of a high cliff looking down at the world and impressive draw distance.  There are also small, occasional touches that might throw you for a surprise such as a pink-orange sky color during dawn.  Details on the surroundings and character models are quite solid though, like most free roam games, you’ll get a fair share of these features loading in-game for a few brief seconds.  As for the game’s framerate, it might slip up a few times but never to the point where it truly impairs the moment.  However, you’ll still likely fall prey to some interesting or funny glitches throughout the game.

If anything, Rockstar tends to do a better job in the sound department than the visuals with usually strong music and always excellent voice work.  Once again, they prove themselves on all fronts in Red Dead Redemption.  Every character’s voice fits them and the scenario perfectly which helps to keep some of the less conventional individuals convincing even if they themselves aren’t exactly likable.  Since the game takes place during a period before automobiles became a standard mode of transportation, you won’t find any in-game songs to listen to while traveling.  Instead, we’re given an original soundtrack that usually plays during cutscenes, missions or in-game moments such as the random encounters with strangers.  The score does fit with every moment well but it’s not on a standout level such as those found on Halo and Metal Gear Solid.  Various sound effects such as the fire tone from weapons, explosions and horse-riding are all believable and give each battle a proper sense of peril even if some aren’t terribly challenging.

There are plenty of creatures to find in the wilderness, some will attack when you get too close

Red Dead Redemption has built up quite a train of hype, especially over the last months of its development time.  GTA fans who go into the game knowing what to expect (that it’s a Western) should get what they’re looking for and even those who might not happen to be fond of Rockstar’s acclaimed series are encouraged to give this game a shot.  That said, Redemption does have its fair share of flaws which are usually quite minor, but the lack of a truly interesting story and some less-than entertaining mandatory missions hinder the game just enough to leave a considerable repercussion.  Even so, this is a very competent release which remains engaging even outside of the main story thanks to several side missions and activities, both in the single player and multiplayer.  Red Dead Redemption does enough to justify an investment and then some.

What do you see in this picture? Is it a 60″ Sony Television with a signed copy of Mafia II? Because if that’s what you see you might want to get your eyes checked out. Really what’s pictured is a screenshot from Mafia II’s “Frankie Motts” interactive web game. You’re tasked with discovering information and tid bits about the three mafias in Mafia II, do a good job and you’ll get to see exclusive screenshots, character histories, and in-game information. Do a REALLY GOOD job and you can win some sweet prizes. Check out the official release:

Grand Theft Auto IV was showered with game of the year awards last year. Virtually every outlet in the video game industry praised the trials and tribulations of the East European immigrant, Niko Bellic. The gameplay was phenomenal, the graphics impressive, and the expansive world and voice acting unprecedented. GTA IV is the next game in the top selling franchise which was a large element of the amazing success of the Playstation 2. The sales impact of the Grand Theft Auto franchise prompted Microsoft to pay for exclusive rights to the first downloadable content package for GTA IV.  This episode, entitled The Lost and Damned, contains both improvements and additions to the award winning GTA IV formula.  The low price makes it even more enticing.

The Lost and Damned tells the story of Johnny Klebitz and his biker gang, The Lost. The narrative begins with Johnny serving as the leader while the president, Billy Grey, is in court-mandated rehab for narcotics possession.  Unshaken by his trouble with the law, Billy has grandiose plans for the gang. Much to the Johnny’s chagrin, Billy begins a war with The Angels of Death, the consequences of which will create conflict within the Lost and dire effects on the gang members. Although Johnny’s story is compelling, it does not come close to the emotional transformation Niko Bellic underwent. That being said, the story is better than the average video game story and made all the better by superb voice acting which adds significant weight to much of the dialogue.

Johnny Klebitz means buisness

Through a campaign that lasts approximately 8-10 hours, you take control of Johnny and attempt to alleviate the increasingly grim situation in Liberty City.  The journey of The Lost and Damned is largely entertaining as it is filled with plenty of twist and turns which will garner close attention. You will even run into familiar faces from GTA IV, including Niko Bellic. In other words, the majority of the missions are new and don’t just place the player in previous GTA IV missions from the perspective of another character.

As The Lost and Damned is episodic content and not an expansion pack, you won’t see any new locations. However, you will encounter new cars, motorcycles, weapons, side missions, and multiplayer modes which all help create a refreshing gameplay experience.  The side missions in particular are a very nice addition to the core formula of GTA IV. One of the few complaints previously held against the game were the cutbacks in the amount of missions and activities available to the player outside of the main quest line. An improved version of the fan favorite gang wars from GTA: San Andreas make a return in The Lost and Damned as well as motorcycle races reminiscent of the 1991 classic Road Rash (baseball bat violence included).

Along with the new gameplay elements in The Lost and Damned, there are many smaller additions that make the new content an improvement over the GTA IV experience.  Riding motorcycles is much easier in The Lost and Damned. Where in GTA IV turning was sometimes difficult and the bikes would often times flip arrantly after hitting a curb, these inconsistencies are largely eradicated in The Lost and Damned.

There are two new mini games, arm wrestling and a card game, as well as hilarious new shows on the TV and websites on the faux internet.  More impressive are the 50 new songs which make driving around the city much more enjoyable (if you are a Rock Band player many of these will be familiar). The music selection helps establish the biker culture, largely because it includes songs that bikers would probably listen to (AC/DC, Bon Jovi, Iron Maiden, Mötley Crüe etc.).

The double barrel sawn-off shotgun is one of the new weapons in The Lost and Damned

The biggest improvement made over the GTA IV standalone experience is made not in the single player, but rather in the multiplayer. The new multiplayer modes of Bike Races, Own the City, Lone Wolf Biker, Club Business, and Chopper v. Chopper are much more fun than those originally found in GTA IV. All of the variants are fresh and inventive, allowing players to use the new weapons and vehicles effectively while also showing off much of the detailed Liberty City through interesting means. Own the City was particularly enjoyable as it was a gang war throughout the entire city (one of the bigger improvements in the single player) made all the better because of the ability to play with your friends. The improved multiplayer modes will also be more easily accessible to players with the new “instant action” allowing you to jump directly into a game without having to wait in any sort of lobby system.

One questionable change in The Lost and the Damned is the visual presentation. Although the game includes graphics equally as technically impressive as those in GTA IV, there is a new color pallet that makes the game appear much darker. Some will argue that this new look is keeping with the dark tone of the storyline, yet I found the visuals to be distracting, often times taking away from the visual splendor that was so apparent in GTA IV’s Liberty City.

Despite the questionable change to the graphical presentation, The Lost and Damned is a very well developed piece of content for one of the best games of last year. The story combined with the improvements to the gameplay experience creates an easily recommendable purchase, especially because of the relatively low price. If you aren’t a fan of GTA IV, this content will most likely not change your mind. However, if you cannot get enough of Liberty City, you will definitely be pleased with these additions and improvements.

“How can we advance the video game industry?” is a question that plagues many developers’ minds. The goal with most blockbuster games is to make an extraordinarily fantastic game that’s fun to play and appeals to a wide audience. Up to this point, all of these attempts have done pretty good jobs. Back in 1997 Nintendo showed everyone how single player adventures would be handled with Zelda: Ocarina of Time. A year later Valve released Half Life, a game that could tell a storyline without having any cut scenes or long dialogue portions and would make the player feel like part of the story. Since then various other games, such as Battlefield 1942, Counter Strike, and Halo 2 have shown that a strong multiplayer aspect in a game will keep people coming back, again and again to play. And in 2008, near the very beginning of the year, a game has been released that combines all three elements, perfected single player gameplay, and story, along with a strong multiplayer. That game is Grand Theft Auto IV.

In Grand Theft Auto IV you play as Niko Belic, fresh off the boat from Serbia, a new arrival in Liberty City. But before I get into why the game’s narrative and story makes it a clear game of the year contender, there’s a lot of obvious things that need to be talked about. Previous GTAs haven’t really pioneered the gameplay aspect of the industry. But everything from previous installments has been revamped and redone. The most obvious change is how cars handle. It’s sort of strange that Rockstar North has decided to redo the car physics, seeing as how that was the only part of Grand Theft Auto that worked perfectly fine. But the new change isn’t a bad thing; it just takes some time to become accustomed to. Cars are much heavier now; you can’t power slide around every corner; and car accidents are a little more brutal than before, especially since the car damage has been redone as well to look more realistic. Once you get used to breaking slowly before turns and taking your time with high speed chases instead of eagerly trying to cutoff your target at every turn, you’ll be right at home.

When you leave your car you’ll notice that on-foot controls have also changed quite a bit. Niko walks on default, changing the tone of the game from “crazy wacky run everywhere as fast as you can” to a more leisurely and controlled type of tone. Holding A will have him sprint, if you’re in a rush. But the more important change is the gunplay. Niko can take cover on almost every piece of land in Liberty City, including cars, telephone poles, walls, fences, car doors, blown up vehicles, hotdog stands, and practically everything you would actually want to use, you can. When in cover Niko can choose to aim, pop his head up, and cap a few guys or blind fire from behind his safety zone and try to hit some bad guys that way. The upgrade in tactics for the gunplay is a welcome addition to the game, and you’ll need to use it from start to finish.

With the weak-gameplay worries put to rest the only other criticism GTA games have received are their abysmal graphics. Similarly to the gameplay, the graphics are also brand new. Running off Rockstar’s RAGE engine, Liberty City has never looked so beautiful. The streets transition from night to day seamlessly, with the streetlights casting shadows around the world like a painting. The citizens of the streets all look different. You could spend a few hours on a busy street and not find two look-alikes. This really helps make the city feel alive. Along with those additions car damage has procured an overhaul. There are so many different ways your car can crash, you’ll continue to see new damage displays long after you’ve beaten the game’s storyline.

Speaking of the story, it’s actually pretty long compared to most games. It’s possible to complete in less than 30 hours if you blow through it without spending time on the other copious amounts of features provided to you. But if you take your time, take a helicopter tour around the city, race against other cars, go out drinking with your friend, or maybe just a stroll in the park, it’s easy to get the gameplay timer up to 60 hours. When in comes to the actual story itself, that’s when the true genius of this game is revealed.

As mentioned before, you play as Niko Belic, fresh off the boat from Serbia. You’ve decided to come to Liberty City because your cousin Roman has told you stories of mansions, cars, and women, all begging to be with you. Upon arrival you realize that Roman is full of lies, and he actually needs some help getting out of the myriad of problems he’s caused for himself. Niko reluctantly decides to help Roman with his debt problems, but whilst doing this Niko gets caught up in things himself. The narrative of Niko’s struggle as an immigrant is one of the more interesting stories told in today’s gaming, with many themes and subtexts sprinkled throughout. What makes GTA4’s story different from other games such as Metal Gear Solid or Final Fantasy is when the game takes advantage of its strongest facet, it’s interactive.

On multiple occasions Niko will be given a choice between two actions. Whether it’s killing your boss’ cheating girlfriend, or deciding to spare her, or choosing a certain alliance to affiliate yourself with, your actions have long-term affects on your character. In reality, most of these decisions do not change the storyline, but your decisions change how you view Niko and his situation. Maybe he’s just a troubled immigrant who got caught up in the wrong line of work, or maybe he’s just a sociopath who would’ve ended up killing people regardless of his history. Niko’s character is ambiguous enough to have actual discussions on whether or not he’s crazy, or just troubled. Although the decisions the game gives you don’t have any tangible effect on the gameplay itself, this is the first time I’ve ever chosen to do something in a game, and actually regretted my decision. The game immerses you to such a high degree it’s astounding Rockstar has been able to pull it off.

If you’re not a fan of the single player for some reason, the multiplayer is a reasonable substitute. With around eight different game modes, and various changes you can make to those modes, there’s a good portion of content to experience on the online side of things. The genre defying part of the multiplayer is the maps, or should I say map. With any of the game modes, you can choose to fight over the entire Liberty City, or just one of the five islands. You can have cops on, pedestrians on, traffic on, and change the setting of the frequency you’ll see those three variables. The only problem is the unavoidable lag. Most full 16 player games tend to chop up significantly. If you just have three other friends, and want to travel around the city in free-roam blowing cops up, you should be able to do that just fine, without the worry of lag. The highlight of the multiplayer is when you get a full, lag-free game of Cops N Crooks, the police against the criminals, one side trying to take the other down, before they get in their escape helicopter. When everyone in the game knows what they’re doing, you can have a lot of fun with the multiplayer for a very long time.

There’s obviously a lot more content in the game than what I mentioned here in this long-winded review. But that just shows how massive this game is. Liberty City is amazing and full of detail, the missions are entertaining, the voice acting is fantastic, the story is flawless, and the gameplay is fun the entire time. There’s a constant debate on whether or not video games will enter the realm of movies and literature as narrative pieces. When a game like Grand Theft Auto IV comes out, it’s hard to argue otherwise. This game is getting a perfect score, not because every aspect is perfect (I’m looking at you Mr.I’mInChargeOfTheSoundtrack) but because the storytelling immerses you in the game to such a high degree, every flaw in the game is forgivable. Grand Theft Auto IV is a must buy if you like video games.