Why almost nobody remembers this classic?

If you ask how many parts “Red Dead” has, most gamers will probably answer with two: Red Dead Redemption and Red Dead Redemption 2. Online part and zombie offshoot shot out. In fact, there is another part, the forgotten origin of the “Red Dead” games. A commentary by Daniel Boldt.

Red Dead: A global mega success

At the beginning of the year, publisher Take-Two Interactive published some current sales figures. Including the sales figures for the “Red Dead” series. According to Take-Two, the series has since grown more than 65 million times sold worldwide. Specifically, Red Dead Redemption, Red Dead Redemption 2 and Red Dead Online are mentioned in this context (source: Twitter).

An incredible success, but isn’t there something missing? Before Red Dead Redemption was released in 2010, there was still six years before Red Dead revolvers – a wonderful action-adventure that unfortunately hardly anyone seems to remember anymore. Not even their own studio.

Red Dead Revolver: The Forgotten Original

In Red Dead Revolver, the player takes on the role of bounty hunter Red Harlow, who is on a quest to find his family’s killers. For this, Red fights and shoots his way through all sorts of levels. From the abandoned ghost town to the shabby gold mine, almost every scenario that you know from various western strips is represented.

In contrast to the two Redemption offshoots, Red Dead Revolver is namely no “open world” game, but kept much more classic. Everything revolves around the plot and the attempt to complete each level with a highest possible high score to complete.

The higher the score at the end of a level, the more weapons and equipment will be unlocked as a reward. Even new characters, maps and cheats (!) can be unlocked in this way. The score is influenced by the time you need for the level, the accuracy and the selected level of difficulty.

This mix of fast action, crisp levels and the hunt for the perfect score makes Red Dead Revolver a game with one very high replay value. A single pass, on the other hand, takes about seven hours.

In addition, Red Dead Revolver has a local multiplayer mode for two players. In addition to team deathmatch and free-for-all, there is also a special mode. Here the players duel in the best High Noon manner. Who can pull his Colt fastest and who is left at the end? A little fun.

The curious origin of Red Dead

But now we come to the reason why the game is no longer mentioned today and is downright ignored by publisher Take-Two. To do this, we have to turn back the clocks a little bit. The origin of the “Red Dead” series is not due to Take-Two, but curiously on Capcom.

The Japanese publisher funded the game in 2000, while Angel Studios handled development. Angel Studios later became Rockstar San Diego through an acquisition, while game designer Yoshiki Okamoto left Capcom in 2003. This put the project on hold for a short time.

Rockstar Games then bought the rights to Red Dead Revolver and released the finished game in the summer of 2004 for the PlayStation 2 and the first Xbox. The game received solid reviews, resulting in a score of 73 percent revealed on Metacritic. By the summer of 2010, Red Dead Revolver had sold more than 900,000 times.

And so, viewed soberly, this also explains why the game no longer gets any recognition today: the origins go back to another publisher, the reviews were not outstanding and the sales figures are also no comparison to the nearly 43 million units soldwhich, for example, sold Red Dead Redemption 2 to this day.

Is Red Dead Revolver still playable today?

Thankfully, Take-Two hasn’t completely forgotten about the game. So one appeared in 2016 digital remaster version for the PlayStation 4, including 1080p resolution and trophy support. Xbox players, on the other hand, can play the original Xbox version on Xbox One. Thanks for backwards compatibility.

And it’s still worth it today. Provided you have a soft spot for dirty spaghetti westerns, leaden conversations and a dignified high score hunt.