Red Dead Redemption is an
open world,
western action-adventure video game developed by
Rockstar San Diego and published by
Rockstar Games. It was released for the
PlayStation 3 and
Xbox 360 consoles on May 18, 2010. It is the second title in the
Red Dead franchise, and is a
spiritual successor to 2004's
Red Dead Revolver. The game, set during the decline of the
American Frontier in the year 1911, follows
John Marston, a former outlaw whose wife and son are taken hostage by the government in ransom for his services as a
bounty hunter. Having no other choice, Marston sets out to bring the three members of his former gang to justice.
Red Dead Redemption is played from a
third-person perspective in an
open world environment, allowing the player to interact with the game world at their leisure. The player can travel the virtual world, a fictionalized version of the
Western United States and
Mexico, primarily by
horseback and on foot. Gunfights emphasize a
gunslinger gameplay mechanic called "
Dead Eye" that allows players to mark multiple shooting targets on enemies in slow motion. The game makes use of a morality system, by which the player's actions in the game affect their character's levels of honor and fame and how
other characters respond to the player. An
online multiplayer mode is included with the game, allowing up to 16 players to engage in both co-operative and competitive gameplay in a recreation of the single-player setting.
Upon its release,
Red Dead Redemption was acclaimed by many reviewers, with praise directed at the game's visuals, dynamically-generated music, voice acting, gameplay, and story. As of September 2011, the game has sold over 12.5 million copies. It won year-end accolades, including
Game of the Year awards from several
gaming publications. After the game's release, several
downloadable content additions were released;
Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare, later released as a standalone game, added a new single-player experience in which Marston searches for a cure for an infectious
zombie plague that has swept across the Old West. A
Game of the Year Edition containing all additional content was released in October 2011.