The American West has made actors famous and writers rich. It has inspired children on the playground and grizzled country singers alike. Its stories of heroes and bandits, gold rushes and simple homesteaders have been fictionalized and romanticized to the point that they're known the world over. And yet, videogame makers have either ignored the setting or attempted to squeeze it into existing game conventions with limited success. That has all changed now that Rockstar, the group made famous for its Grand Theft Auto series, turned its eye towards the Wild West. No game maker has approached the period with as much passion and power as Red Dead Redemption. This is the new bar that all Westerns must strive to reach.
