Red Dead Revolver (2004)

2025.09.03

Part of the Red Dead series. Doing a watchthrough before moving ahead to Red Dead Redemption.

Watchthrough choices on YouTube, preferably with no talking, that seem well produced:

by GTA Series Videos    views=3M           posted=7 years ago

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8yxEqmxOvE

"Red Dead Revolver - Full Game Walkthrough [Very Hard Difficulty]"

2:51:43    1080p Premium HD

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGgNipHtysw

by SourceSpy91    views=208k    posted=Jun 3, 2016

"Red Dead Revolver - Full Game Walkthrough - No commentary"

3:38:16    1080p60HD

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-vLDGnjEHI

by D'Flayer    view=12k    posted=Jan 11, 2024

"Red Dead Revolver HD Edition with ReShade Full Game - Playthrough Gameplay"

3:11:27    1080p60HD

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrVy9Vymnzs

by Gamer's Little Playground    views=33k    posted=1 year ago

"RED DEAD REVOLVER Full Gameplay Walkthrough / No Commentary【FULL GAME】4K Ultra HD"

3:26:13    1440p60HD

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKFPHM0tJAYgDRcLDocNauyTsILm8rTzy

by ACMANISH    views=73k    posted=4 years ago

"Red Dead Revolver - Complete Walkthrough"

Playlist 24 videos    1440p60HD

I'm noting multiple videos, because one video probably won't be enough. From previous watchthroughs I have learned that some videos may be better or worse quality, but some may be more complete. For example, just sampling the first few seconds of my top picks, I notice some videos start with the intro cinematic, some with the language selection screen, some go right into the first cut scene (I'm assuming). It might seem obvious to go with the most complete (why not start with system boot up), but it might not be the best over time. With a game this linear it shouldn't be too much of an issue.

Some of these are available higher res than my monitor, so anything 1080p should be enough. There's also a remaster 'Reshade' that looks good, but does that make my experience less authentic? I was going to play using the PCSX2 emulator, and this one uses that.

I'm just going to start with GTA Series Videos, get a feel for the game play, then check others. First impression: there's obnoxicons in opposite corners of the screen. I try to ignore it (which mostly works).

The intro cut scene is fine, but quickly establishes the mood as a spaghetti western (ex: Once Upon a Time in the West), and not a drama that just happens to be set during this time (ex: Unforgiven). I assume (and hope) as the series progresses, it moves more from the former to the latter.

I like that there's a tutorial, but it does emphasize I would have to learn a PS2 controller, and I never quite got used to the Xbox controller (only ever used playing GTA on Windows). Maybe PS2 is different, and better, but it looks like a learning curve I'm not interested in climbing for one game.

* spoilers *

Red's origin story is classic for most any genre, but it's heavy handed with the idiot ball - the player of this walkthrough demonstrates that Red can clear the map quickly, but the parents still need to die somehow to move on to the next chapter. The art style is very crude and simple, almost abstract, which is fine for the background and objects, but really bizarre for humans. Red looks normal, but everyone else looks really cartoonish. The action is very early arcade style, with humans taking a dozen bullets to kill. Without fantasy or sci-fi excuses, humans acting as bullet sponges knocks me right out of the story.

Speaking of story, where did it go? After the initial family farm scene, there's no more story, so I may need to start checking other videos. I do enjoy the little interstitial drawings and animations of newspapers describing events and purchases made from catalogs. You need that because the game is not building much of an atmosphere.

I've got no problem with the Dead Eye game mechanic; I liked the way it worked in Max Payne.

Next video has some more detail, but still looks like a lot of just action set pieces roughly crammed together. The dueling section seems like a controller headache. Finally, someone goes down with a single rifle blast to the face at close range. I wonder how later Red Dead Redemptions will handle this issue. I have to assume they found a reasonable solution that doesn't feel like you're playing an arcade game from the 80s.

A character mentions sending a telegram ahead of Red. When did this technology reach small towns in the west? Wikipedia: "By 1844, the Morse system connected Baltimore to Washington, and by 1861 the west coast of the continent was connected to the east coast." Better question - when is this game supposed to be taking place. It's kind of late to be asking, but what text should I have before even playing this game? Was there a manual? I may be taking spoiler avoidance too far in this case.

How are we moving from one scene to the other? I assume each video creator is editing it out, but there may not actually be much to see. After action there is the newspaper update and the store, where it seems certain purchases can unlock more of the story. I'm still looking for a story that's probably not there.

I would like to go looking for additional materials, but I'll probably spoil what little is left of the story.

This part is different - you're on a train, and can walk around and talk to people, almost like an RPG.

The ReShade makes this game look so much better. You can make out so much more detail - was that detail always there, and just under a muddy yellow filter? I can finally read the whole newspaper, and see the showdowns that are being unlocked with purchases. Is this video using a different soundtrack? 

Watching Red's origin story for the fourth time now, why didn't they name this story Red Hand Revolver?

His name from the beginning is Red. His hand later becomes red. This game doesn't seem big on subtlety.

And why does he have Naruto style whisker scars on his face?

Watching the fight on the train; now there are health kits.

Should I be paying attention to names of people and towns, weapons and stuff? Will this be part of RDR lore? There's no way to know from here. There's probably an RDR wiki, but I don't want to risk spoiling RDR1 or 2. I'll try to pay a little more attention, but everything seems so disposable here.

And now it's a platformer, ducking and jumping.

Finally, horses. Will there be riding in this game?

The music is different across videos; could be for any number of reasons. It's also interesting to see different play styles. I didn't even really know melee was an option. Players solve problems different ways, with different levels of experience. It doesn't look especially complicated, and I think I'm getting bored already.

Sound effects are mostly good, and the voice work is adequate. For every interesting death rattle, there are enemies that utter whole sentences after being shot in the face a bunch of times. Some voices feel right out of a western movie, some feel like blind or phoned in line reads.

The physics is really out the window now, with enemies jumping off horses up to the top of the train, ready to fight.

I like the ReShade visuals, but the music feels like an add on from somewhere else (it is), and its turned up way too loud. I can't even hear what the NPCs in town are saying without subtitles, and I have to turn to the other videos.

The clown camp level should be much more offensive, but at this point in the game I'm just not that invested. Having you play as an NPC you rescue is interesting, especially if it means exploring a different play style.

Some players don't wander around town and talk to NPCs, and just go straight to the next scene like it's their job. I like an explorer, so it's good to have several videos going. One player goes to the gun store where there are things other than guns, things that can unlock journal pages. What is that? Have I missed any so far?

Ah, a saloon, another western staple. More journal pages for sale here. You can buy dead eye upgrades here too. Red Eye... is 96 proof.

It's interesting to compare the run times so far:

Do the longer times indicate things like more time spent doing story stuff, or just less efficient combat?

I need to know more about journal pages.

https://reddead.fandom.com/wiki/Sheriff_Bartlett%27s_Journal

"Sheriff Bartlett's Journal is accessed from the main menu of the game. The Journal contains detailed information on every character, location, and weapon in the game, all adding up to 365 pages total. The title page heading is "Journal of Sheriff Bartlett".

A small number of pages are available from the start of the game. Players can unlock more pages by purchasing items from shopkeepers, using cheats, completing missions in story mode and Bounty Hunter Mode, and playing Showdown Mode itself."

This makes sense. A lot of the heavy lifting for the environment can't really be done in game, so there's extra text if you want it. And the video walkthroughs can't really do all that text in video, so I'll have to read it along side, and try not to get ahead of what I'm watching. Just browsing through what I should have seen so far; it's hard to avoid spoilers.

2025.09.08

There is a manual with some actual story text.

https://www.video-games-museum.com/en/manual/Playstation%202/55234_us-Red-Dead-Revolver.pdf

So, when Red picked up his dad's gun the scorpion got branded onto him - I would have never gotten that from the cut scene. Maybe they showed it, but I couldn't make it out. Still no explanation for the facial scars. Some explanation of how the story immediately goes to adult Red, the bounty hunter, but not much more than you see in game.

I really should have looked at the manual first. It's not really a spoiler. If you would have bought the game at the time, you would have had to look at this. The game mechanics of purchasing to unlock the story is right there, the journal, the bounty system, and even a picture of Red on a horse. There's a picture of a journal page - still not sure where to find that, and read it without spoilers.

The very first weapon description is Old Pistol from 1875, helping place the date. There's quite a variety of weapons, like bow and arrow, and a gatling gun.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yexgp1QpP6A

"Red Dead Revolver (PS2) Full Playthrough (No Commentary)"

I find another playthrough, scrubbing through I find some new (to me) video of Red in a general store, purchasing items that unlock showdowns and journal pages. It would be nice to be able to find a well organized way to look at this in game order. There's a bank - you can buy a saloon in Widow's Patch!? That feels very RPG for such a linear story.

Part way through chapter 8 you jump a bridge, catch the edge, and mantle up. You are then suddenly in a one on two duel, everyone has taken their places and you are just standing there. I was just starting to get that guilty feeling of watching a playthrough instead of playing it myself, but these little frustrations make that go away.

Another frustration I'm glad to miss out on, it looks like it takes the work of two playthroughs to unlock the whole journal. Now I'm just piling on excuses, because if I did a playthrough myself, reading the remainder of the journal would be no big deal.

The wiki

https://reddead.fandom.com/wiki/Sheriff_Bartlett%27s_Journal

is good for reading the journal as a text summary, but impossible to read without spoilage. I'll review that at the end. What I want is something more like you would see in the game. This is the best I found for now; the chapters are too much information, but I can quickly gloss over those and go to just the section I need.

https://www.ireddead.com/reddeadrevolver/guides/journal-entries

Actually, not so much - the screenshots are nice, but it's easy to drift into a new territory I haven't seen yet.

2025.09.12

Reading; showdown levels are just in multiplayer?

2025.09.17

Picking back up with [Yexgp1QpP6A] at 1:17:30.

Chapter 8, boss fight, endless bullet sponge; bored, fast forwarding through repetitive fight.

Try the reshade [W-vLDGnjEHI], maybe the fight will be more efficient. Even weirder - there's an NPC you meet that sells you health and follows you. Doesn't seem to come up again. This player is a better fighter. Has more money when returning to town, if that is any good measure.

The news crier says something interesting: Rogue Valley to be renamed after bounty hunter. That just feels like something that's going to come up in future RDRs.

The ReShade player seems to be ignoring story. Go back to PS2 player to see current Brimstone free roam.

Now a 3 on 1 duel in Ghost Town. Having the last boss be a hanged man who survived and wore his noose like a tie was cool; coffin Gatling gun guy not so much.

Annie Stoaks; rescuing her animals from a burning barn is different, and I like it. I also like the way stories and characters intersect. I hope they do more with this.

Bar room brawl starts promising, gets tedious.

Story time is good, but why are the graphics suddenly so bad... ah, cut scenes must be pre-rendered, the reshade can't fix them.

I like playing as NPCs, didn't expect General Diego (who I assume is an antagonist) would be one of them. The cannon game started interesting, got silly (this is a trend).

Finally, the revenge story has taken shape. When do I get to ride a horse?

2025.09.19

While browsing YouTube this came up:

"Red Dead Revolver PS2 (Capcom, January, 15th, 2002 Preview Build)"

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEOVtc3VdHI]

And I thought the Rockstar version was crude; it looks like GTA 3 in comparison to the Capcom version.

Back to the watchthrough, finally Red gets on a horse. A horse which was just quietly standing and waiting in a church ruin. Horses are cars in Westerns, I know, but still curious to see how this works.

Instant idiot ball as Red gets knocked out and captured, and then we play as Shadow Wolf.

This is interesting - wouldn't have known this if I didn't just watch the Capcom work-in-progress: the place in the next cut scene seems to be the same place as the tutorial in the previous version. I don't think it means anything, but it's a little something extra I wouldn't have known.

This is a nice time and way to introduce stealth fighting.

First boss (Grizzly) seems to be the guy from the old tutorial. Another fact that's probably useless. Was that a scalping?

Now its Red's turn to stealth. Instead of all the tutorial front loaded, it's drip fed as you need it in the story. Feels more and more like future Rockstar products.

You meet guards who are asleep, you can walk up to them and put your gun against their head, and of course that won't kill them. It takes 3 more headshots. Another 'glad I'm not playing this' moment. It works the other way as well, as you too can shrug off countless shots.

The mine fight was way long. Next up, Buffalo Soldier. At least the game keeps changing things up.

The fight against Colonel Daren seems almost anti-climactic, but the loss of Wolf adds something to the simple revenge story. Is Red going to die at the end also? Were you supposed to think Red was going for the scalp when he walked Wolf's knife over to Daren's body?

Some players play better than others, have more money, buy more stuff and upgrades. Some use better tactics, and show much practice. For such a simple game, it seems like it can be quite a time sink for what you're getting out of it.

Armored train chase. I like a horse than can take a cannon ball with you, and still come back to you lying in the grass, and wait for you to get back on.

Battle Royale. There are 4 high level entrants - where did they get all these nobodies to volunteer to get killed? 2 of the 4 finalists are good guys, how are they going to... oh, just disqualify them. OK.

Nothing more frustrating than killing an enemy, and they just get back up and you have to fight them again. Is Mr. Kelley supposed to be the human version of Puss in Boots?

The battle in the mansion is long, but the ending wraps up quickly, and as expected. Red walks off with the Scorpion, his revenge, and not much more.

Now I can read some text.

https://www.video-games-museum.com/en/manual/Playstation%202/55234_us-Red-Dead-Revolver.pdf

Reading the manual would have taken a lot of the guess work out of how the game works. And it's not even that spoilery.

https://www.ireddead.com/reddeadrevolver/guides/journal-entries

100%'ing this game is 100%'ing the journal.

For such a simple game there are an awful lot of named characters. Not even going to try and guess what I need to know for next game in series.

The Sheriff keeps a very nice scrapbook. I don't know why they bothered writing a bio for every mini boss; they don't seem discernible in the game, and the non-diegetic text doesn't connect.

Lot of guides on this site, including a full walkthrough in text form. This makes for good reading, and would have been a fine thing to read along with the watchthrough. Lots of little tidbits here, including some surprising ones like bullets drop over long distances.

After you play the game once there are not much further reasons to play, but there are harder modes, more chances to unlock things, cheat modes, etc. The strangest unlock is "Red Wood Revolver Mode" where you can play as a wooden character "Manny Quinn." This feels like an inside joke that was left in the game for some reason.

https://www.ireddead.com/reddeadrevolver/news/complete-walkthrough-for-red-dead-revolver

This is kind of interesting.

2025.09.20

This might not have been such a bad game to play, but for the endless grind of shooting the same enemies over and over, in an environment that doesn't make sense for that. It's one thing to do that in a sci-fi or fantasy game with shields, armor, etc. but a game where you need to keep head-shotting bosses so much you lose count just feels stupid.

More text: https://reddead.fandom.com/wiki/Red_Dead_Revolver

"Set in the 1880s" - I've been curious what year this was set in. There are in game weapon descriptions from the 1870s, so 1880s works.

"Red Dead Revolver was released to mixed reviews, gaining praise for its western aesthetics, uniqueness among the third-person shooter genre and story, but criticism towards its outdated gameplay elements, repetitive action, and difficult learning curve." This sums up the situation perfectly. This game was already outdated for its day, but there's still something about it.

"The entire story of Red Dead Revolver takes place in the Revolver Universe, a continuity separate from the Red Dead Redemption canon."

"Red Dead Revolver remains the only title set in this universe, as the franchise was eventually rebooted to explore new narratives and themes within an open-world Western setting."

Interesting. Apparently nothing I learned here matters in RDR, but it still matters to me as it's spiritual predecessor. This is not surprising coming from Rockstar, where I'm already used to things like this in the GTA series.

https://reddead.fandom.com/wiki/Red_Harlow

"Red Harlow seems to have been named in honor of the Red Wolf Tribe by his mother."

I'm not sure I made that connection, that's useful. Not sure why that should carry over to Red Dead Redemption, but I can't look into it further without spoilers until I actually play RDR.

While going down some rabbit holes of links, I come across a wikipedia entry about The Quick and the Dead (1995 film), a Western about a Battle Royal style competition in the the town of Redemption. The whole contest feels very shoehorned into the game; surprised they didn't use the Redemption name now instead of next game.

reddead.net seems long dead, one of the last big captures:

https://web.archive.org/web/20120506085525/http://www.reddead.net/forums/index.php/board,25.0.html

Interesting find: people think Gun is a better predecessor to Red Dead Redemption than Revolver.

It's from 2005, just a year after Revolver, and it's on Steam.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2610/GUN/

Maybe I should play this next, before RDR. It might be a good substitute for not having played Revolver.

2025.10.07

The Making Of Red Dead Revolver Documentary

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qx8k0gtZnY0

this just feels like a rehash of the Polygon article; skip

I think I'm done here. Revolver happened, so I need to know more, and I probably gave it more time than it was worth. Back to the series.