Red Dead Redemption Goes Backwards Compatible

At last years E3 conference in LA, Microsoft announced that it would be bringing fans their number one requested feature for the Xbox One, that feature was of course the ability to play their old Xbox 360 games on the Xbox One, a feature called Backwards Compatibility.  This news went down a storm at E3 2015 and was probably the biggest thing announced at the show, it even left Sony a little shocked.  After the announcement was made, Microsoft asked it's fans to vote on which games they would like to see given the backwards compatible treatment.  A year on from the initial vote and we are finally going to get the game that has pretty much remained in the top three for the last 12 months along with the Call Of Duties of this world, that game of course is the utterly brilliant, open world western masterpiece that is Red Dead Redemption.

Red Dead was developed by Rockstar and was released back in May 2010, Rockstar are of course the same folks behind the GTA series, these guys and girls sure know how to put a game together.  Since it's release, Red Dead has sold over 14 million copies  and has collected numerous Game Of The Year awards from various gaming sites and magazines.  For some people, including myself, Red Dead surpasses anything that GTA has achieved over the years, don't get me wrong, I love the GTA series, they are masterpieces in their own right but the thing that sets Red Dead apart is the setting and the pace of the game.

Set in the decline of the American frontier in 1911, in the Western United States, Red Dead offers a complete change of pace to the tyre screeching, hustle and bustle cities that feature in the GTA games, here is an open world that you mostly navigate on foot or horse back, a world that looks amazing at all times, be it night or day, a world that oozes with atmosphere and is a whole lot of fun to go and explore.  Some of you out there might prefer the cityscapes of the GTA games, but for me the open world of Red Dead is far more beautiful, some of the vistas will take your breath away, you can see for miles and miles, the landscape is just crying out to be explored, the music sucks you in too, it all comes together in one stunning package.

I recently had a blast of Red Dead on my old 360, it still stands up today, it still feels fresh, it still captivates you completely, it is one of the best games of the last ten years and even 6 years after it's launch it is still is managing to post silly sales figures.  Since this news broke yesterday, Red Dead sales on Amazon have shot up 6000%, the reason for this is simple, Red Dead Redemption is brilliant and on Friday it becomes available to play on the Xbox One via backwards compatibility.

Video By IGN