Video Game Review: Red Dead Redemption is GTA on horseback

Red Dead Redemption★★★★PS3/XBOX 360

As if hijacking a car, running over civilians and blowing said car up in the middle of an intersection wasn't enough to whet every gamer's appetite for mindless destruction, Rockstar Games, the maker of Grand Theft Auto, is releasing Red Dead Redemption on May 18.

The player will take on the role of John Marston, a former outlaw blackmailed by federal agents to trek through the frontier in the early 1990s, bringing justice and the law to the Wild West. Instead of hijacking cars, he'll steal a horse or a carriage and then engage in an epic horseback-riding chase.

Grand Theft Auto let gamers roam cities like Vice City and Liberty City, which had very open-world feels to them. In Red Dead Redemption, the frontier becomes the gamer's playground. The openness of the setting along with the change in time periods gives the game a more rustic feel, but also incorporates the game mechanics that GTA players have come to love.

And don't forget about the violence. Bank robberies, runaway trains and shootouts will all be a significant part in this Wild West adventure.

It's time to get out of the city and go into the wilderness to leave those pesky sirens behind and instead running from furious galloping.