Red Dead Redemption is set during the decline of the American frontier in the year 1911 and follows John Marston, a former outlaw whose wife and son are taken hostage by the government in ransom for his services as a hired gun. Having no other choice, Marston sets out to bring three members of his former gang to justice.
The game is played from a third-person perspective. The player may freely roam in its interactive open 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 cooperative and competitive gameplay in a recreation of the single-player setting.
The game's development lasted over five years, and it became one of the most expensive video games ever made. The working hours and managerial style of the studio during development was met with public complaints from staff members.
Rockstar improved its proprietary game engine to increase its technological capabilities. The development team conducted extensive research, visiting historical American landmarks and analyzing classic Western films, to achieve realism while creating the game.
The team hired professional actors to perform the body movements through motion capture. Red Dead Redemption features an original score composed by Bill Elm and Woody Jackson. The game's development received controversy following accusations of unethical working practices.
