Red Dead Redemption Multiplayer

Aside from the loosely-structured play offered by Free Roam mode, you're also free to engage other players in battles around the world in even more loose terms, and it's here that the purely player-driven stories begin to emerge. For example, I engaged in a protracted 20-minute shoot-out with another player with a high wanted level who had climbed onto the roof of a bank, and from that position was terrorising the area. Climbing the side of the building and timing runs between cover in order to inch closer to his position was a taut, exhilarating experience, as memorable as any of the set-pieces laid before John Marston.

In another moment, a friend and I tracked a solitary player high into the snowy mountains, dismounted and found the spaghetti western turned Enemy at the Gates, as we sniped and flanked him from behind trees. At one point my companion, lining up a 20-metre headshot, was attacked from behind by a mountain lion, displeased at our disturbance of his hibernation.

These memorable moments, cultivated in the sandpit of Red Dead Redemption's endlessly compelling world, provide the unique, player-specific talking points largely missing from the set narrative of the single-player game. Only the restrictive 16-player cap grates, as you'll need to make a concerted effort to encounter other players when so few are scattered across such a huge expanse of land. Raise this and Red Dead Redemption's Free Roam mode would feel every inch the MMO.

Clearing bandit camps and tracking and killing other 'wanted' players earns your character experience points, which feed into a Modern Warfare-style ladder of levels and unlocks. As you increase your online level, so you unlock new modes of transport, weapons and avatars. As with Infinity Ward's hugely influential multiplayer structure, there are 50 ranks to climb, along with Prestige-style bonuses if you choose to start again from Level 1 once you reach the top.

While you'll gain handfuls of experience points in Free Roam mode, most levelling will be done in the combative modes proper: Deathmatch, Goldrush (in which you grab bags and return them to your base) and Hold Your Own, a variation on Capture the Flag. These are available for single players or teams and can be accessed at any time simply by hitting the back button and selecting one from a drop down menu.

Every competitive match starts with a Mexican stand-off, with the last man standing free to run off and take up a strategic position while the rest of the players respawn. Our fear was that the poor cover mechanic and snap-to-aim system would result in unsatisfying combat, but in reality each competitive mode is tight and rewarding, with thoughtfully-constructed maps (pulled from the main world) with excellent cover and choke points and design that encourages player flow around each.

The only complaint at the moment is that there aren't dedicated rooms for players using Expert Aim mode (which requires the player to track enemies with the analogue stick, rather than simply have the reticule stick to them) so everyone is better off using Casual Aim scheme for an advantage.

But with Rockstar's promise of Expert Aim-only rooms, new modes, maps and an extensive co-op campaign on the horizon, Red Dead Redemption's multiplayer is a triumph, bettering that of GTAIV in almost every regard (aside from breadth). Well-balanced between structured play and free-form playpen, the multiplayer offers a perfect counterpoint to the single-player story.