If someone told me years ago that one of my favorite videogame moments in recent memory would happen in a Rockstar game, I would probably have laughed. And maybe pushed them into a mud puddle. I love Rockstar and think they make really amazing games, but I think of their games as ambitious, technically impressive experiences, not as games containing a large amount of emotionally powerful moments -- moments that deeply affect me and change the way I look at videogames.
But then, Rockstar released Red Dead Redemption.
The game is visually impressive and a technical marvel, sure, but there is a moment near the end of the game that completely blew me away the first time I experienced it. Not only is this moment shocking, it hits you in the gut with its emotional punch, and touches your heart with its surprising beauty.
It may just be my favorite videogame moment of this generation.
The Set-Up
I almost didn’t play Red Dead Redemption when the game was first released. As mentioned, I have always loved Rockstar games, but never feel the need to play them right away. The reviews for Red Dead Redemption were outstanding, but there was something about the game that didn’t initially appeal to me.
Maybe it was the tepid gameplay of the original game (Red Dead Redemption is a spiritual sequel to 2004’s mediocre Red Dead Revolver); maybe it was the unique, yet bare, Old West setting. Whatever the reason, I wasn’t going to play the game at all ... until I heard it was a pretty incredible experience from start to finish.
After hearing that, I had to try out Red Dead Redemption for myself.
In the game, you play as John Marston, a retired outlaw and former member of a notorious gang.
At the very start of the game, Marston is dragged away from his wife and son by government agents. To reunite with them, Marston is told that he must infiltrate his old gang and put an end to all of its leaders. Including capturing or killing a man named Bill Williamson.
Agreeing to do anything to get his loving family back, Marston agrees.
His quest to bring Williamson to his end takes him to many different locations and through even more dangerous missions and shocking plot twists.
Eventually, Marston kills Williamson in a massive shootout/betrayal in Mexico.
Finished with his mission, Marston returns to the urban settlement of Blackwater to be reunited with his family -- his main motivation for embarking on his dangerous journey in the first place.
Unfortunately, the government agents inform Marston that he is not done with his mission. He still has one more person to take care of: the original gang leader, Dutch van der Linde.
Obviously angry, but, again willing to do anything to see his family, Marston agrees to find Dutch.
In a confrontation on the edge of a cliff, Dutch commits suicide in front of Marston, warning him of the horrors and dangers of trusting the government just before he dies.
Returning with news of Dutch’s death, the agents finally grant Marston his wish, letting him return to his family and his ranch.
It is here on the Marston ranch when this week’s Memory Card moment occurs: The Marston legacy.
The Moment
John Marston’s reunion with his family is wonderful. But, like with any family (especially one that includes a mother and son that feel slightly abandoned), highly emotional.
But despite the emotions, Marston’s wife Abigail and son Jack are happy to see him, and even happier that they are once again reunited.
Instead of the game ending at this point, the gameplay continues, following Marston as he participates in multiple “missions” that involve doing regular, everyday things around the farm. He is required to herd cattle, scare some crows away from the corn silo, and teach Jack how to hunt and ride a horse.
As his missions with Jack continue, the bond between him and his son grows.
In a game filled with violent, action-filled missions, performing daily, almost mundane duties around the ranch is a huge change of pace.
After many of these missions, the player starts to feel the game may end with Marston and his family living a happy life -- the perfect, peaceful closing epilogue to a game centered around a man’s search for his family.
But before the sun sets on Marston’s tale, his life is abruptly interrupted.
One morning, the same government agents that worked with Marston to bring down his former gang show up at his ranch. They have betrayed Marston and are there to take care of him and his family once and for all.
Marston knows what he has to do.
Causing a distraction, he gets his family away from the ranch and tells them to ride away as fast as they can. Upset, Abigail and Jack refuse, not wanting to leave his side. Marston promises that he will follow close behind, finally convincing his family to flee the dangerous scene.
As soon as his family is far enough away, Marston steps out in front of the ranch house.
The government agents -- too numerous to count! -- start to approach.
Marston looks over in the direction of his family. He can no longer see them. Their distance from the bloody chaos that is about to occur comforts him.
He smiles.
The government agents move closer, starting to surround Marston.
Marston raises his gun. At this point, the player takes over as the game enters “dead eye” mode, a mode that lets Marston aim and shoot his gun in slow motion.
Although “dead eye” mode helps Marston take down multiple agents, there are way too many of them for him to handle.
As his “dead eye” mode fades away, gunshots fill the air.
Marston is struck by a storm of bullets.
His body falls to the ground.
After hearing the gunshots, Abigail and Jack rear back their horses and hurry back to the ranch.
When they return, the agents are gone. All that remains is the body of Marston.
Abigail and Jack rush to Marston’s side and kneel down next to his still-warm body.
Abigail can’t contain her emotions. Jack embraces his mother, holding her close.
The screen fades to black.
When it fades back in, Jack and Abigail are standing in front of Marston’s grave. The phrase “Blessed are the Peacemakers” is inscribed on the wooden cross.
A gorgeous song plays in the background.
The scene fades out once again, with Jack and Abigail standing over the grave of their beloved father and husband, one of the bravest and most loyal men they have ever known.
In a shocking twist, the game does not end here. Instead, a new scene begins, showing Marston’s grave, somewhat aged.
Standing over Marston’s grave is a rugged-looking man with a striking resemblance to John.
It is revealed to be Jack, Marston’s son. Years have passed and Jack has aged significantly.
Older Jack nods his head, puts on his hat, and walks away. The camera slowly pans over and shows another grave, this one newly built. It is the grave of Jack’s mother, Abigail.
At this point, the player takes control of Jack. One last mission awaits him. He must find the government agent that betrayed his father and bring him to justice.
Marston’s legacy lives on in his son, a son who is determined to avenge the family he loves so dearly.
You can watch Marston’s tragic, heartbreaking sacrifice right here:
The Impact
Whew! This moment really gets me every time I experience it. And there are so many reasons I absolutely adore it.
First off, the initial epilogue is completely unlike anything I have ever played in a game before.
In most Rockstar games (maybe all Rockstar games), the last mission before the credits roll is an over-the-top gun battle set among some ridiculous set piece.
And that mission exists in Red Dead Redemption. Before Dutch kills himself, the last few missions are filled with epic gun battles that take place in epic locations. But once Dutch dies, the game doesn’t end.
Marston rides back to reunite with his family, and still, the game doesn’t end.
At this point the player must participate in a decent chunk of missions that find Marston living his life on the ranch with his family. It goes completely against all the action-filled quests throughout most of Red Dead Redemption, and is a shocking change of pace.
And even though these missions could technically be considered “boring” when compared to early tasks, I found myself unbelievably sucked in to what was happening in the game. I embraced every second that Marston spent with his family. I found each mission, as slow as they were, to be beautiful, peaceful, and the perfect closing to the game.
Red Dead Redemption is all about Marston trying to find his family, so how else to end the game except to show Marston living his life with the family he loves? It just feels right and makes perfect sense.
As these missions were going on, I truly thought this was how the game would end. I thought after one special mission -- maybe with my son; maybe with my wife -- the game would fade out, ending peacefully for the Marston family.
But then it happens.
After one harmless mission, as Marston and his family are asleep, the government agents show up.
When this happened I knew something bad was about to happen.
But Marston is the hero of the game. Nothing that terrible would happen, right?
I was wrong.
After Abigail and Jack flee, Marston makes the ultimate sacrifice to save his family.
And this sacrifice itself is a moment of brilliance.
The way Marston takes a deep breath before he opens the door to the barn to confront his attackers. The way the door swings open and the camera slowly moves forward, revealing the staggering amount of enemies before him. It is all beautiful and perfectly directed.
And to top it all off, the player is given one final chance to take control of Marston. Automatically, the game switched to “Dead Eye” mode and lets the player (and, in turn, Marston) take out as many agents as possible.
You know you won’t be able to defeat them all. But this last creative choice perfectly illustrates the kind of person Marston is. He is not going down without a fight.
Once “Dead Eye” mode ends, it is all over. The agents still alive fill Marston’s body with bullets.
The moment is completely tragic. A main character in game. Gone forever. It’s a pretty brave decision for a potential franchise waiting to happen.
And it doesn’t end there. If all of this brilliance isn’t enough, the game then switches to control of Abigail and Jack. As a player, you know what just went down. When you take control of Marston’s family, you ride as fast as you can back to the ranch.
Maybe there is a way to still save him! More than any other scene in the game, this moment carries with it an immense sense of urgency.
No matter how fast you ride, though, Marston cannot be saved.
As his family mourns him, the game fades out, revealing its final, stunning twist.
Jack Marston is now older, and the player is in full control of him. With both of your parents’ graves in front of you, Jack has nothing on his mind but revenge.
And following (and loving!) these characters throughout the entire game, the player also wants to get revenge on the person who wronged the Marston family.
Every beat of this final epilogue is perfect. Absolutely perfect.
I love finding moments in videogames that surprise and impress me -- that’s what The Memory Card is all about! And this entire sequence is the perfect example of a videogame moment that truly changes how I look at and feel about videogames. It is memorable in every sense of the word.
Chad Concelmo is Destructoid's features editor. He loves hanging out with awesome people. That's why Destructoid makes him so happy, since it is full of THE MOST AWESOME PEOPLE OF ALL TIME! Also, dolphins.
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Chad enjoys punching old ladies in the face, Super Metroid, Zelda: A Link to the Past on the SNES (best system ever!), Final Fantasy VI, Day of the Tentacle, Shadow of the Colossus, Mother 3, Beyond Good & Evil, Contra III, Valkyria Chronicles, Punch-Out!!, Half-Life 2, and Super Mario Galaxy 2.
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Awesome, I completely agree. I really loved John Marston as a character, and what makes it more tragic is that even though the game is an open world game, and you can continue to play and explore after you complete it, you can't explore it with John any more (without starting a new game) and that more than anything drove his sacrifice home, and made his death feel more real.
The epilogue of the game was really the only part I thought that lived up to the promise of what RDR could have been. It was pretty darn amazing, impressive, and made me care about Marston, his plight, and his family more than the rest of the game combined.
Indeed. I jumped on Twitter and gushed about how epic the ending was as soon as I had completed it. I replayed it 3 more times to show friends who were equally impressed. One of the best endings out there.
Bravo Chad. This was one of the most unique and memorable endings in a game I can remember.
The only part I didn't enjoy was Jack's voice. It was so high-pitched and annoying that I couldn't really stand riding around as him. Had to restart the game to get John Marston's sweet voice back.
Agreed. RDR overall was very boring to play. It is a beautiful game and the world breathes more than most, but the smoke and mirrors are as apparent and boring in the end as any other.
This and a few other moments were amazing. But 2/3, perhaps even 3/4 of the content were a chore to slog through and once I beat the game I put it down and haven't picked it back up since. A powerful ending doesn't make up for what ultimately amounts to being a pretty average game.
It feels like the game got GotY simply on production values and the ending alone - as if the reviews and people who played it suddenly forgot how boring the rest of the game was more often than not.
I was especially surprised by the ending because I'd inadvertently read a "spoiler" that wasn't true at all (Edgar Ross kills Marston's family).
I didn't realize at first that Jack had a final mission (it's marked on the map as a stranger encounter rather than a full-fledged mission). When the credits finally rolled at the end of that mission, I felt a sense of satisfaction I've rarely gotten from a video game.
I've agreed with every Memory Card.......until now.
I just am not into the ending, AT ALL, for many reasons....reasons I am too lazy to describe. But through the dolphin eyes of THE CHAD, I will vicariously accept it.
cool, i never finished this game... i was absolutely enthralled at first, and got sucked into the game and the atmosphere. but soon i got bored playing it, and just hated how john was basically a bitch the whole time, doing anything anyone told him to do. it seemed so contradictory to his character.
BUT i'm glad to hear it picked back up at the end. nice article!
I actually found this part of the game the worst. I agree with Drakengard that most of the game was a slog to get through in the first place and then to have to do menial tasks like shooting crows around a silo and herding cows (again!), I couldn't do it anymore. I took the game out, sold it, watched the ending on Youtube. *shrug* Meh.
I've been a bit hesitant to try this game out, which is a shame given my love for the old west. After reading this Memory Card, I think I'm going to give it a shot. :D
@kami
WERK, YA DAMN NAG! I don't know anyone who liked his voice.
@Drakengard
I feel that that same sentiment can be applied to GTA4 as well though, RDR's more methodical out of mission pace and lack of cars just made it that much more apparent how lacking the base mechanics are.
I personally still love the game, but then again, I play it by a bunch of arbitrary role play rules I set up for myself.
What i loved more than anything else, it's the sad thing is that even with all efforts of John, Jack ends been an outlaw killing the now awarded-n-retired cop at the end.
Not to mention, the awesome idea of making SO hard to find the ol' cop; the fact that the game make you ride so many in order to find him, it's awesome. It make you hate him more for been so hard to track down!
@MrFunsockz
Yep! Jesus....that line... The best part is he says it EVERY TEN DAMN SECONDS he is riding a horse. I wish they gave the player the option to switch back to John Marston after the last mission was complete.
I actually had a hard time with the ending in RDR despite liking the tone of the game as it led up to that point (Mind you, I didnt like the mundane farm tasks, but the cutscenes were a treat as the mood evolved). I felt that John's death was almost anti-climatic in the way it was presented and Jack's eventual maturity and quest for vengeance was left feeling like a sloppy side quest. I'm not surprised people did end up enjoying it, but I have to say that for me, it was a let down.
RDR is one of my favorite games in recent memory (screw the haters), and everything you detailed from "The Moment" onward moved me in the same way it moved you. Such an amazing videogame experience.
Up until Dutch's death I thought the game was okay. It initially blew me away and then just started degrading from there... the menial farm tasks were lame and then the final shoot-out, as tense as it was, destroyed everything I thought I knew about Marston's character. And then having his son get revenge completely abolished Marston's sacrifice by throwing out redemption. In short, I didn't like this game, but I understand if other people do. Should have been called Red Dead Revenge.
I like what they did with the ending from a narrative standpoint. My only complaint is that it kills the replay value. Don't get me wrong, it was awesome the first time around. It's just that I found it a challenge to revisit the experience once I realized nothing I did as that character would pay off in the end.
My second playthrough I simply stopped once John made it home because screw it, that's the best ending he's going to get. Plus I liked the surrealism of having that one spot in the yard he couldn't go to lest something horrible take place. It was an area of singularity, his personal hole in things, if that makes sense.
Then on my third I rushed through the core path as John and tried doing the side missions as Jack. Problem was, Jack's path seemed depressing and pointless no matter how I tried to play it. His family was dead and he had literally no story, instead being condemned to aimlessly wander the earth.
So yeah, out of these two approaches to a replay I'd have to say I found the first far more rewarding than the second. Great game but really, I'd rather play something I can actually win.
I love that final Dead Eye moment. I love how you realize halfway through picking your targets that John is done for. Letting the player control the final struggle is amazing. It reminded me of *SPOILERS* the end of Shadow of the Colossus where you are being sealed by magic, but can still try to resist the pull of the spell.
I really enjoyed the whole game, but that ending was completely amazing. The final final mission, having to ride all the way out there was greatly satisfying.
I also like how they find ways to reconcile side mission you either handn't picked up, or hadn't completed be "accepted" as John. They recorded so much dialog for Jack!
I know a bunch of people really didn't get up over this ending sequence, but it was really fantastic to me. The whole mundane mission line, and going back to see Bonnie- really sweet moments with John, his wife and poor flame holding Bonnie (she was always to cool and too respectful to cause a fuss: classy!). This game more than any wrapped up the Rockstar open world template in a a very nice package.
Also, Chad: did you ever meet the man in the black top hat, and do his three side missions? There's some great moments with him: really puts a righteous, quirky spin on this ending! Maybe not quite Memory Card material, but great mysterious flare for this mostly grounded world and story.
damn that was a good game, I have to admit, I used the game a reference in my end of high school exam, but said it was a book, and I aced that shit. themes of the individual against the state, belonging, and adaptation to modernization. such a good game
On the one hand, the ending totally fits with the ''government always gets the last laugh'' theme that runs through the game, but on the other hand, i was disappointed that Rockstar killed off one of the best protagonists ever created
I heard a lot of people complain about the chore missions of RDR. I loved them for all the same reasons you did. Being a father myself it really hit home. Thanks for the article!
Reading Chad's words, I understand him perfectly. Many of what he says here, is very close to my own words since I finished that game. Red Dead Redemption is, by far, my favorite game of all time. Simply because, never before, I shed a tear in a game story. Even MGS4, a game which almost made me tearful for the sheed bliss of the experience, wasn't as intense.
In the final moments of John Marston, I choked. When the credits start to roll after the Jack Marston sequence, I put down the controller respectfully, listening to Ashtar Command's Deadman's Gun, and I was sure I just had experienced one of the greatest moments in videogame history. It was one experience I shall treasure for a lifetime, and share with my children someday, when they ask me "Dad, why do you love games so much?".
For me, the whole shootout with the agents, the escape and the final showdown ocurren amidst a violent thundering storm just before dusk... that slow camera pan over Jhon's bleeding body under a gray sky and the falling rain, made this moment a lot sadder an more awesome at the same time.
Great article. Perfectly describes why this is one of my all-time favorite games in spite of the fact that I don't particularly enjoy the gameplay (I actually enjoyed the "chore" missions; it was a nice break from the "go to a place and shoot everyone" missions). You should consider doing a mini-Memory-Card about how amazing it was to ride into Mexico for the first time with that badass José Gonzalez song playing.
The ending of this game was really great, probably the best part of the whole thing. To me, if you cut out most of section in Mexico (leaving the awesome part where you first get in though, the part with the song), and took out some of the missions that made John feel a bit too much like an errand boy, you'd have one of the tightest and best narratives in all of gaming. As it stands, the game is a little bloated and unfocused, but the ending is damn near perfect.
This is easily my favorite Rockstar game and very possibly my favorite game of the current console generation as well. The whole game was fantastic, but that ending... goddamn that ending...
Yeah, this game caught me by surprise as well. I ended up loving it after initially ignoring it.
Also, my personal favorite part was Bonnie kicking dirt. That one moment of her kicking dirt after talking to John and his wife was just... amazing. So much was said in one simple movement.
Brilliant ending, though I felt the game lacked a central, proper villain, in the way most westerns have (who could forget Gene Hackman in Unforgiven). Bill Williamson, Allende, De Santa, Dutch and Ross - it kept switching and none, other than the last two, were that notable.
I love this moment. I knew exactly how it would end, because it is a perfectly narrated tragedy. You just know the sins of his past will catch up, no matter how much John wants to change, and i salute Rockstar for having the balls to pull it off (unlike say, MGS4, which also felt like a tragedy but ended with a somewhat tacked on happy ending).
I was in the same boat. Took me a long time to actually get this game, and it quickly gained a place in my top five, thanks mostly to the ending.
When Jack Marston shoots the agent, then looks at his gun, unsure of himself...that brought the game home for me. You want revenge. You want to kill the agent, just like Jack would. But that's not want John Marston wanted; he wanted a better life for his son. He did everything he did so his son wouldn't have to be what he was. However, regardless of what he did, he couldn't stop it; it was out of his hands.
Such a moving game. Wish more modern games could pull this off.
Ahem! Can you do a blog post of The Memory Card about the moment when Balrog and Misery make the Mimiga (can't remember her name, Toroko I think?) eat the red flower? That scene really touched my inner sadness.
I won't reveal what happens, so look it up or (unlike me) play the game!
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Contest:
4:00 PM on 08.04.2011 | 
I love that game. Great read as always Chad!
The only part I didn't enjoy was Jack's voice. It was so high-pitched and annoying that I couldn't really stand riding around as him. Had to restart the game to get John Marston's sweet voice back.
Great article!
Agreed. RDR overall was very boring to play. It is a beautiful game and the world breathes more than most, but the smoke and mirrors are as apparent and boring in the end as any other.
This and a few other moments were amazing. But 2/3, perhaps even 3/4 of the content were a chore to slog through and once I beat the game I put it down and haven't picked it back up since. A powerful ending doesn't make up for what ultimately amounts to being a pretty average game.
It feels like the game got GotY simply on production values and the ending alone - as if the reviews and people who played it suddenly forgot how boring the rest of the game was more often than not.
I didn't realize at first that Jack had a final mission (it's marked on the map as a stranger encounter rather than a full-fledged mission). When the credits finally rolled at the end of that mission, I felt a sense of satisfaction I've rarely gotten from a video game.
I just am not into the ending, AT ALL, for many reasons....reasons I am too lazy to describe. But through the dolphin eyes of THE CHAD, I will vicariously accept it.
BUT i'm glad to hear it picked back up at the end. nice article!
WERK, YA DAMN NAG! I don't know anyone who liked his voice.
@Drakengard
I feel that that same sentiment can be applied to GTA4 as well though, RDR's more methodical out of mission pace and lack of cars just made it that much more apparent how lacking the base mechanics are.
I personally still love the game, but then again, I play it by a bunch of arbitrary role play rules I set up for myself.
Not to mention, the awesome idea of making SO hard to find the ol' cop; the fact that the game make you ride so many in order to find him, it's awesome. It make you hate him more for been so hard to track down!
Yep! Jesus....that line... The best part is he says it EVERY TEN DAMN SECONDS he is riding a horse. I wish they gave the player the option to switch back to John Marston after the last mission was complete.
This was so fucking good :)
RDR is one of my favorite games in recent memory (screw the haters), and everything you detailed from "The Moment" onward moved me in the same way it moved you. Such an amazing videogame experience.
Awesome, awesome stuff!
But playing the Zombie DLC, it contained some humorous allusions to this that had me cackling with laughter.
My second playthrough I simply stopped once John made it home because screw it, that's the best ending he's going to get. Plus I liked the surrealism of having that one spot in the yard he couldn't go to lest something horrible take place. It was an area of singularity, his personal hole in things, if that makes sense.
Then on my third I rushed through the core path as John and tried doing the side missions as Jack. Problem was, Jack's path seemed depressing and pointless no matter how I tried to play it. His family was dead and he had literally no story, instead being condemned to aimlessly wander the earth.
So yeah, out of these two approaches to a replay I'd have to say I found the first far more rewarding than the second. Great game but really, I'd rather play something I can actually win.
I agree, but you missed the "sweet, sweet revenge" portion of the thing, which made it that much more amazing.
Getting to Deadeye-kill that Ross motherfucker is one of the most satisfying moments in gaming.
I also like how they find ways to reconcile side mission you either handn't picked up, or hadn't completed be "accepted" as John. They recorded so much dialog for Jack!
I know a bunch of people really didn't get up over this ending sequence, but it was really fantastic to me. The whole mundane mission line, and going back to see Bonnie- really sweet moments with John, his wife and poor flame holding Bonnie (she was always to cool and too respectful to cause a fuss: classy!). This game more than any wrapped up the Rockstar open world template in a a very nice package.
Also, Chad: did you ever meet the man in the black top hat, and do his three side missions? There's some great moments with him: really puts a righteous, quirky spin on this ending! Maybe not quite Memory Card material, but great mysterious flare for this mostly grounded world and story.
HAHAHA. Nice. :)
In the final moments of John Marston, I choked. When the credits start to roll after the Jack Marston sequence, I put down the controller respectfully, listening to Ashtar Command's Deadman's Gun, and I was sure I just had experienced one of the greatest moments in videogame history. It was one experience I shall treasure for a lifetime, and share with my children someday, when they ask me "Dad, why do you love games so much?".
It really was perfect.
Also, my personal favorite part was Bonnie kicking dirt. That one moment of her kicking dirt after talking to John and his wife was just... amazing. So much was said in one simple movement.
When Jack Marston shoots the agent, then looks at his gun, unsure of himself...that brought the game home for me. You want revenge. You want to kill the agent, just like Jack would. But that's not want John Marston wanted; he wanted a better life for his son. He did everything he did so his son wouldn't have to be what he was. However, regardless of what he did, he couldn't stop it; it was out of his hands.
Such a moving game. Wish more modern games could pull this off.
I won't reveal what happens, so look it up or (unlike me) play the game!