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1[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Red_Dead_Revolver_Coverart.png]]
2[[caption-width-right:256:[[RoaringRampageOfRevenge He's not very happy about his parents being killed.]] That's for sure.]]
3
4''Red Dead Revolver'' is a third-person shooter from 2004, developed by Creator/RockstarGames after sitting in Capcom's DevelopmentHell for a while as ''VideoGame/GunSmoke'''s SpiritualSuccessor.
5
6You play as Red Harlow, who after being violently orphaned at a young age becomes a bounty hunter in classic ManWithNoName tradition, hunting down [[WorldOfHam colourful outlaws]] for whatever money he can get for them. A chance encounter puts him on the trail of the man behind the death of his parents, and the game climaxes in a huge battle to finally bring him to justice.
7
8Sound vaguely familiar? That's because the game's an extended homage to the classic SpaghettiWestern, as least as much as the prior game ''VideoGame/MaxPayne'' was to film noir. A lot of effort went into the atmosphere, including giving an oversaturated and 'grainy' cinematic quality to the visuals and building a [[SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic fantastic score]] heavily influenced by (and almost indistiguishable from) Ennio Morricone's best.
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10Despite having very little hype and a disjointed production poking into the gameplay here and there, with its superb atmosphere, large and memorable cast and extremely fun multiplayer on its side Red Dead Revolver got good reviews and became something of a CultClassic. In 2010, it was followed by the huge hit and critical darling ''VideoGame/RedDeadRedemption'', which borrowed the game's Western setting but gave it a sandbox framework (well more of one anyway; ''Revolver's'' main town hub is explorable). It isn't a direct sequel, though the story of the game does get a mention and you can play as ''Revolver'' characters via DLC.
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12----
13!!This game features examples of:
14
15* AceCustom: Jack, Annie, Buffalo Soldier, and General Diego all get unique custom guns as their weapons with [[ICallItVera individual names]]. The Scorpion Revolver is unique as well, with only two of them ever made, with Nate's being apparently destroyed by fire, but not before being used to [[AnArmAndALeg literally disarm]] Colonel Daren. The disadvantage to these guns is that ammo pickups don't occur, so once you've run dry, you'll have to switch to another weapon.
16* AcquiredPoisonImmunity: The same [[AllNaturalSnakeOil snake oil]] that Professor Perry's poisoned entire communities with (and makes anyone else ''[[BodyHorror putrefy]]'' if they get it on their skin) [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane apparently]] acts as a SuperSerum on the man himself.
17* AlliterativeName: "Blind" Willy Wilson.
18* AllThereInTheManual: Background information for about everything can only found in the in-game journal, which is filled by buying various items.
19* AncestralWeapon:
20** Red's Scorpion Revolver, which belonged to his father.
21** The Old Pistol was Nate's originally. He passed it onto Red when he got his Scorpion Revolver made.
22* AnnoyingArrows: Native American enemies fire these in the place of firearms.
23* ArbitraryGunPower:
24** The exquisite pair of Scorpion pistols that Nate Harlow and Griff have custom-made are also the most powerful in the game. One bullet was enough to sever Colonel Daren's left arm from its socket.
25** Generally speaking, RevolversAreJustBetter than rifles in terms of accuracy, damage, and reload speed, though the rifle has the advantages of longer effective range and the ability to zoom in on a target.
26** A particularly egregious example comes in the difference between the Six Shooter and the Revolver, which in reality are both slightly different variants ''of the same gun'' (The Colt Single Action Army), yet the Revolver is way more powerful than the Six Shooter.
27* ArmCannon: Colonel Daren has one after certain events in the beginning of the game.
28-->'''Dan:''' Only a cannon could have replaced that man's arm.
29* ArrowsOnFire: Shadow Wolf's special move is shooting flaming arrows.
30* ArtificialStupidity: The AI is quite buggy in places. Most notably, Annie Stoakes (when you have her as an ally in single player) has an annoying habit of shooting you in the back with her explosive special ability - usually while shouting "Keep going, Red!" - and there are several multiplayer maps where AI opponents will just stand around where they spawn or time-consumingly climb to high places.
31** To say nothing of a mission to rescue Jack Swift from Pig Josh. Jack seems to go completely insane and will fire endlessly at a single patch of wall and Josh will sometimes get caught in a loop of climbing onto and hopping off a tiny ramshackle structure in the middle of the arena.
32* AwesomeButImpractical:
33** Molotov cocktails, poison bottles and dynamite. Although they're very dangerous, they're lofted with a lazy underarm action that makes hitting a moving target almost impossible. The latter also has an extremely long fuse.
34** Several character-specific special abilities in multiplayer also cross into this.
35** The [[GatlingGood Gatling Gun]] is also this. Any time Red comes across one, it's in an elevated and exposed position, it's a little ''too'' accurate for an automatic weapon, making it hard to use it for suppressing fire, and is a turret, meaning that Red has no mobility. It's especially useless against Pig Josh, since Josh will shrug off damage when fired on if facing you and will blast you off the turret once he gets close.
36%%* BadassBoast: See YouShallNotPass down below.
37* {{Bandito}}: There's a whole category of {{Mooks}} consisting of them, complete with stereotypical accents and GratuitousSpanish.
38* BayonetYa: The Bayonet Rifle. It's not just for show, as it comes with a unique melee animation as opposed to the PistolWhipping used for other weapons. General Diego's unique rifle has this ability as well.
39* BigBad: [[spoiler:Governor Griffon, your father's former partner, who sold you and your family out to Diego and Daren, and used the proceeds to become Governor.]]
40* BigFancyHouse: The second-to-last level takes place in one of these
41* BlingBlingBang: The Widowmaker revolver is one pimped out piece. There's also the Inquisitor, a late game revolver with ornate engravings carried by {{Mook}}s and, of course, the Scorpion Revolver has a scorpion inlaid into the grip and engravings on the barrel.
42* BondOneLiner:
43** Jack Swift after killing knife-thrower Clyde 'The Blade' Slade: "I think you've lost your edge."
44** Jack Swift after killing fire-eater 'Lightning' Larouche: "What an extinguished fellow."
45* BookSafe: You can purchase a "Hollowed Bible" from a merchant in the game. It has no in-game use, but it unlocks a journal page.
46* BoozeBasedBuff: Buying Red Eye Whiskey will increase your maximum [[BulletTime Dead Eye]].
47* BoringYetPractical: The humble {{Revolver|sAreJustBetter}} is available early into the game, does decent damage, can be upgraded and has plentiful ammo for most of the game. Until the [[BlingBlingBang Widowmaker]] becomes available, it's a consistently reliable weapon that will see plenty of use.
48* BountyHunter: Red and Jack are heroic types.
49* BroadStrokes: R* confirmed that ''Revolver'' isn't canon to the ''Redemption'' saga. Despite that, characters and places from ''Revolver'' are often mentioned in campfire stories as if they're real, suggesting that there's an overlap and that some version of ''Revolver's'' story happened in the ''Redemption'' universe.
50* BulletTime: Red's special ability in single player slows down time to allow the player to line up shots. Averted in multiplayer, where it's similar to Jack's ability.
51* BullfightBoss:
52** The fight against Sam in the saloon.
53** Annie Stoakes also faces a pair of buffalo-riding outlaws who can cause her cattle to go nuts and try to flatten her, making them a literal example.
54** Pig Josh combines this trope with ''[[StuffBlowingUp dynamite]]''.
55* TheButcher: Bloody Tom is a former butcher who turned to crime, and still wears his bloodstained apron and gloves.
56* CaptainErsatz: Mr. Kelley has an adopted daughter named Creator/{{Natalie|Portman}} who he's training to be a gunfighter like himself. If Red speaks to her in the saloon, she will sometimes say:
57-->"[[Film/TheProfessional Is life always this hard, or is it just when you're a kid?]]"
58* TheCavalry: Inverted. They show up at the usual time, but they're on the Big Bad's payroll.
59* CheckpointStarvation: Some of the more infamously difficult levels are notorious for their lack of checkpoints. Chief among them are General Diego's infamous bridge level and the final showdown with the governor. Any mistake during these can be costly and will require a complete restart.
60* TheChiefsDaughter: Falling Star, Red's mother.
61* CircusOfFear: Professor Perry leads one of these.
62* ColonelBadass: Colonel Daren doesn't let having his left arm severed stop him from being Diego's right-hand man; he receives a cannon as a prosthetic replacement. [[spoiler: He's also responsible for murdering Red's parents and his cousin.]]
63* CrowdPanic: During his boss battle Mr. Kelley starts unloading at random into the citizens of Brimstone, causing them to scream and run all over the place. This makes it very hard to get a clean shot at him.
64* DamselInDistress: Sheriff O'Grady's daughter is tied up in the middle of Widow's Patch during the fight with Professor Perry. Jack goes to free her initially, but is interrupted by Perry and his gang, whereupon he has to fight them off. She gets captured ''again'' later in the game and Red ends up rescuing her from the mines.
65%%* TheDandy: Jack Swift.
66* DarkActionGirl: Whip-crazy Bad Bessie and Christina, the shotgun-toting lady stripper.
67* DashinglyDapperDerby: Jack Swift's headwear of choice.
68* DeathMountain: Rogue Valley, Bad Bessie's hiding place.
69* TheDragon:
70** Colonel Daren to General Diego.
71** Also Jason Cornet to [[spoiler:Governor Griffon]], to the extent that the former is the last bodyguard Red faces before going up against [[spoiler:Griffon himself]].
72** General Diego is technically this to [[spoiler: Griffon]] though Diego would insist that they are partners.
73* DroppedABridgeOnHim: Though it is implied, [[spoiler: Jack Swift is apparently killed off ''entirely offscreen'' at the end of the game. You don't even see the fight that kills him; he just goes off with Annie and doesn't come back.]] However, in ''Red Dead Redemption'' there is mention of him, as well as being able to use him in mutli-player. Though a Popular rumor is that he secretly left for the quiet retirement he always wanted
74* DualBoss: Happens very frequently in the game.
75* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Is this big time compared to its successors, the ''Red Dead Redemption'' games. In terms of gameplay, ''Revolver'' isn't a WideOpenSandbox, but is instead more of a linear ThirdPersonShooter, albeit with an explorable hub world. The story has a much DenserAndWackier tone than the ''Redemption'' games, which are more melancholy and grounded reflections on the Wild West era. The game doesn't adhere to Rockstar's SignatureStyle, and compared to its successors' realistic art-style, it has {{Anime}} art-style, which looks pretty much out-of-place for a Rockstar title. All of this was due to the fact it started development before Rockstar acquired developer Angel Studios, whom they later renamed to Rockstar San Diego. In fact, Creator/{{Capcom}} was the game's originally intended publisher, which explains why the game lines up more with their style.
76* EeriePaleSkinnedBrunette: Jesse Lynch, who is hinted to be undead.
77* EscortMission: The Siege level, where you have to watch out for your two partners.
78* EvilIsHammy: General Diego is as corrupt as they come and absolutely bombast.
79* {{Expy}}: Red is obviously modeled after Creator/ClintEastwood, [[TheExpyWithNoName more specifically The Man with No Name from the]] ''Film/DollarsTrilogy'', and Josey Wales from ''Film/TheOutlawJoseyWales''.
80* ExtraExtraReadAllAboutIt: Jody the newsie in Brimstone can be found selling papers in this manner. His headlines update after every mission.
81* FakeDifficulty: Absolutely full of it. It's not hard to find players of this game who agree that levels like The Traitor and Siege are entirely dependent on luck rather than skill. The game throws an ''absurd'' amount of enemies at you and somehow expects you to deal with them with little problem. And then you have [[spoiler: the final duel with the Governor, which comes out of nowhere and the player is expected to have absurd reflexes to defend themselves right away. Also, make one mistake and you ''replay the level again''.]]
82* FingerGun: Young Red does this at the opening of the first level.
83* [[FisticuffsBoss Fisticuffs Level]]: One level sees you start [[BarBrawl a bar fight]], in which you can only use your fists and [[GrievousBottleyHarm strategically wielded bottles]].
84* FlareGun: General Diego's special move, which is used to guide cannonfire in his level.
85* FourStarBadass: General Diego. He's very much a FrontlineGeneral in the mission where he's playable, where he fights off the US Army.
86* FunnyForeigner: Gabriel Navarro, Mexican gunfighter and barfly.
87-->"Keel heem, and let's get back to dreenking!"
88* GatlingGood: The preferred Old West method of delivering MoreDakka. A few stationary ones are scattered about the game, and you are required to commandeer a train cart-mounted one to take down a locomotive during one level. Also, Mr. Black likes to keep one in that coffin on his back.
89%%* GeneralRipper: Diego again.
90* GetBackHereBoss:
91** Dammit Professor Perry, ''stop teleporting''!
92** Dammit Kelley, stop running into crowds of innocent bystanders!
93* GhostTown: Tarnation, thanks to Mr Black.
94* GrievousBottleyHarm: In the bar fight level, the only actual weapons you can use are bottles (thrown intact, or broken and wielded like a knife).
95* GroinAttack: One of your melee attacks.
96* GunsAkimbo: Jack with his custom "Showstoppers." Red also has the option of carrying dual pistols.
97* TheGunslinger: The main characters.
98* GunTwirling: Notably practiced by Red and Jack on their introduction screens.
99* GuideDangIt: Unlocking Manny Quinn requires the player to play Showdown Mode with a character linked to their profile and have a cumulative total of six minutes of game time in Showdown Mode while on fire.
100* HandCannon: The Scorpion Revolver is available as a NewGamePlus bonus and its stats outdo every other weapon in terms of both damage output and accuracy, rifles and shotguns included. [[CutscenePowerToTheMax In a cutscene, Red uses it to blow Colonel Daren's arm off with a single shot]].
101* HubLevel: Brimstone allows Red to walk around and talk to the locals as well as check on what bounties need collecting.
102* ImprobableWeaponUser: Where to start? We've got snake oil, boulders, a mining pick, a torch, a lasso, coffee, exploding balistic knives, exploding playing cards, shoulder-mounted howitzers, and a coffin with a freaking [[GatlingGood gatling gun]] in it.
103* ImprovisedArmor: Cooper wears a wooden barrel as body armor.
104* IncendiaryExponent: Manny Quinn's special move is setting himself on fire.
105* InfinityPlusOneSword: The Scorpion Revolver, which has maximum damage and accuracy, fast reload speed and good range.
106* IronicEcho: "What do you say...partner?" [[spoiler: [[ShutUpHannibal *click* BANG]] ]]
107* IronicNickname:
108** "Sissy" Fess, huge guy who can easily throw huge boulders at you.
109** Also "Little Oaf" Whitney, who began being called "Loaf" after he turned out to be quite a bit larger than his father, "Big Oaf".
110* ItsQuietTooQuiet: Said by one of the mooks in Shadow Wolf's level.
111* KillItWithFire:
112** Getting set on fire does a huge amount of damage in single player, and while you're running around trying to beat the flames out you can't defend yourself. In addition, anyone on fire will set anyone they bump into on fire, [[DisasterDominoes who will set anyone they bump into on fire, etc...]] meaning that one flaming attack can cause utter carnage with a bit of luck.
113** One of Professor Perry's cronies is a fire eater who puts his skills to deadly use against the player. You'll also acquire throwable "[[MolotovCocktail Fire Bottles]]" and Shadow Wolf has the ability to shoot [[ArrowsOnFire flaming arrows]].
114* LetsGetDangerous: In multiplayer mode, it's often the most poorly-armed characters who have the most devastating special moves.
115** Inverted rather amusingly in the case of Sheriff O'Grady - his special move is the almost-useless 'Hot Coffee', (you throw a bottle at your enemy, doing minimal damage, and they dance around for a second while their clothes steam) but he starts out armed with a stack of [[KillItWithFire Fire Bottles]].
116* LightningBruiser: [[{{Acrofatic}} Pig Josh]] runs fast and hits hard, and then there's the dynamite.
117* LocomotiveLevel: The TrainJob level where Red has to stop a bunch thieves robbing the train he's in, and the one where you have to stop a train carrying guns.
118* MadBomber: Pig Josh, who is fond of throwing dynamite around. He's even fond of blowing ''himself'' up, but takes no damage from it. The player isnt as lucky.
119* MadeOfPlasticine: Colonel Daren, [[CutscenePowerToTheMax at least in the opening cutscene]], where a young Red Harlow takes his father's gun and fires it, messily blowing off his arm.
120* MagicKiss: Purchasing a kiss from Katie O'Grady will restore Red's health to full.
121* TheManTheyCouldntHang: Mr. Lynch survived being hanged. It shows, as he has hard time keeping his neck straight during his pre-duel scene.
122* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: Professor Perry's teleporting, Grizzly's superhuman agility, and Mr. Black and his henchman's [[NotUsingTheZWord questionable vitality]].
123* MeaningfulName: Some of the multiplayer characters are this. For example, the barrel wearing bandit is named Cooper. A cooper is someone who makes barrels.
124** There's also Ugly Chris who really lives up to his name, and his henchman Chicken, who's sole claim to outlaw fame was murdering a drunken, washed up old gunslinger while he was sleeping. Tellingly, Chicken has the lowest bounty of any outlaw in the game.
125** "Sissy" Fess is a play on ''Sisyphus'', who was given the punishment of rolling a heavy boulder up a hill every day. Fess throws boulders as his special move.
126* MeekTownsman: Sheriff O'Grady, who lets the local outlaws walk all over him.
127* MightyGlacier: Mr. Black. He doesnt look like it, but he soaks up a ton of damage and can dish it out as well.
128* MonsterClown: Early on you do battle with an army of shotgun wielding short clowns from Professor Perry's circus. The background text mentions that they are apparently the offspring of Pig Josh and the circus "batwoman", who disappeared during a storm.
129* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: Mr. Black and Mr. Lynch.
130* NewGamePlus: Finishing the game allows the game to be replayed with all weapons and upgrades unlocked throughout the game, allowing the player a chance to unlock any of the stuff they might have missed the first time around. It's also the only way to make use of the Scorpion Revolver, which is rewarded for completing the game.
131* NooseNecktie: Jesse Lynch still wears the noose that hanged him around his neck.
132* OfCorsetsSexy:
133** Bad Bessie wears little more than a corset.
134** The Saloon girls combine this with StockingFiller.
135* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: The Duellist, a fact brought in his description. However, his boss bar labels him "Sergio".
136** There's also Buffalo Soldier.
137* OohMeAccentsSlipping: The voice actor for Red can't really decide whether or not he wants to use a "western" accent, and since Red doesn't speak very much, the accent used for Red changes in pretty much every scene that he does speak in.
138* PistolWhipping: An option for melee combat.
139* PowerfulPick: Gordon "Digs" Fowler's signature weapon.
140* PrisonEpisode: At one point the player is locked up in the gold mine of General Diego, and have to fight their way out. On top of that, you also have to find the key before you can leave.
141* PunnyName: [[MurderousMannequin Manny Quinn]] the wooden dummy, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sisyphus "Sissy" Fess]] (who throws rocks as his special move).
142* QuickDraw: Several enemies will engage you in quick draw duels throughout the game. You're also required to participate in a quick draw tournament late in the game.
143* RailingKill: Can be done to one of the rifle-mooks on the third level.
144* RedBaron: Most of the bandits have nicknames of some sort.
145* RevolversAreJustBetter: Revolvers is all there is, cowboy - at least as far as handguns are concerned. But the best gun in the game IS a revolver rather than a rifle or shotgun.
146* SawedOffShotgun: One of the available weapons is this. Only one though. The rest of the shotguns are standard length.
147* SceneryPorn: The game offers quite a few scenes of amazing Western scenery.
148* SchizophrenicDifficulty: The progression of difficulty is all over the place in this game. Some laughably easy levels are often followed by punishingly difficult ones and vice versa. One of the most notoriously difficult levels, The Traitor, told from General Diego's point of view, comes slap bang in the middle of the game.
149* SeeYouInHell: Last words of many, many mooks.
150* ShoutOut: Being highly based upon TheWestern, in particular {{Spaghetti Western}}s, the game has plenty of shoutouts to various cowboy films.
151** Mr. Black's gatling-coffin is similar to the one used by Film/{{Django}}.
152** General Diego's level is a reference to the famous bridge scene from ''Film/TheGoodTheBadAndTheUgly''.
153** The dueling tournament is a WholePlotReference to the Creator/SamRaimi film ''Film/TheQuickAndTheDead''. Interestingly, Red Harlow's name is a reference to the book of the same name (which is otherwise entirely unrelated), where the main antagonist is named Red Hyle.
154** Diego, while fighting you, will shout [[Film/Scarface1983 "Say hello to my little friend!"]]
155** One fight in the Annie Stokes level plays out an awful lot like a game of ''VideoGame/SpaceInvaders''.
156** Supporting character 'Blind Willy Wilson' is mostlikely a [[ShoutOut nod]] to the blues singer Blind Willy [=McTell=]- Music/TheWhiteStripes covered one of his songs.
157** Three duelling enemies in the Jailbreak level are named Creator/{{Sergio|Leone}}, Music/{{Ennio|Morricone}} and [[Film/TheGoodTheBadAndTheUgly Eli]]
158* ShowdownAtHighNoon: A pretty well-executed game play mechanic. It's also [[spoiler: how you finish off the BigBad]].
159* SoundtrackDissonance: The saloon's player piano keeps going during the bar fight level so you get glassed and thrown through tables to the perky sounds of 'Oh, Susannah' and a ragtime version of 'Flight of the Bumblebee'.
160* SpiritualSuccessor: Its relationship with ''Red Dead Redemption'' is really in spirit and name only.
161** It's also a spiritual successor ''itself'', of ''VideoGame/GunSmoke''.
162* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: At the end of the game, while Red has defeated the BigBad and avenged his family, he has to leave because, at the end of the day, BigBad or not, Red has just killed the governor.
163* TakeThat: One opponent in the duelling contest seems quite closely based on Creator/LeonardoDiCaprio's cocky young gunfighter from ''The Quick And The Dead''. Red guns him down and doesn't even give him a respectful tip of the hat.
164* ThreeActStructure: After the prologue, the game's plot is pretty much divided into three main parts: The first act involves Red collecting bounties around the Territory, the second act concerns his hunt for General Diego and Colonel Daren, while the third act revolves around the Battle Royale and the subsequent assault on the Governor's mansion.
165* TrainJob: Red stops one in the first LocomotiveLevel.
166* TheTropeKid: Kid Cougar one of the competing duelists in the quick draw tournament.
167* TheUnfought: Despite being the Bounty for "Railroaded", Harry "Hatchet" Schultz doesn't officially make an appearance, though a lot of the mooks have the same appearances as the man on his wanted poster. Nor does Standing Snake in Buffalo's Escort Mission.
168* UrineTrouble: One of the outlaws in Widow's Patch gets peed on by a dog. [[DisproportionateRetribution He doesn't take kindly to it]].
169* WalkingShirtlessScene: Pig Josh never wears a shirt.
170* WhipOfDominance: DarkActionGirl Bad Bessie is a domineering gang leader whose gimmick is her impressive skill with a horsewhip, being as deadly with it as most men are with guns. Her backstory was that she used to be a {{Dominatrix}} showgirl who specialized in whips until one day she got tired and used her whip to steal from her boss.
171-->'''Sheriff Bartlett:''' There's something wrong about a woman who carries around a horse whip, but owns no horse.
172* WholePlotReference:
173** The QuickDraw tournament is a reference to Sam Raimi's ''Film/TheQuickAndTheDead.''
174** Interestingly, Red Harlow's name is a reference itself to the '''book''' ''The Quick and the Dead'' by Louis L'Amour (there's no relation between the movie and the book beside a name, however), where the main antagonist's name is Red Hyle.
175* TheWildWest: The game is set during the Old West.
176* WolfpackBoss: The third-to-last level has you facing up to ''six bosses at once''.
177* WolverineClaws: Grizzly's weapons of choice.
178%%* WorldOfBadass
179* YoungGun: Billy "Kid" Cougar. Red also starts out this way; they even share the same voice actor.
180* YouShallNotPass: In a rare villainous example, General Diego and his troops do this to the American army.
181-->'''General Diego:''' ''I have a case of cigars and a case of tequila, and I'm not going anywhere!''
182

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