"The Red, The Dead, And The Redeemed," By Tim Rogers

[@Tihan]

tim rogers, i just want to say - you are the video games expert

[@LaymensLament]

I concur

[@mxkaka]

he's the video game boy

[@malachiconstant7745]

mxkaka *boah

[@ph0enixr]

tim rogers _is_ video games

[@Leinad44]

Tim Rogers is the best thing Kotaku has going.

[@LaymensLament]

i extend this statement to "video games journalism"

[@Taolishao]

Must mean kotaku is completely shit.

[@lugnet6540]

I think they have good content and a firm ground to stand on. They are legit passionate about video games and, at least in my opinion, keep it real chill with their journalism as they combine casual and nerdy stuff. I think Tim Rogers made Kotaku really appealing, but Im also glad that he joined these guys and not some other game website. I mean, i get that you don't care. Or at least you don't seem like you care. I just don't get why Kotaku gets so much shit. Again, solid content.

[@LaymensLament]

I used to read his action button stuff. I actually always planned to send in a thing for that site but never did. When I saw he's with Kotaku I was (a) pretty astonished (b) happy to prominently see him make content and (c) I thought "probably he's looking to do some solid career move because he's starts thinking that this is an Important factor now" (being in my mid thirties with a spotty CV). Concerning Kotaku it's definitely a better fit than IGN or PC Gamer or what not and although he sticks a bit out he also fits in; concerning the poster above, well it's pointless to argue with this person because the whole statement was just an insult at both Tim Rogers and Kotaku which makes me question, why they wrote at all.

[@LaymensLament]

And just to preclude some arguments: I know nothing about Tim Rogers CV or his motivations to do things. That's just my explanation. I work in explaining people, which makes me half-delusional about my own ideas about things. The perk is that you always feel right no matter what anyone else says.

[@CurtainGuyPlays]

I’m amazed by the amount of euphemisms for murder you came up with. Bravo.

[@kotaku]

i gotta admit, it overjoyed me to capitalize on a moment wherein i was drawing salary to extrapolate on my encyclopedic knowledge of dime westerns

[@justwatching234]

Tim Rogers, Professional Synonyms for Death and/or Hell Expert

[@stroads.]

This is exactly what I needed in my life rn

[@CarnO2x]

What is tim rogers?

[@kerrrvin]

John Marston rode that horse with icy equicide in his blood. Why, I'd say, if that beast had had half the wit God gave a grubby gremlin, or any weaselly fraction of the wherewithall to speak words, like a man might, he'd have piped up before the first snap of the reigns, begging that his master serve his next meal post-haste, and hot from the carbon steel barrel of that fine Winchester.

[@drsimmons74]

Eugene? Is that you?

[@crossthreaded6867]

"God's jail" that was amazing

[@Boki_86]

i don't even care about Red Dead, i just want to hear Tim talk about stuff.

[@sixtyfps]

This is so much funnier and more well written than should be allowed.

[@Fullbatteri]

Every Tim Rogers creation is almost criminally well written, I regard his *Dragon Quest XI* review as his absolute Masterpiece.

[@chaserdk]

Tim Rogers is a video games treasure

[@Vinyl6Monster]

YOU CRAZY FOR THIS ONE, TIM

[@kotaku]

ah yes . . . one of the comments i always look for, so i can relay my invariable reply: i so crazy for *all* the ones, these days, tbh

[@kotaku]

(i was careful to include like . . . i think eight horse glitches . . .)

[@_Conzo_]

The writing in this video is absolutely masterful.

[@UnclePa1n]

A timeless tale told by a timeless man

[@rekunta]

“...and found him lyin’ face up in the dirt....red, dead....and redeemed.” Bravo. Bravo.

[@Jafsey]

That was an excessive display of equicide

[@lugnet6540]

You understand the art of video games more than I can express

[@kotaku]

it's cool bro . . . let me express it for you

[@bruceharlick3322]

This is one of the greatest things I've ever listened to. Thanks!

[@SPQRKlio]

Has someone already commented, over the time since this was posted, that this deserved a Grammy? Because this very seriously deserved a Grammy and nominations for any other spoken-word awards. I hope there are/will be more of this sort of brilliance for other games, in suitable style, but this one is already nearly perfection and I’m not sure it can ever be matched. I hadn’t watched a lot of KZbin game reviews before recently, and I’m glad I explored enough to discover this. Thanks, everyone involved (including the creators of the game for providing the fodder for so much inspiration).

[@atticustalker9359]

As with many of your projects on this channel, I turn away from this video deeply amazed by both the level of detail in the script and honest admiration for you as a video gaming writer. Thank you Tim Rogers, professional video game liker.

[@dorkknight86]

"All Marston needed to turn those idealistic horseback riders' hopes and dreams into just as much hamburger was the cold eyes a humorless god had given him, and a single index finger not lacking one unbroken bone." -LMFAO Tim you kill me

[@huffmyshorts]

I appreciate all that you do, Tim Rogers.

[@haibu128]

Kotaku, if you’re listening.. don’t ever stop giving this man money.

[@TarsoJahnRibeiro]

Seein this made me realise that RDR missions are actually an excuse for you to kill as many people as possible, with some story between the killing.

[@kotaku]

Opagla yeah!! i made this video as a sort of a thought experiment about what it’d look like to condense an open-world game’s plot down to a film, treating every mission’s action as a plot point. i wondered if it would highlight the killing to an extreme degree, and i think it sorta did. cowboy films are only microscopically as bloody as this game. i know because i rewatched several of my favorites this weekend after making this video lol (only seven people are shot and killed in all of “unforgiven”, etc. i think more guys die in the first hour of red dead redemption than in the entire three-season run of deadwood, etc.)

[@TarsoJahnRibeiro]

@@kotaku You did a really good job!

[@gatotsu2501]

Yeah this is kinda the problem with every video game that tries to have a somewhat earnest narrative but the core mechanical loop still involves fighting and killing things. The repetition + running time of any conventional game inevitably makes the violence cartoonish, and even Rockstar haven’t yet come up with something equally compelling to replace violence as the main attraction. At least in Metal Gear Solid it’s POSSIBLE to complete a game without killing an implausible number of virtual people.

[@Tamacat388]

@@gatotsu2501 MGS also runs on loony tunes logic. Then the cutscenes are all serious and cinematic. I think its fine to accept that games are different from film and don't need similar body counts. The way you interact and overcome obstacles is the main point. The real problem is that the killing in Rockstar games is often rote and rigid and too long to be interesting. Once you've seen one machine gun sequence you've seen them all. And unlike a jrpg its not like your character can ever grow from the grind. Its just there as an unimaginative obligation. While MGS gives you a rocket punch.

[@gatotsu2501]

Thanatos388 MGS cutscenes are pretty Looney Tunes too, lol - even if they aren’t always aware of it. But that’s (usually) what makes the games work! You quickly accept that the narrative logic of the game’s world is several steps abstracted from reality, just like the game mechanics - and, ironically, this often makes the realistic elements of the game’s mechanics and story more effective and believable. (Kojima’s fondness for oddball simulation-y elements also helps.) imo when a game is signaling with every fiber of its aesthetic being that it wants to be compared to a film (and, by transitive property, some semblance of reality), and then the inherent design of the gameplay turns that comparison into a joke, that’s at the very least a grounds for valid criticism. Latter-day Rockstar and Naughty Dog epitomize this trend. You’re totally right that Rockstar’s approach to mission design needs a serious overhaul, though.

[@Fullbatteri]

Did *Tim Rogers* the video game expert and my favorite reviewer just made a - 31 minutes and 53 seconds long video about Red Dead Redemption, one of my all-time favorite video games, in the eve of the sequel/prequel coming? Is this my birthday?

[@kotaku]

yeah it's your birthday

[@Fullbatteri]

Confirmed: *It is my birthday.*

[@jonathansarlos8713]

Best retelling of the best story ive ever experienced in a video game. I played it with my beloved GF and we were not expecting John to go down, for a couple of hours it actually felt like we were mourning the loss of a new friend. What a game!

[@funployee]

I tried reading a Western book after finishing RDR2 and now I cannot hear it in my head in any voice other than Tim's in this video. Thanks Tim.

[@HeyYouPikablu]

Tim you know your genres and it makes your videos that much more enjoyable

[@Zaswarley]

i kept careful track of the small handful of anachronistic words and turns-of-phrase and was pleased that every single time they were in the service of one hell of a rhetorical slam dunk

[@kotaku]

Zaswarley heh i promise they were all on purpose :-D

[@Zaswarley]

dude you must've sold your soul to a devil of content creation on some highway somewhere

[@steveyun]

Mah brain been hamburgerized

[@peppage]

That was fantastic! Like he had two buttons under his finger and accidentally pressed the wrong one.

[@dirty_chanterelle]

alright, this is exactly what i was hoping tim will be doing when i've heard he's gonna do videos for kotack

[@joshm9363]

Red Dead Redemption might be my favourite video game ever, even though I’ve never played it and would never had considered it as such 30 minutes ago. KZbin needs its own museum to keep this masterpiece in.

[@huffmyshorts]

Tim Rogers is the eighth wonder of the world.

[@GhostShyGuy]

Tim Rogers is a goddam poet. I could never conceive a logical sentence, with meaning, sense and even poetic touch using the verb hamburguerize. This man is a genius.

[@Mysdee-B]

”That last day of John Marstons life, the Federals came. They projected no shadows before their horses as they rode.” 😂

[@NathansReef]

Fantastic work Mr. Rogers. This video caused me to take a series of actions over the past couple of weeks. I bought Red Dead Redmption 2, sought out more of Tim Rogers content, found his glorious Dragon Quest XI video, bought Dragon Quest XI, started calling my kids "Cowboy, Buckaroo, Bronco" and other like terms in the slow deep voice as done in your videos and all around just chuckle a bit more. I look forward to your seeing more of your work and hope you turn the corner (for the better) with your health.

[@taylorsutton9367]

Bravo, well done sir. Shame though that there boy Jack never achieved his rightful vengeance.

[@pierce1616]

Taylor Sutton I’m not sure if you’re being sarcastic or you’re just a bit uninformed but Jack did actually avenge his father. Tim Rogers (who edited and narrated this video) mentioned in the comment section of the article that he intentionally left it out so that he could end the video the way he did.

[@kotaku]

Pierce Singletary yeah i feel from his comment that he’s aware of the vengeance being in the game. i feel like the son of the man who chose to let the mexican rebels kill de santa would behave this way lol also, i gotta say: that revenge plot feels very thin and tacked on

[@taylorsutton9367]

Kotaku speaking of thin, I suppose I did not lay it on as thick as Tim. That’s on me. Haha

[@mattjbg7025]

This is well above average. Don't want to think about the time put into it. Well done both in tone and substance.

[@GenePark]

you will not go hungry.

[@Fullbatteri]

Certainly, he will not.

[@JPlokford]

Outstanding work.

[@rambo111ism]

tim is a magician with words

[@Mappyman]

My roommate keeps telling me to play through RDR, saying its the game that got him into games. Looks like I don't have to now. Bless you savior Tim Rogers.

[@BlockheadJiujitsu]

Handy, but you'd be missing a hell of a game in any case!

[@cbd7575]

Found this from your colleague Kirk Hamilton’s article about tips for Red Dead 2 (also a great article). Despite beating this game like 5 times this was such a good and funny video. You nailed this Tim ill be looking out for your work in the future!

[@zachspiller8565]

You just made a new fan out of me Mr Tim Rogers. Video was highly entertaining. Writing and delivery were top notch.

[@kotaku]

Zach Spiller thanks bud . . . now watch the other 97 videos in my playlist lmao :-D

[@zachspiller8565]

@@kotaku I'll check them out lol

[@BEmagiK]

God Bless You. This made me smile a ton, Great job!

[@ZombieVoldemort]

“He didn’t say a word about the nasty tobacco stain in that old man’s beard.” 😂😂😂

[@DaggeroPlays]

Here after finishing RDR2. Been so many years since I played this that I fancied a recap to follow on, this is perfect.

[@SrStakeholder]

John didn’t know about the Gatling gun? That means John will not be close when we use this weapon at rd2.

[@coximusmaximus22]

Why I'll be derned tootin' if this weren't but 32 my-nutes of sheer poetry straight on out the mouth of an angel.

[@cali4niazownmax]

Bedtime stories with Tim Rogers

[@ma276]

This owns, and is probably what the internet was invented for.

[@AlexMakarowski]

This was awesome. I totally forgot so much of the ending. Thanks for your hard work.

[@onimaxblade8988]

This was wonderful.

[@OlYables]

Brilliant re-cap! Loved ever minute (just like when I played the game).

[@captainmartinwalker2848]

Some of the lines in here are legit poetry, "As though on a rage against all the bad he'd done in his life" that line sent chills all through me

[@denkataludiq]

this video was a masterpiece

[@FatProfessorOak]

That was the most eloquent and hilarious 32 minutes of my life.

[@ThomasMurch]

"He owned horses" ... I've seen many good puns here on the KZbin, but that was one of the better ones.

[@phantompainss]

Kotaku doesn't deserve Tim Rogers.

[@ccbdavisdavis8769]

I just stumbled across this after starting RDRII with no experience in the original. Now I have to subscribe simply on the merit of this masterpiece.

[@PQYoung]

Thank you for your service.

[@dicegameuchiha]

man, horses don't even exist

[@RobRamss]

Feels crazy watching this and realizing that i had absolutely no media literacy back when i first played this

[@johnsharplin]

I want cowboy Tim to narrate my life.

[@evanstrong4064]

I was just looking for an RDR plot synopsis. Thanks for making this.

[@rtrock]

Great horse pop at 12:50

[@kotaku]

i love that you were able to pick just one lmao

[@Seabass_Fiction]

this video is perfect

[@GeneralMcNuggs]

I like how at 12:50 the horse turns off the stealth camouflage.

[@dkolendo]

Tim, i reckon this might just here be the fanciest video you have recorded to date. a real beaut of a storyteller we got in you.

[@TheJeremyOtto]

Man I hope they appreciate you at Kotaku because you sir are a gem and that video was a treat to watch. Now, having been fully caught up, time to finally launch Red Dead Redemption 2.

[@supremeworld87]

the way he talks about the hilarious idiocy of Marston repeatedly trusting the grave robber guy (who I forgot the name of) had me in fits of laughter

[@jcfan1979]

This is hilariously epic! Fantastic job!

[@BlockheadJiujitsu]

I'm so confused by the tone of the video, but it was a hell of a ride! Great work

[@zimnyman]

This is very good.

[@Santeria13]

This is so good, thank you for sharing!

[@dumbkoffcrow974]

Tell you what this dang old video man made me cry.

[@alexmc92]

I love the long ass ride to Blackwater. Bravo, I've been there.

[@jbf81tb]

How in the Jiminy Cricket is this possibly first time someone has portmanteau'd nightmare and America? Hat's off to you, cowboy.

[@Lunarvandross]

can I please fall asleep listening to this?

[@biezel11]

Thanks Tim, this was as entertaining as your DQ review.

[@vartislunknuckers]

What manner of man are you that can summon up fire without flint or tinder?

[@nevermind-hq7ci]

give this man a raise

[@crazyhorse52395]

This is a good video. Would have liked to have seen your take on the "true" ending, though!

[@jericojsays]

"Sorry you had to see that, son." Dying lol

[@scorpwnok766]

It was nice of Kerwin to send you all that horse killing footage for this vid

[@pushitlpvo]

A master work.

[@drewtube6838]

Tim Roger is the GOAT gaming journalist. idc

[@MrDylanryan]

Awesome! Keep up the great work!

[@blueslime3963]

How haven't you won an award for this video yet?

[@gatotsu2501]

This is maybe the most meticulously passive-aggressive video game review of all time and I sorta dig it

[@FernandoAugustobalbino]

Tim Rogers review. This is the reason why we have internet.

[@redivide4277]

That damn machine gun....

[@ripdito]

what a fantastic video.

[@smallmistake]

Tim Rogers is the greatest person in the entire world

[@skacorevictim]

Listened to this audio with a coworker who's also playing RDR2 today to get caught up and we laughed for about half an hour. God bless Tim Rogers and Mike Fahey, and I hope they do run for and win the presidential election of 2020.

[@bhijdasasdjhasdbjkdasbjkfasbjk]

probably the best thing I've ever watched lately. Bravo! Everything from Tim Rogers is pretty great

[@Jehstixs]

I love this guy

[@JuniorSkeptic]

this is an epic on the scale of Citizen Cane. A masterpiece for the modern age.

[@woodrowjang]

"about as useful as a naked man in a clothes wearing contest"

[@flfl]

Best rdr video by miles