Alright, you know those lists people compile about a game before it comes out with all the features expected? Let's dissect one of them now that the game is out, shall we?
Side missions:
* Bounty Hunting
** Initiated by tearing a Wanted Poster from the wall
** Bounty is marked by a Red Skull on the mini map
** Most have a Dead or Alive option, with bringing them Alive netting a larger reward
** Incapacitate and hog tie a bounty to bring them in alive
** Kill them to collect the "Dead" reward
*** You have to bring in a piece of clothing or evidence from the dead.
** The more bounty missions you do the higher the rewards get and the more difficult they get.
Yep, all of this is true and in the game.
** Showing a preference for Bounty Hunting missions after Treasure Hunting ones results in the game offering more of them.
* Treasure Hunting
Nope, I don't notice this at all. Bounty Hunting missions appear as they appear, without any real connection to treasure hunting.
** Initiated by simply searching
** Use a roughly drawn map to find a landmark near the treasure
** Search under stones for the treasure
Yep, that's about how it works.
** Can stumble upon a snake if you upturn the wrong stone
I've found three treasures, and there haven't been any fake stone piles hiding snakes.
** Treasure can include gold bars and additional maps
** Showing a preference for Treasure Hunting missions after Bounty Hunting ones results in the game offering more of them.
Treasure will
always include a gold bar and
always have an additional map. That is also why this 'preference' for treasure hunting doesn't hold up. You find the treasure, you get another map.
* Poker
* Blackjack
* Five-Finger Fillet
** Consists of pressing the face button flashed on screen quickly and accurately at an increasing pace
* Horseshoes
* Deputy Patrol
** Patrol a town at night with the aide of a guard dog
* Bull Riding
** Initiated by lassoing a bull
All in the game.
* Mugging
* Burglary
** Involves entering an NPC's house and stealing their possessions.
I'm not sure how to mug someone, and by burglarly, I assume you just walk into a building, find a chest, and take something in it. I guess that's considered burglary.
* Cattle herding
* Hunting
** Furred animals can be skinned, feathered animals can be plucked
** Skinning leaves a mutilated carcass
** Skinning is done off camera, though it can be heard
** Hunting all forty animals nets a reward outfit
** Can purchase bait for use in hunting
* Plant gathering
** Initiated by picking plants and flowers
All in the game.
** Plants can be sold to doctors to make medicine
I don't think the game keeps track of this. You can take the plants you find and sell them at the shop, but I don't think the game generates medicine from it.
* Bird Sharpshooting
** Initiated by shooting a vulture
** Prompts to shoot the rest of the pack within the time limit
I've come across a random person in the desert who wants you to try and shoot 3 birds in a time limit, but as far as starting the sharpshooter challenges, there is no time limit.
** Builds up fame
** Ascending levels
Yep.
* Bank Robbing
** Initiated by having a gun drawn in a bank
I've heard this exists, but I haven't seen it yet.
* Dueling
** Can't duel everybody (like old women), but you can duel other gunslingers
Yeah, this is in, but I'm not sure how to tell who you can duel and who you can't. I haven't seen any real indicator about that.
•Every building is enterable.
Bzzzt. Nope. Most buildings are enterable, but not all of them.
•There are forty animals in the game. Every animal has its own AI.
This is a big part of the game for me. I love the ecosystem created.
•Vultures will eat the remains of fallen foes.
I have seen vultures, but I have yet to see any doing anything other than flying around.
•Each NPC follows their own routine and way of a life. For example, one spends all day working in a blacksmith, then at closing time head off to the saloon for a couple drinks before going home.
I have seen people going out doing their work, but I haven't put this to the test yet. I'll need to choose someone to follow for an in-game day and see exactly what they do. If they do this though, it makes the game even more awesome for me.
•Horses have personalities.
Sure, they react to the environment, loud noises, etc....
•Wild horses have to be lassoed, broken and saddled before riding. If you're unsuccessful at this the horse will buck you and you can get dragged. Any horse that isn't yours or hasn't been yours for very long will be a little wilder and more difficult to control.
I wouldn't say they're more difficult to control, they just lose stamina faster.
•The lasso has various uses including: tying up NPCs, capturing NPCs, pulling NPCs from horses, dragging NPCs behind your horse, Lassoing wild horses to break them and make them rideable, lassoing bulls for bull riding, and pulling an NPC towards you and disemboweling them with the knife.
Oooh, pulling riders from their horse. That's something I hadn't thought about trying. And pulling an NPC toward you to disembowl them with the knife? Mmmm, that just sounds glorified. You have to have the lasso equipped, and you don't pull someone toward you. You can walk up to them though. As soon as you switch from the lasso to the knife though, you're going to drop them from the lasso.
•Most bounty hunting missions have a Dead or Alive option, with bringing them Alive netting a larger reward.
Yep, that's in there.
Over-all, the game seems to hold up well to this pre-release hype list.
