Previews// Red Dead Redemption Multiplayer

Once I had had enough in the Free Roam, it was time for some competitive games. A quick (and I really mean quick - I didn't expect to survive longer than five seconds) duel occurs at the start of every match to determine which team or player gets a headstart in the game's proceedings. Then, it's 'Go' time.

Remember the posses I talked about earlier? They double as your online team. Which is handy because one of the four game types I played was a traditional gang deathmatch in a town called Armadillo.

With the objective to be the first team to reach a specific kill score, it soon became obvious that the very wide main street was an invitation for death. Various church roofs and saloons offer an opportunity to camp, which I didn't like, but then you can just as easily coax the snipers out by focusing on other team members.

On top of this there's the Free For All Shoot-out, which is essentially the same but without your team mates to help you. One of my favourite modes had to be the Free For All Goldrush match – a game where players have to grab gold bags littered around a dusty Mexican town, and drag them back to marked chests to add to their score.

Players can carry up to two bags at a time for double points, but it means that there's a better chance of opponents capping you in the head and running off with your bags. There will be the odd git that will camp next to the chest, waiting for his moment to strike – beware of these 'sandbaggers,' is all I have to say.

Rather than cheapen the mode though, it adds some hilarious tension, and when there's only one bag left in the field the action turns into a massive stand-off the likes of which Clint Eastwood has never seen.

A similar mode sees teams situated at a base on each side of a map, with a gold bag to protect. Each team has to infiltrate the other's base, steal the bag and retrieve it while ensuring the same does not happen to their own gold.

It was probably the only match I was any good at, but that was only because I seemed to have the balls to run straight into a fully-manned base while my gobsmacked opponents just looked on in shock. Or maybe I was just lucky.

In all of these modes, controls were tight – naturally, they're the same as in the single-player side of Red Dead Redemption. But since I last played it Rockstar seems to have tweaked the responsiveness of the camera and aiming a little bit so it's not all over the place.

I came away from the Red Dead Redemption multiplayer mode feeling like I'd cursed the backside off of a donkey. I mean that in a good way. I enjoyed the range of modes on offer, and it's definitely a step up from GTA IV's online experience.

Of course, it helps that the whole Western setting is a desirable place to have a draw and a face-off. I suspect many gold bags will be cursed out of existence when the game is released next month.

Red Dead Redemption is heading for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on the 21st May 2010.