Rockstar‘s Red Dead Redemption looks great, as the video above shows. I like the trimmed down UI, and the quick shot of the “store” UI looked pretty slick as well. Interesting choice for that persistent mini map in that lower left. Looks like it with lifted right from Grand Theft Auto IV.

Rockstar has been setting sales records with their new DLC The Lost & The Damned for Grand Theft Auto IV, putting the ultra-violent shooter back in the limelight. I am a fan of the GTA series and enjoy the light RPG element, fun missions, and realistic environments. GTA IV didn’t disappoint, but one thing lingered, one bothersome UI element that created some frustration. That damned cell phone.

Using the cell phone is much like using cell phones in the real world, you’re going to want to chuck it out the window after five minutes or so . I like the idea. Why wouldn’t Niko Belic carry a cell phone and what a cleaver way to hide menu elements. I am all for stylized UI. Anything to further draw player’s focus on the experience is, in the immortal words of Tye Tribbett, ‘Good in the hood.’ However, GTA IV is a good example of how not to incorporate a stylized interface. Hit the break and I’ll explain the three things that bother me about the cell phone menu.

First: It’s too small. Even on my 42″ HDTV, it can be difficult to read. I have to squint, lean forward, and turn my head and bulge my eyes like a tarsier. PC users probably won’t have the same issues but on my 360, I found the experience lacking. I found, after a while, I knew where I was going from sheer memorization. It’s annoying to realize I am memorizing the location of fake contacts on a fake cell phone to make fake calls in a fake New York. It would have been nice to be able to adjust the size on my own or have the game pause and zoom into the phone held in Nico’s hand.

Second: Interaction with the phone feels wrong. It’s clunky and cumbersome. (Maybe it feels too realistic. heh.) Niko can still move while making a call (I’ll get to that in a minute) so all the movement controls are left active. Forcing you to move with the same thumb you’d use to navigate with the D-pad is frustrating. Plus to make matters worse, the A button selects, and the B button cancels and on the 360, the A button is also the run button. So if you were running along (done on the 360 by tapping A) and then pull up your cell phone, bam… you’re making a call.

Third: The action doesn’t slow, but you do. When you pull out the cell phone Mr. Belic starts walking and stops shooting. In fact he can’t do anything else. He just walks. Are you in a gunfight? Too bad, you’re now walkin’. Too much heat on you and you need to call off the cops? Find a cozy spot and hope you don’t get an answering machine. While minor, it makes GTA needlessly difficult at points. I cannot count the times that I was running from the cops or in a gunfight and my cell phone goes off. I am all of a sudden on a call and strollin’ beacuse of that troublesome A button answered the call. You know that button I was tapping so I could sprint away from the cops? That one. Now I am watching Niko answer his phone and agreeing to go to a strip club with his cousin, as the cops catch up and proceed to Rodney King his Eastern European ass.

GTA IV does a lot of things right, the health and armor meters incorporated into the mini map was a nice touch, it really is a great game, controls and UI/UX issues aside. Small minor tweaks in the interface and experience would have gone a long way and could have really sharpened the interaction and helped make that robbery / car jacking/ murder /assassination / vandalism / racketeering / excessive violence all the more rewarding.

So, here’s a salute to EA Redwood Shores’ for the UI work on their title Dead Space. The whole interface is extremely well done and is built to drawn the user into the experience. Instead of the typical action shooter HUD we are instead given a holographic projection that appear before the protagonist Isaac, viewed over his shoulder.

While that alone is enough to make me smile, the inclusion of the health meter into Isaac’s armor caused me to get practically giddy. A blue light runs up Isaac’s back changing and shrinking from blue to yellow and to red when things are looking grim. Instead of glancing away from the action to check health stats (GTA IV, Assassin’s Creed, etc.) the user is presented information in the center of the action. This draws them in more, and gives the players one of the best game play experiences they can have: immersion.