If you are looking for a good first person shooter this summer while you wait for Modern Warfare 2 later this year and you happen to enjoy Westerns, then look no further. Go buy yourself a copy of Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood. I played the game all weekend and I believe it is a game that is worth purchasing.
Overall, Call of Juarez has quite a lot going for it but a few things could have used a few more layers of polish. That would have probably resulted in better reviews.
The graphics are quite good. The game utilizes the Chrome Engine (version 4) by Techland. You can see a video on the following website that pretty much looks like the same scenes visualized in Call of Juarez: http://www.moddb.com/engines/chrome-engine-4. The Chrome Engine definitely demonstrates that it can compete with other technologies on the market. My only comment regarding the graphics, and this has more to do with the cinematics than anything else, is that the lip-syncing and some of the character animations could have been more refined.
The storyline is good but not great and would have benefited from better writing and dialog. The story was also a bit predictable since it seemed to be a mix of plot elements from a number of classic westerns, including the Confederacy (The Outlaw Josey Wales), and a preacher (Pale Rider). There were also hints of The Good, The Bad and The Ugly and even traces of Zorro as well.
The same pretty much holds true for the delivery of the voice acting. I really think the voiceover could have been better and that would have made the experience that much more authentic. If I were casting the parts in this game, I would have put Sam Elliot on my ”must have” list; he would have been a great addition as Ray. There are plenty of other qualified actors who have had a role in a Western movie that could have been cast as well, and it probably wouldn’t have blown the budget. Tom Selleck, Kevin Costner, Robert Duvall, Powers Booth, and Antonio Banderas would all be good choices. Of course if you have a huge budget and a lot of luck you could go for the big kahuna, Clint Eastwood. Getting him is not likely, but I had to throw that in to the mix.
I don’t want to spend too much time discussing the controls or weapon upgrades other than to say that they all felt good and I had no real issues with them. The cover mechanics were so light that I could have done without them; I utilized them on occasion to peer around corners or take a few shots, but standing or ducking behind a piece of world geometry worked just as well. The special abilities such as the concentration modes for each character were worth using--they were basically similar to a limited bullet time mechanic. This ability came in handy when facing 6-10 enemies at once so you could just mow them all down with great precision. It definitely got me out of a jam or two.
The one mechanic that I wanted to touch on however was the dueling. I really believe that this could have been better and it would have been a really cool and satisfying addition to the game if it was balanced better. Basically, you just die a lot, so be prepared to put your ‘patience’ hat on for this one. You will easily die anywhere from 5-15 times per duel. Each duel is practically identical to the next, too. The only variation that I noticed was the location of the fight, the character you were fighting and the timing of the bell ring (which was the indicator for when you were supposed to draw your gun). The main problem is that the enemy never misses and it didn’t seem that any enemy was better or worse than any other one that you fought either. It would have been good to see some AI variety with these duels so that you felt like you fought better opponents as you advanced through the game. As it stands, the only way to win is to get the first shot to kill your opponent. Positioning your character is vital to your survival. Be sure that you aren’t too far to the left or the right of the enemy or your shot won’t be on target. One final comment regarding this feature is that more on-screen feedback or controller rumble would have been appreciated. It would have been cool to look at your opponent’s eyes to see if he was nervous or watch his hand as it went for his pistol. These would have been good indicators that your opponent was getting his itchy trigger finger in position to go for the kill. It would also have helped to feel how close your hand was getting to your pistol perhaps with a small amount of rumble, just to designate that you were within a proper radius of grabbing your gun.
The single player game was enjoyable and worth the purchase. The linear missions were fun and challenging. I played the game on Hard and I think it took me about 8-12 hours to beat. I’m not certain of the exact duration with all the dying I did. With first person shooters, I tend to be a run in and shoot everything that moves kind of player, so I think that methodology bit me in the rear more than once. I also enjoyed the small open world portions that contained some side missions within each interlude. I almost wish there had been more of those types of missions sprinkled throughout the entire game instead of being so separate from the main game. By having the open world sections as two separate levels within the main story line, it felt a bit tacked on to the game.
Finally, I jumped into some multiplayer, but not enough to comment on it. But from everything I read about it in the reviews, it seems robust and well received. So to Techland, a job well done. I look forward to the next installment.
