Call of Juarez Review

With first-person shooters rapidly running out of new ideas, perhaps it’s time to look at the underused settings for inspiration. Everyone has nuked an alien in the face or blown up a WWII bunker, but not many have travelled across a dusty landscape with two six-shooters in hand. The Wild West is a much underused setting and the focus of Techland’s Call of Juarez. A gap in the market is clearly there, waiting for the right game to come along and claim it for its own, like Call of Duty did for the WWII era. Call of Juarez is certainly an ambitious effort, but in the end is let down by trying to do too much.

Somewhat uniquely, you get to play as two rather different characters. Billy, a young man accused of murdering his mother and stepfather, and Reverend Ray, a one time rebel and now reformed man of God. When Ray finds Billy’s parents murdered (his brother and sister in-law), and sees Billy fleeing the scene, he goes after him, becoming the bloodthirsty man he used to be. He still believes he’s doing the work of God, but this time with a bible in one hand and a revolver in the other.

This is a port of the PC game that arrived in September 2006, but a few things have been tweaked for the better. Firstly, the dire opening that saw you having to sneak through a town has been removed. This means that Billy’s campaign gets off to a much more interesting start and reduces the tedium greatly.

Reverend Ray’s opening level is just as action packed as before, with his ‘all guns blazing’ approach being much more like you’d expect from a Western game. With Ray being able to wield two guns at time (or a bible that temporarily confuses enemies), it’s solid action, and the guns certainly seem to pack a punch. Your weapons can be drawn in such a way to activate a slow-motion targeting mode, where you can get the upper hand over your enemies. It doesn’t feel as well implemented as the pioneering Max Payne, but it’s a handy tool to have at your disposal; as is the rapid fire mode, which lets you reel off a series of fast shots.

After a few levels Billy’s sections will grow on you, but they’re far from perfect and frequently irritate. He’s able to use a whip to attach to various objects, creating a rope swing of sorts, and he can climb ledges that Ray simply isn’t able to, but Ray’s all-action gameplay is a lot more enjoyable. Played entirely from a first-person perspective, stealth isn’t simple. It’s all too easy to wander into view of an enemy, and on a number of missions this means instant failure or, at best, a severe depletion of health.

Numerous sections of gameplay also require you to ride a horse, often with gun in hand. Riding works much more successfully than it did on PC, but aiming and riding is still just as cumbersome as it was. Riding at high speed through the often gorgeous looking environments has its moments, and is certainly more fun than sneaking around, but plain old gun-play comes as relief when you dismount.

Gameplay issues aside, Call of Juarez captures the feel of the Wild West exceedingly well, and the best missions with the Reverend are very entertaining; the game as a whole just isn’t compelling enough though. There are other issues too, like the lengthy load times disguised by character monologues.

To be fair, Call of Juarez is an impressive looking game, complete with all the latest graphical effects. The large open environments are bathed in some glorious lighting, and the grassy plains look superb. There’s even a nifty depth of field effect that makes certain objects look out of focus when you’re zooming in on a target. Voice work and audio has been handled well, although the characters themselves lack the next-gen realism we’ve become familiar with.

Techland have also included a number of multiplayer game modes for play online. There’s nothing terrible about the online mode, in fact there are a few decent game types, but the maps aren’t anything special – a few are just downright dull. It’s safe to say that fans of the single-player game will get some enjoyment out of the online modes, but Call of Juarez is unlikely to gain much of an online community.

As you move through the game and successfully take down boss-like characters in quick-draw shootouts, these become accessible from the game’s single-player menu, but they really don’t provide much more than a few seconds of enjoyment. Extra missions are also planned for release over Xbox LIVE Marketplace, which should give the game some added longevity.

Despite its problems, Call of Juarez provides plenty to enjoy. Ray’s action focussed levels are great fun and highlight how great the game could have been with a clearer focus. In the end though, the mix of gameplay styles doesn’t really work.