Cavalry of Two- Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood Reviewed

With a scant three titles over the last two console generations, the old west has been an underrepresented environment in gaming. Cinematic interpretations of the setting have focused on rapid gunplay, tense showdowns, and sweeping vistas, creating a presumably idyllic context for the pastime. Developer Techland awkwardly mined the cowboy mythos for 2007’s Call of Juarez.  While many enjoyed the title’s first-person shooting elements, the game’s stealth missions and object manipulation puzzles felt woefully forced.

Fortunately, the recently released prequel Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood largely omits those superfluous elements, wisely focusing on Wild West gunplay. In this pursuit, the game often becomes steeped in linearity, feeling as antiquated as an old, dusty stagecoach. Enjoyment emanates from slaughtering an enemy posse in the streets of a sandy pueblo, but revisiting staged set-pieces and the repetition of brotherly banter detracts from these pleasures. The first respite from the game’s preset pathways doesn’t appear until the sixth chapter of the game, offering a handful of exhilarating open-world sub-missions. It’s a shame that a recurrent, screen-blanking, glitch robbed this section of its verve, forcing a retreat to an earlier save point.

The game gives players a choice between two protagonists- Ray McCall, the dual wielding heavyweight, and his agile brother Thomas, the rope wrangler. At the start of most missions, players select from one of the siblings, while the CPU controls the other, recalling the single player games of Army of Two and Resident Evil 5. Both brothers utilize a generous regenerative health system; successful players will learn to use the game’s functional cover system, and stay close to their kin. Enemy A.I. in Juarez isn’t exceptionally nimble or clever, but foes can be frustratingly accurate when throwing explosives. 

Chapters are punctuated by a toughened boss character, who after dispensing a few words, engages the player in a climatic showdown. The gamer is required to keep the wandering gunslinger in their sights by adjusting the left stick, while simultaneous using the right stick to keep their virtual hand ready for a quick pull of the pistol. Once the menacing high-noon bell sounds, players must move quickly to upholster their sidearm, and pull the right trigger when a crosshair is highlighted over the foe. When executed skillfully, the showdown effectively culminates the level. However, when the event is handled incompetently, the player must retry the confrontation until success.

 
The first Juarez introduced concentration mode- allowing the protagonist to eliminate a screen full of opponents in a single, slow-motion burst. The ability is enabled for a short period when the player guns down a string of adversaries. However, it can be extremely frustrating to lose the advantage when the clock runs out during an unskippable cinematic. The benefit is often missed during gun battles, as Juarez‘s animation system doesn’t convey mortal wounds effectively. Players can enigmatically shoot a foe several times before they crumple lifelessly, or kill with a single bullet. 

Juarez supports a host of multiplayer options with five main game types that cover the requisite deathmatch, and team deathmatch options, as well as objective based missions. Players may use money collected in matches to unlock additional character classes; while Juarez lacks Call of Duty 4’s elaborate development system,  it’s variety of occupations transcends the conventional multiplayer variations. Before the retail release of the game, servers were as desolate as a ghost town, with only a handful of opponents online. With a minimal populace, the competitive diversions ran lag-free. Hopefully, that experience will persist past the game’s release.

The fourth iteration of Techland’s game engine renders the game’s open landscapes and interiors proficiently, only sputtering infrequently for split-second mid-level loads. Juarez’s lighting is superb, showing a large range from overexposed, desert suns, to dimly lit caves.  Enemies can be realistically obscured in shadowy nooks, adding a remarkable variation to the FPS gameplay. The game’s spaghetti-western music complements the action superbly, with languid guitar strums and a signature solitary trumpet. Ray and Thomas’s dialog is spoken admirably; although there’s a slight disconnect between the actors, as if the voice-overs were recorded independently.