Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood gun slinging review
August 9, 2009 by
Filed under Featured, Playstation, XBox
Every little boy grows up wanting to be a cowboy with twin holsters attached to a thick leather belt carrying two gorgeous six shooters, dreaming of being the fastest drawer in the west. Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood unequivocally delivers an authentic experience of the Wild West with a tale of revenge, greed, camaraderie and of course love.
Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood is the prequel to 2007’s Call of Juarez and tells the story of the McCall brothers as they undergo a transformation from being honorable Confederate solders to being outlawed treasure hunters. Ray is the rough and tough brother who fears nothing while Thomas is the more thoughtful and agile of the two. Both are equally deadly, Ray preferring to dual wield his hand guns while Thomas prefers to be more strategic in his approach with his long range sniper rifle. Adding to the dynamic of the story there is the third brother, William who is a preacher and continually tries to steer his two brothers away from their new lives as killers to the path of the righteous and faithful.
The story is told through the eyes of William McCall as he narrates during the load screens between the acts, filling us in on the details of his brothers and his own thoughts on the previous acts happenings. The choice of which brother you are going to play is largely left up to you at the beginning of each section. Depending on your choice you will follow the path best suited for that particular brother. Ray prefers to get right in the thick of the action while keeping his feet firmly on the ground. Thomas is more agile preferring to use is lasso to get up onto roofs and balconies where he can use his long range rifle to kill enemies. The are certain areas of the game where you do not have a choice of which brother you’ll play, rather the game puts you in the shoes of one brother to compete a task and then flips you over to the other to complete something else. Its done very well and only rarely happens on the occasions when the brothers slip up, filling you in on the action of both of them.
The game is fast paced and action packed with stunning cut scenes that are acted and played out with the best of the Hollywood Westerns. Each enemy that you gun down drops his gun, ammunition and some cash that can be used to purchase better weapons from outpost traders. There is not a huge selection of guns to choose from but the ones provided are authentic to the time and masterly crafted. Each gun has its own unique sound that when fired, it provides a compelling urge to scream woohooo as your enemies fall to the dirt. New to Bound in Blood is Concentration mode that freezes time for some spectacular gun action, differing slightly for each brother and his particular style. While in concentration mode Thomas will automatically kill all enemies in range while you hold L1(PS3) and fire by moving the right analogue stick backward in a successive motion just as you would when cocking a gun. With Ray you have to target enemies while the screen freezes by painting multiple targets on the ones that are in range, upon exiting concentration mode Ray will unleash a hail of gunfire, devastating the enemies that dared to take him on. Concentration mode is built up by killing enemies and once fully charged, you will need to trigger it before a minute is up or you’ll have to start from scratch and build it up again.
When there is a dispute in the Wild West it is settled by a dual. Two gunmen face off in a test of wits, skill and of course nerves of steal and if you lose, you die. Dueling in Call of Juarez puts the camera in a cinematic position right behind your right holster, looking out to your opponent. Using a combination of the left and right analogue sticks its all down to your reflexes vs your opponents. Most segments in the game ends with a dual between a boss and on of the brothers. At first they are good fun but has the difficulty increases so too do the frustration levels as you see your brother of choice fall and fall again. Adding to this frustration is they way the developers designed the continue screens. Every time you die you have to first hit the play button (PS3) to confirm the continue and then the X button to begin. A simple one tap of the X button would have been sufficient to get you back into the action.
The production value of Call of Juarez: Bound is Blood is right up there with Ubisoft’s best. The environments are gorgeous and you’ll experience the Wild West in all its glory, from dusty towns to rickety gold mines, to the large expanses of mountainous terrain, you see it all. The games music is extremely well put together and would fit in just fine with an Hollywood based production.The games voice acting is top notch, especially when it comes to the two brothers, Ray and Thomas. They deliver an excellent performance that is instrumental in providing an outstanding level of immersion. Their banter during battles will put a smile on your face and any two sibling brothers will recognize their convivial rivalry right away. Other roles in the game are played well enough but the brothers take the resplendent cake.
Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood will make you smile and it’ll make your cry. It will rush you across the open landscapes of the Wild West and into the dusty towns where its mans name rests on his skill with his pistol. It will tell you a tale of love and lust for a legendary fortune of gold and although the story was somewhat short, you will not be left wanting. Call of Juarez: Bound on Blood is a welcomed turn on classic current gen fist person shooter games.
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