Title Call of Juarez Date 06.30.2007 Genre Western, Shooter Platform Xbox 360 Developer Techland Publisher Ubisoft

I don't know why, but I've always had a fascination for western style, gunslinger games. Faced between a futuristic game like Halo, and any Western style game, I always take the revolver-slinging, horse-riding, pinata hittin', indian-chasin', quick-drawin' western fiesta.....yah that was lame. Nonetheless, I even enjoyed the game Gun. However, now Call of Juarez has come around and shown us how a western game is SUPPOSED to be made.

Graphics
They don't call it next-gen for nothing. The layouts for the towns and forests are done amazingly. Anyone who has gotten to Eagle Rock knows what I'm talking about when you finally climb to the top and can see for miles and miles of next-gen beauty. The characters in the game are very lifelike, and the detail done on each character is stunning. Each bad guy you kill, and trust me, there's a lot, is detailed down to the creases of skin and dirt smears on his face. Not only that, but there is also a lot of variety in the bad guys you face. One thing that wasn't done too well was the shadows of your character. The shadows of all the trees and clouds were done superbly. Even sit in the sun and you'll notice that the shapes of clouds change, and the shadows they make on the ground change along with it. But, the most important shadow, your own, looks like it came out of some lame PS game. Walk along a wall and watch your shadow, even jump around a bit, and you'll know what I mean. One final thing, which is easily the best, is how great the physics are when guys are killed. There’s nothing like shooting a guy in the neck and see him fly back before he smashes into the ground.

Sound
I've never cared much for soundtracks in games, but this one was still pretty nice. When you're sneaking, it plays a kind of smooth tune, but as soon as a guy catches a glimpse of you, it begins to speed up. If he's sure he has seen you and starts to shoot, it goes into the up-beat music. The voice-overs are done perfectly for the west. The language used is very good for the west many years ago. It has a very good feel for the past, and every character feels like they belong in the Wild West. One thing that I thought didn't quite fit was the music it played when you win a duel. It plays the kind of sad music that you'd expect to hear when you die, even though you just shot down the other guy, saving your life. Overall though, the sound was done very well.

Controls
Once again, done well, and is pretty much like any FPS. LT is your left gun; RT is your right gun. Anyone who is looking for any break-through control systems will be let down, but everything is great the way it is. One thing I really liked about the controls is how there actually were differences between Billy and Ray. One will never have any of the abilities the other has, and you have to adapt to both of the characters styles. Overall, controls are like most FPS, but are still smoothly delivered.

Story
Some aspects of it are pretty fresh. There is no large love affair involved for the most part. It's not the most amazing story you'll ever see, but I thought they way they were intertwined was done very well. You pretty much get to do each chapter twice, but with a completely different perspective each time which gives it a pretty nice feel to it. In the end, it does have the usual 'hero saves the day' parts to it, but it does have some new points to it as well.

Gameplay
The gameplay had a kind of different edge from most FPS games. It's not constant non-stop action, which might turn some gamers off, but was a good thing to me. There are parts where you might want to instead sneak around the enemies instead of trying to shoot through them all. Many times I found myself systematically taking each guy out one by one with the bow, which kills silently. The AI was done well in the game, with guys running and hiding behind shelter and waiting to pop out and shoot. When the bad guys reload is kind of weird though. Wherever the guy was shooting when he ran out of ammo is usually where he stood to reload. So if a guy is running from one cover to the next while shooting at you, but runs out of ammo half way, he'll stop there and start reloading, which leaves him pretty open for a head shot, not that I mind though. The gameplay was done very nicely how you would do a level with Ray, where you shoot everything that moves, and then a level with Billy, where there is a lot more tactical work involved.

It's never the same level twice. You have a different character in a new environment with a different objective each level. Climbing with Billy could get sort of twitchy at times, but it was never to the point where it was really bad. The same thing goes with picking up things. If you want to take a box with you and throw it in the battlefield so you have something to hide behind, it can get to be a very hard task. Also if you pick something up and try to walk by a house or tree per say, whatever you picked up usually will hit the tree somehow and probably fall. Being able to pick things up wasn't exactly a necessary addition, but it was sort of cool to build your own pyramid with boxes so you can get to a certain point.

Overall
Anyone who is looking for a good FPS game that’s not a rehash of every other game will enjoy this one; guaranteed. Another thing worth mentioning about this game is that the achievements are pretty fun. They aren't like 'You beat the level, here's 100 points man.' You have to work on them while you're beating the level. For instance, one requires you to shoot hats off of the enemies before you kill them. That way, you can find yourself not just pointing and firing at everything that moves. Unless you're interested in the multiplayer aspect of this game, you may be disappointed by the short singleplayer campaign.  Either way, you’ll definitely enjoy playing through at least once.

Game Score

B-

Reviewed By: Contributed