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Call of Juarez Gunslinger
After a rather disappointing zombie game
from Techland (Dead Island), this developer is back in business
with the excellent XBox Live game, Call of Juarez Gunslinger that
takes this franchise to a whole new gaming level, especially after the
abysmal Call of Juarez The Cartel! Hey... some people liked The Cartel
but I didn't! Unlike previous Wild West first
person shooters, Call of Juarez Gunslinger returns the series
back to its roots in this excellent Western first person shooter with a
unique story twist.
In the
game, players control the gruff and wizened Silas Greaves, a bounty
hunter who returns to a familiar town. As Silas enters the saloon and
makes some acquaintances, he begins to share his story with other
drinking patrons about his adventures in the Wild West. Best of all, the
developers have actually taken real characters from American Western
history such as Billy the Kid and Jesse James to help tell the tale of
Silas Greaves. I love this link to history as the information on these
characters is actually 100% accurate in the game. Some artistic liberty
has been used to incorporate Silas into them however.
But
what makes this story unique is that when Silas is retelling his story,
the player is then transported back in time to control this character
but if he recalls something different as you play, things change in the
gameplay. For example, if Silas remembers something about the story he
is telling, the gaming environment may change slightly or dramatically
such as changing Indians to Bandits. It's actually quite surreal but one
of the most clever uses of video game storytelling. Another element is
that if Silas recalls something incorrect, the entire mission rewinds or
if another saloon patron remembers part of the story, these words can
influence the gameplay and the story.
Another interesting element of this first person shooter gameplay is
that it allows the player to specialise in their favourite Western
weapon thanks to the skills tree. For example, you might favour the
shotgun or prefer the traditional pistol. No matter which weapon you
choose in the tree, it gives an additional bonus to the player but my
favourite was the rifle. The game also allows Silas to level up thanks
to experience points and the player is awarded scores for taking out
enemies in clever ways or performing "gun" tricks. It's kind of fun how
the game scores you for your attacks in the game and does up the ante
for leader boards.
Add in
a combo system and the combat of Gunslinger works perfectly from start
to finish, especially with the bullet-time ability which allows you to
chain together your combos as time slows down. In relation to
bullet-time, one bar is used to slow time down to assist in taking down
your enemies and the other for dodges that saved by bacon on more than
one occasion. The trickiest aspect of combat is the duel system which
does require some timing on behalf of the player but once you figure out
how the system work, the duelling works quite flawlessly. The AI in the
game is actually quite decent as well.
The
only slight drawback of Call of Juarez Gunslinger is that some of the
graphics look a little dated and crowded but given the almost flawless
gameplay, it's nothing too drastic. The musical score is brilliant and
has this great Western atmosphere behind it and the voice acting is
quite professional and really lends itself to this engaging storyline.
Gunslinger plays good, looks good and sounds good!
Final Thoughts?
If you have a hankering for a Western Video Game or need something a
little different than the classic Red Dead Redemption than Call of
Juarez Gunslinger is for you that successfully manages to refine this
genre and include a few tricks up its sleeve. Add in the great price and
there's very little to complain about.
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