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And still we miss Outlaws

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 11 / 11
Date: July 11, 2007
Author: Amazon User

It's been how long now? And I still think Lucas Arts Outlaws was the best Western first Person Shooter. Since that time the Western genre has been oft ignored and only recently had an upswing, with games such as Gun, Dead Man's Hand, and Desperadoes I and II. Still, nothing has been truly memorable and the "Call of Juarez" is no different.

Story
The story line is nothing unusual. An out of luck kid (Billy Candle) gets blamed for something he didn't do, while a rentless Bible thumping Reverend Ray chases him. Meanwhile a sinister (not really) plot (not really) draws the two together time and again.

During the game players take control of Billy, who is on the run armed only with his abilities to hide, to use silent weapons, like the bow and arrow, climb things, and use a whip in the same style as Indiana Jones. Sorry, no hat included.

In a genuinely unique twist, players also take control of Reverend Ray and chase Billy down. The two perspectives to the same storyline is interesting, but sometimes I felt cheated as I had to go through the same map twice with each character. Ray is fun. No doubt he alone almost makes the game worth buying at full price. He is mean. He is old. He is quick on the draw and during the game you can have a Bible in one hand a sawed off shotgun in the other. Supposedly the use of the Bible stuns enemies, but I found it more useful just to shoot them, then read from the Bible for kicks. Ray however cannot climb things, and I suppose we'll just blame this on his advanced age.

Gameplay
Gameplay is fairly standard. Characters can lean to the side (a major plus), run and jump. Shooting is easy enough, though even the rifle is fired from the hip it seems. You never use iron sights, though with some weapons you can zoom in.

In combat both Billy and Ray have a weapon which can slow down time. For Billy this enables you to aim percise shots with the bow, while for Ray you can draw two pistols and theoretically take down six opponents with six head shots. Both are nice features, but almost too nice. Much like FEAR, slowing down time made the game too easy. In fact, there isn't anything difficult at all about the game. Health in the form of whiskey bottles are plentiful as is ammo. Weapons eventually overheat and break, but replacing them is no challenge either.

Most the game you find yourself following a prescribed route, and gunning down enemies who at the most seem to show up in groups of four, and usually less. There is some sneaking involved, and a few mountain scaling challenges, but both end up a bit dull. On the plus side, quick draw gun duels are interesting, as is a chase sequence on horseback.

Graphics
I live in Arizona, so I can tell you that the Call of Juarez looks exactly like what a desert in a movie studio looks like. There are cactus and shrubs and a neat haze effect from the heat. What there isn't? Wind. Most things are static (except for falling leaves, pollen and rain) which is ashame since games like Ghost Recon, which are older, had at least mastered the effect of wind moving shrubbery. Not in this game. Thus players tend to follow the, if it moves shoot it, theory. Not that the game will let you shoot innocents, animals, or dead people; for it places a big RED x over them and says, "No". Odd for a rated M game. More on that later.

Characters look good. In fact they look great. So good, that you wonder how they ended up in such bad scenery. It's like when you see your favorite actor in a B movie and ask yourself, "You doing someone a favor?"

Rated M?
It didn't really have to be. The game, for no real reason, has a sexual reference in the beginning. It's a bit akward and nothing else like it occurs throughout the rest of the game. Blood is dark and plentiful on walls when you shoot people, but corpses tend to just get red where they were shot. No smoking bullet holes, or twitching bodies. Language is mildly coarse. Which is fitting given how the game itself is equally mild.

Overall
The game had potential and could have been better with a supernatural twist midway through, or if they wanted to stay in the 'real world', if they had the game feel like a Sphagetti Western. Neither occurs. Gameplay is dull, enemies are too easy, graphics range from good to bad and ugly.
I bought it full price because I've been yearning for a great Western genre game. I'm still waiting. I reccomend you pick "Call of Juarez" up when it is about $20. Reverened Ray and his Bible/sawedoff combo is worth that much.

PROS = Reverend Ray. A great character! The graphics used for characters. Chase sequences. Mano y Mano gun duels.

CONS = Nothing truly unique about gameplay. A short game, that still tends to be monotonous. Scenery that surely could have been better or more dynamic. Rated M just because.

Somewhat fun, for a short time

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 1 / 2
Date: July 12, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Its an ok concept, but there's alot of time spent hopping/climbing around like its Super Mario. Its also completely linear, so replay value is very low.

Juarez -

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 3
Date: July 05, 2007
Author: Amazon User

You play as 2 characters...that adds a bit of depth to the game. Overall, this a good ride, though too linear. Game looks great (DirectX 10, 8800GTX), and was a good first game to test out a new computer.

Ok, with some problems

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: July 15, 2007
Author: Amazon User

The game is enjoyable, in a mindless sort of way. Some of the platforming puzzles get old since it's supposed to be a first person SHOOTER!
The biggest problem is performance in DX10. I have a brand new rig that should have no trouble, and didn't for the first few chapters, and then it slowed to a crawl. All drivers updated, other games run great, so I can only assume it's the game.

Call of Juarez

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: July 26, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I thought the game was pretty fun and a different take on the "First Person Shooter" genre. It was a litte too easy, but it has some very cool graphics. I especially like the bow and arrow as a weapon. Overall...a very entertaining game.

Highly Underrated

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: September 15, 2007
Author: Amazon User

The most underrated game this year. Excellent graphics. Fun gameplay. Very good story (as far as stories in video games are concerned). The writing and voice acting didn't suck, which is more than I can say for 95% of the games I've played.

Great game, great story line.

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: October 18, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This game is real good. The only thing is that I felt that the game isn't long enough. I played it for 4 days and then I finished the whole game. That kind of disapointed me but the game is great.

Best game I've played in a long time

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: December 25, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I can't stand games where you save the world...again; fight heaven and hell, but you're not really sure which side you're on; or start off in the real world with great game play and then drag you down into this absurd fantasy/supernatural land for no apparent reason, like the Theif series. Call of Juarez fills a much needed void. The story is well written. There are a few laughs if you wait to overhear the conversations before offing the bad guys. The overall gameplay for an FPS is great. You won't make it if you go in guns ablazing, nor will they let you be overly cautious. The game is difficult enough to keep it interesting, but not so much that you get stuck and give up after dieing and reloading for two hours straight (I hate that).

The graphics overall look amazing with all the settings turned on high. And contrary to a previous review, there is wind. Everything from dust clouds, to moving trees/vegatation, to swirling smoke, to flying hats, to rolling tumbleweeds. But you have to have a system with some serious processing power to handle the effects. I did have a little graphics trouble with stuttering and tearing when the camera was in motion on my Nvidia 8800GTX card, but turning on Forced Vsync in the Nvidia Control Panel > Advanced Settings fixed that problem.

The story is rather linear, but I think that ensures you won't get lost. I'm not sure why this is such a complaint. Movies, books, etc. are all linear. Besides, not many people can finish games like Grand Theft Auto without a walkthrough, which just makes the game more linear.

Enjoyable

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: January 18, 2008
Author: Amazon User

This is an enjoyable game. The story is engaging, and the game play fun. If your looking for a western diversion get this. It is not earth shattering in any technological way (as it appears to the player), but it is a lot of fun.

Call of Juarez

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: March 25, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I really like this game. It is an authentic recreation of the old west. Very fun to play and easy to learn controls. I recieved this product in 3 days and it was easy to install. I suggest this game to anyone who enjoys westerns.

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