Review: Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood

“Call of Juarez Bound in Blood is the follow up to Call of Juarez (like duh!), developed by Techland and published by Ubisoft, that focuses on the origins of Reverend Ray from the original game.”

Overview

Title: Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood

Release Date: (NA) 30th Jume 09 / (AUS) 2nd July 2009 / (EU) 2nd-3rd July 2009

Developer/Publisher: Techland / Ubisoft

Genre: 1st Person Shooter

Platform[s]: PC, Xbox 360, Playstation 3 (I am reviewing the Xbox 360 version of this game.)

Storyline

Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood is the follow up to Call of Juarez (like duh!), developed by Techland and published by Ubisoft, that focuses on the origins of Reverend Ray from the original game. While I won’t go into specifics of the story (I’m not one who believes in telling about a story in a review, you should find that one out for yourself) it is told pretty well and for the most part driven forward at a decent pacing. The plot is slightly clichéd but thought out well enough to keep you interested.

Gameplay

There are two playable characters, Ray and Thomas, both with completely different playing styles. One is a tank style, soaking up loads of damage and using powerful weapons to obliterate anything in his way while being slightly inaccurate, while the other is more weaker and agile using his lasso to evade and reach high places, and better accuracy to outwit his opponents. Character choice doesn’t affect the way the story develops that much and is more dependant on playing style as they are not really that restrictive either, though there are one or two character specific segments depending on who you picked.

Combat is generally against a decent amount of enemies at a time, and each kill fills up your concentration meter which then allows you to activate a bullet time niche effect to help you kill foes much more easily. I found the auto aim system a bit annoying though and somewhat unimmersive. The duels in the game (no wild west game would be complete without them) are a nice touch but somehow frustrating due to the camera and mechanics as the camera can lead you to move your hand out of position and the targeting can also be erratic for the same reasons. The levels feel very repetitive as it just feels like you’re doing the same thing over and over. The AI is ok but not great and there were a few dumb AI moments where they just stood there while I unloaded into them or they just ran around in circles like idiots while I was shooting at them.

Multiplayer is essentially an expansion of the original games multiplayer. You have 5 starting classes with another 8 that are unlockable with a variety of weapons to choose from as well. You get cash for kills which can be spent to improve your characters attributes which is a nice touch. There are 5 game modes which I have to say are pretty damn fun! Especially Wild West Legends mode which can result in some epic scale battles. The multiplayer will be this games selling point, easily and will no doubt keep people going over summer. It holds up well as well. I found it was pretty stable and haven’t come across any problems as of yet.

Graphics

Played on an LG 32″ HDTV, using HDMI, graphically the game looks nice but the enemies are very repetitive, look kind of unrealistic to a degree, and all just look the same. The levels look nice from a distance but look boring and bland up close. The game just doesn’t look like it pushes the Xbox 360 at all compared to other games. That’s not to say it looks terrible but that it just is nothing special, nothing ground breaking. Explosions look pretty decent though, the particle effects used here is top notch.

Audio

Played through my Hercules 5.1 surround sound system one thing I can’t fault this game for is its audio. It sounds very authentic. The voice acting isn’t too bad and is believable with some stereotypical western accents. The weapons sound genuine enough and make you feel you are packing the real deal while bullets are whizzing past your head from far off snipers.

Overall Score & Replayability

It’s hard to score Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood. While this game does have its flaws in single player, the multiplayer is fun and addictive, and will keep you going over summer. Most certainly worth a rental if you’re not a Wild West fan, you might be pleasantly surprised by the games multiplayer. Most definitely worth a buy if you are.  Score: 7/10