There is something innately exciting about Western stories. The Wild West is usually depicted as a lawless land of id-driven pursuits where lust, greed, and fame always end up dragging a wagon of bullet-ridden bodies behind it. Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood fits this bill perfectly. Following the first relatively decent game, Call of Juarez, Techland’s prequel-sequel tells the story of three McCall brothers determined to restore their family’s pride, and creates a better-than-average–and in respects a surprisingly good–first-person shooter in the process.
The story is at times wonderful, at times cliché. The same goes for the dialogue. The presentation does a lot with a little, and in so many ways this game pulls itself out of rough territory, coming up with compelling little touches and thoughtful additions that kept me interested all the way through.
In nearly every level, Bound in Blood offers you the choice of playing either brother, Ray or Thomas, upping the ante over the stricter original. Ray is the wild, crazy, dual-fisted gun-slinger who likes to carry sticks of dynamite for fun, and Ray is the calmer rifle-wielding killer who carries a lasso and a bow and arrow for kicks. Techland’s eight-hour FPS is packed with a corral of surprisingly diverse missions, keeping the action fresh and focused. The wide range of missions offer co-op situations, like breaking into saloons with unfavored odds, broad environments designed for exploration and item gathering, and a keen breadth, enabling each brother to execute his distinct brand of justice upon the enemy. For instance, both can ride horses. But only Thomas can climb onto rooftops to snipe or use a lasso, while Ray is especially adroit at close-encounter brawls thanks to his duel-wielding action.
Techland presents each new mission with narration from the third brother, a preacher who desperately follows his brothers in hopes to save their souls. His narration gives the game a sometimes preachy, annoying tone, but while I often fond myself saying out loud, “Shut the *&^% up, you whiny barnacle!!!!, in calmer moments, I also found the holy chatter to balance the story with a tone that smartly counters the immoral acts of gun-slinging for gold. The preachy brother doesn’t just narrate the story; he plays a big part in the story’s twisting plot and its intriguing end.
The solid gunplay mechanics are brought to fruition by a mixture of straight-up gunfights, RPG-lite aspects like chasing down criminals in side-story paths and upgrading a variety of guns, to a handful of climbing, rescue, and escort missions. The shooting and movement mechanics are solid, and the surprisingly fun horse-riding sections also added nice wrinkles to the overall feel. The healthy set of bosses also keeps the action diverse and the challenges constant. The main issue I had with the game is the trial-and-error showdowns. These are must-haves for any Western, but Techland’s try-and-die method leaves a lot to be desired. This is mainly due to the fact that you’ll have to endure a handful of deaths before you hopefully, and through more luck than skill, shoot down your opponent.
Perhaps the most surprising part of the game is the multiplayer games. Instead of just added on haphazardly, there are a handful of game types that enhance the Western theme and the FPS base play. The dust-ridden towns aren’t just 2D props, but fully usable, 3D buildings, houses, saloons, and banks with second stories, roofs, and back doors to run through, giving the maps a big, connected continuity. And the basic shoot-’em-up gameplay is just fun. There is something funny and real about a tall, bald shopkeeper sprinting down the street with a shotgun, mowing down enemies. I especially liked the Rob/Defend Bank missions.
All in all, this rather low-budget game does its best to be better than just another low-budget first-person shooter. Techland uses the Western theme to add a solid variety of mission and gameplay types into the fold, and the horse riding, side missions, and alternate use of Thomas or Ray keep the game fresh and interesting. And believe it or not, the story is quite good, too. The multiplayer component is the biggest surprise, building on the Western theme and creating persuasive reasons to play long after the single-player game is completed.
