(If you don't feel like reading, skip to the overall section)
Have you ever had one of those really cool friends who's fun to hang out with, but he always wants to go to the same bar and hit on the same women? Yes, it's fun, but if anyone has any better ideas, he gets pissed off and ruins it for everyone because he's the life of the party.
That's Call of Juarez except a videogame, and it doesn't sleep with your girlfriend.
Story
You are introduced to the main character, Billy, when you first get back into your old hometown of Hope. Having given up the search for a local treasure, "Gold of Juarez," all you want is to see your mother again. You're 17, half Mexican, and no one in town likes you. Of course, within the first 5 minutes you're enjoying the comfort of the local pub whore. And of course, you didn't pay. Suddenly you're solid-snaking your way through the old town, avoiding detection by the local miners who've been promised a half hour free "service" at the pub. Somehow you manage to get back to your old house where your mother and abusive stepfather live. As you approach the farmhouse, you hear screams...
You're then plopped into the role of the Preacher. A scornful, bitter man who sees God as his ally in whatever he does. The town of Hope is a sinful place, and the Preacher wants to redeem it. When the Preacher hears that there's gunfire coming from his brother's farmhouse, he races to find Billy standing over his own mother, and the Preacher's brother, both savagely murdered. This sends the Preacher into a blind rage, running to the church to retrieve his pistols and administer some justice to the rebelling town of Hope.
The rest of the game follows Billy's running and the Preacher's pursuit as you switch back and forth between the two.
Controls
Controlling the different characters is very similar, but they do come with some minor differences. Billy uses a whip Indiana Jones style to swing around in trees. He can also climb ledges and boxes and pretty much anything if you jump at it and press forward. While the whip can be used as a weapon, Billy can use firearms just the same as the preacher.
However, the preacher has the ability to go into a slowmo akimbo blastfest. While he can't climb like Billy can, he can take twice as many bullets, and even deflect bullets with his metal breastplate. You can also carry a bible in one hand while blasting in the other, calling out verses that pertain to the current gameplay.
Gameplay
I'll be honest. Billy's levels are boring, focus far too much on "stealth" when it's often easier to just blast your way through (Unless the level restarts because you do that) and can sometimes be absolutely illogical. There's many jumping puzzles, little to no ammo (I played on easy normal), and the entire time you're just itching to get back to the preacher.
The Preacher's levels are straightforward and pointed: Kill everything. The few times you have to do anything but tend to be a bit confusing, and are thrown in just to break up the action. It can be entertaining to use the slowmo, swap weapons for better or newer ones, and developing a playstyle that suits your needs. I sometimes felt like The Preacher was rambo, and I played that way too.
Gunfights are my favorite part of the game. A timer counts down and you can use Q and E to move back and forth, but you can't walk. When the timer reaches zero, you simply move your mouse down and back up and you've got a crosshair. In slowmotion, you have to aim and shoot before your enemy does. It's absolutely and completely amazing. Reminds me of the shootout in DUST the adventure game, but way better.
Graphics/Engine
The engine was superb. It has framerate issues on older cards, and the graphics are absolutely different from DX9/10 (I was running 10 on full settings with no slow downs.) but if you've got a recent enough computer, it should be fine. The graphics were sometimes a little underwhelming, but as a whole the presentation was amazing. Very Oblivion-esque but with improvements. I realize that the game was intended for the XBox360, but the reuse of the same farm for every farm in the game, the same door for every door in the game, the same thug/grunt for completely different bosses got quite annoying. I would've loved to see some variation.
Multiplayer
I didn't get to try the MP on my machine because I'm borrowing the game from my neighbor who won't let me use his key. I tried it at his house, but we all know how playing games on other people's machines are. Others are saying how fun the MP is, though. This might be a higher selling point than I know, so consider this.
Overall
The game is very fun. The story is every western AND videogame cliche you can think of, but the makers intended it to feel like a cheap western, so it definitely hit it's mark. It really feels like there could be so much more to this game, as the physics engine, graphics, the combat, and the different tools (Bow/Arrow, Whip, Dynamite) all are top of the line, but the gameplay hardly delivers. Your options and choices are so narrow that you only get to enjoy the tools given to you when there's been a well developed location for you to use them. Never was I able to creatively use the whip when it wasn't "time" to use the whip. Never would I have dynamite when it'd be to my strategical advantage, but instead when it was fashioned in a way I'd need dynamite. All of the tools and abilities in the game are fashioned in a way that the developers didn't NEED to make everything so convenient. The storyline would have really benefited from a user-element of control, but instead kept strict and straight. It gave me a nostalgic feel, as if I were playing a very old game. The days are long gone when we had to follow a single adventure path, Call of Juarez Developers! Let us have the freedom back!
Finally
I'd rent this game for the Xbox360, and maybe buy it for the PC. If the MP rocks, then it's most certainly a buy. If not, wait until it's at a lower pricepoint. You'll enjoy the playthrough, but by the end of the game, you might be sick of the same shooting in the same areas with the same enemies and the same "What do the developers want me to do now?" questions. Overall I'd give Call of Juarez an 80% rating.
[This wasn't really well formatted or anything like that, but I'm not showcasing my reviewing skills. Just giving my opinion.]
Have you ever had one of those really cool friends who's fun to hang out with, but he always wants to go to the same bar and hit on the same women? Yes, it's fun, but if anyone has any better ideas, he gets pissed off and ruins it for everyone because he's the life of the party.
That's Call of Juarez except a videogame, and it doesn't sleep with your girlfriend.
Story
You are introduced to the main character, Billy, when you first get back into your old hometown of Hope. Having given up the search for a local treasure, "Gold of Juarez," all you want is to see your mother again. You're 17, half Mexican, and no one in town likes you. Of course, within the first 5 minutes you're enjoying the comfort of the local pub whore. And of course, you didn't pay. Suddenly you're solid-snaking your way through the old town, avoiding detection by the local miners who've been promised a half hour free "service" at the pub. Somehow you manage to get back to your old house where your mother and abusive stepfather live. As you approach the farmhouse, you hear screams...
You're then plopped into the role of the Preacher. A scornful, bitter man who sees God as his ally in whatever he does. The town of Hope is a sinful place, and the Preacher wants to redeem it. When the Preacher hears that there's gunfire coming from his brother's farmhouse, he races to find Billy standing over his own mother, and the Preacher's brother, both savagely murdered. This sends the Preacher into a blind rage, running to the church to retrieve his pistols and administer some justice to the rebelling town of Hope.
The rest of the game follows Billy's running and the Preacher's pursuit as you switch back and forth between the two.
Controls
Controlling the different characters is very similar, but they do come with some minor differences. Billy uses a whip Indiana Jones style to swing around in trees. He can also climb ledges and boxes and pretty much anything if you jump at it and press forward. While the whip can be used as a weapon, Billy can use firearms just the same as the preacher.
However, the preacher has the ability to go into a slowmo akimbo blastfest. While he can't climb like Billy can, he can take twice as many bullets, and even deflect bullets with his metal breastplate. You can also carry a bible in one hand while blasting in the other, calling out verses that pertain to the current gameplay.
Gameplay
I'll be honest. Billy's levels are boring, focus far too much on "stealth" when it's often easier to just blast your way through (Unless the level restarts because you do that) and can sometimes be absolutely illogical. There's many jumping puzzles, little to no ammo (I played on easy normal), and the entire time you're just itching to get back to the preacher.
The Preacher's levels are straightforward and pointed: Kill everything. The few times you have to do anything but tend to be a bit confusing, and are thrown in just to break up the action. It can be entertaining to use the slowmo, swap weapons for better or newer ones, and developing a playstyle that suits your needs. I sometimes felt like The Preacher was rambo, and I played that way too.
Gunfights are my favorite part of the game. A timer counts down and you can use Q and E to move back and forth, but you can't walk. When the timer reaches zero, you simply move your mouse down and back up and you've got a crosshair. In slowmotion, you have to aim and shoot before your enemy does. It's absolutely and completely amazing. Reminds me of the shootout in DUST the adventure game, but way better.
Graphics/Engine
The engine was superb. It has framerate issues on older cards, and the graphics are absolutely different from DX9/10 (I was running 10 on full settings with no slow downs.) but if you've got a recent enough computer, it should be fine. The graphics were sometimes a little underwhelming, but as a whole the presentation was amazing. Very Oblivion-esque but with improvements. I realize that the game was intended for the XBox360, but the reuse of the same farm for every farm in the game, the same door for every door in the game, the same thug/grunt for completely different bosses got quite annoying. I would've loved to see some variation.
Multiplayer
I didn't get to try the MP on my machine because I'm borrowing the game from my neighbor who won't let me use his key. I tried it at his house, but we all know how playing games on other people's machines are. Others are saying how fun the MP is, though. This might be a higher selling point than I know, so consider this.
Overall
The game is very fun. The story is every western AND videogame cliche you can think of, but the makers intended it to feel like a cheap western, so it definitely hit it's mark. It really feels like there could be so much more to this game, as the physics engine, graphics, the combat, and the different tools (Bow/Arrow, Whip, Dynamite) all are top of the line, but the gameplay hardly delivers. Your options and choices are so narrow that you only get to enjoy the tools given to you when there's been a well developed location for you to use them. Never was I able to creatively use the whip when it wasn't "time" to use the whip. Never would I have dynamite when it'd be to my strategical advantage, but instead when it was fashioned in a way I'd need dynamite. All of the tools and abilities in the game are fashioned in a way that the developers didn't NEED to make everything so convenient. The storyline would have really benefited from a user-element of control, but instead kept strict and straight. It gave me a nostalgic feel, as if I were playing a very old game. The days are long gone when we had to follow a single adventure path, Call of Juarez Developers! Let us have the freedom back!
Finally
I'd rent this game for the Xbox360, and maybe buy it for the PC. If the MP rocks, then it's most certainly a buy. If not, wait until it's at a lower pricepoint. You'll enjoy the playthrough, but by the end of the game, you might be sick of the same shooting in the same areas with the same enemies and the same "What do the developers want me to do now?" questions. Overall I'd give Call of Juarez an 80% rating.
[This wasn't really well formatted or anything like that, but I'm not showcasing my reviewing skills. Just giving my opinion.]
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