"Call of Juarez" Review (Xbox 360)

Although I purchased and played this game when it was originally released back in 2007, I never posted a video review of it on Youtube. Some have requested to know my thoughts regarding this very cool and equally underrated FPS, so I thought I would share the following, pulled from my backlog of video games reviews...

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"Call of Juarez" joins recent games like "Gun," "Red Dead Revolver," and "Darkwatch" as yet another Western-themed shooter. Once a genre that scarcely seemed to exist, it is now quickly filling the Western-themed void that seems to exist in Hollywood. Like the aforementioned titles, "Call of Juarez" is very good at what it does, and ends up just shy of greatness -- but if you've a mind for more gunslinging', you can't do much better.

The plot behind "Call" sees half-Mexican troublemaker Billy Candle framed for the murder of his parents and seeking the lost treasure of Juarez that he might finally carve a name for himself in the world. Meanwhile, his vengeful uncle, Reverend Ray, a gunslinger turned man of God, is on his trail spewing fire and brimstone -- er, mostly just fire.

The storyline and characters are the best thing "Call" has going for it. You will alternate between playing as Billy and his self-righteous Uncle Ray. Billy excels at stealth, platforming, and archery, while Ray is Clint Eastwood incarnate with guns blazin'. The shifts in perspective provide a compelling method of building suspense and filling in the plot gaps, and both characters are so different from one another that each of their respective segments seems to represent a mini-game all its own.

Unfortunately, Ray is the by far the standout character. Billy has a decent arch and is fairly likable in his own right, but Ray is worthy of any "Top Ten Best Video Game Character" list -- and that's some tough competition. Clad in a leather duster and cruciform breastplate, he strikes an imposing image and is voiced to perfection. There's something inherently fascinating about a character that speaks to God and quotes the Bible between shooting people in the face. He's obviously crazy, and playing crazy is just plain fun.

Not only is Ray the best character, his sequences are generally more gratifying due to their action-packed content. He is considerably stronger and more durable than his nephew, and can use weapons that Billy can't even touch. He also has a concentration mode that helps him get the drop on his foes and is pretty useful in a pinch.

Billy, on the other hand, is more apt to avoid combat. His bow and arrow sequences are pretty satisfying, but few and far between. More often than not Billy finds himself trapped inside a first-person platformer mixed liberally with a first-person sneaker. The stealth segments are okay, and less reliant on trial and error than some games who make stealth their primary objective -- but it's been done much better in the past, to put it mildly. As far as the platforming sections go, they work as well as they possibly could given the first-person point of view, but it can be hard to properly line up jumps, and dying from an unplanned fall can be quite frustrating. He can use a bullwhip Indiana Jones-style, lashing on to objects and swinging across some chasms -- and though it works fairly well, there's still an awkward quality to it all.

That is not to say that some of Billy's missions aren't enjoyable -- they are. But Uncle Ray's blastapalooza trumps it in spades. The only downside to the gunplay is the wonky decision made by the developers to have certain firearms overheat and break in the midst of a battle. You get used to it and learn to plan accordingly, so it's not a dealbreaker -- but simply collecting bullets and swapping weapons like most FPS games would have worked better.

Complete with horseback chases, treasure hunts, duels, fistfights, and plenty of shootouts, "Call" is a good game for action junkies to invest in -- particularly those who love Westerns with good characters and a solid story. The gameplay is varied, for what its worth (even if it's not always successful), and when it all works it works splendidly well. Complete with top notch production values (some of the game's vistas are breathtaking and evoke the West quite well), this is darn near a can't-miss on a console that could always use one more actioner.

Answer the “Call.” It’s worth it.

FINAL SCORE: 8.0 (Very Good)

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I believe it was PC Gamer that mentioned, in their review of said game, that neither of the protagonists (Billy or Uncle Ray) were very likable. I think that perhaps I've never been more in disagreement with a critic's assessment of a game's lead characters, as you can probably tell from the above review.