Call of Juarez: Bound In Blood. Is it calling to you?

Call of Juarez, the game that started the series, was a typical western shooter. Most claimed its levels were frustrating and boring. It received very poor rating, and was an overall flop. You may see this and use it as an excuse not to play the second game. You would be crazy not to play it!

Singleplayer - Call of Juarez: Bound In Blood revolves around three brothers, two of them playable. The first is Tom, a sneaky rifleman. His other brother, Ray, is a gunslinger with revolvers. The third brother, William, works at the church. He tells the story between chapters, much like Resistance:Fall of Man did with the narrating woman. The story unfolds as this: Ray and Tom are on the Confederate side of the American Civil War. They are in the final days of the war, trying to push back the Union Army and save their home. As they are fighting, their leader Barnsby orders them to leave and fight another battle fifty miles away, leaving their home and family to die. They refuse and become deserters of the Confederate Army, leaving to protect their home. Barnsby swears revenge on them and wants them to hang. They eventually find that their house has been overrun, and destroyed. This leads into the whole point of the story. The brothers go on a search for the legendary Aztec gold of Mexico to rebuild their farm and home. Along the way is a lot of trouble, including soldiers and bandits. You can play as either Tom or Ray, which has little to no effect on the story. Ray is stronger, can kick down doors, and is better with guns. Tom is sneakier, better with longshots with a rifle, and can use a lasso to climb up objects. The game really is very great in the way the fighting goes. There is a cover system included, much like Killzone 2’s, which allows you to hide behind boxes and peak out to shoot. You can also enter concentration mode, which allows you to kill multiple enemies at once. It is basically a way to show how good the two brothers are with guns. There are also standoff modes, which allow you to have a standoff with a boss type character. You have to reach for your gun and shoot the boss when a bell goes off. It is rather fun, and can be quite challenging sometimes. Feature like this really make the game all that much better. You can even buy better guns during the game, instead of just picking random guns up off of enemies! The game has come quite a long way from the original Call of Juarez!

Multiplayer - There are five different multiplayer modes in the game. 

Shootout: Wild West-style deathmatch based on bounty instead of frags. Kill all the others, and don't let them kill you!                                          

Posse: Two teams fight against each other. When all the members of a team are killed, the team loses. 

Wanted: Only the wanted can gain points for killing. The player can score by killing the Wanted. The player that kills the Wanted becomes wanted himself.            

Wild West Legends: One of the teams has several objectives to complete; Some can be completed in different ways, some are optional. The opposing team is trying to prevent completion of the objectives within the time limit. Levels are strongly themed on real historical events.

Manhunt: There are two teams and one wanted player-the top player in one of the teams. If the wanted player survives for 60 seconds, the team scores. When the wanted player is killed, a new Wanted player from the opposing team is assigned(the top player on that team).

The multiplayer is nothing new, but with the wild west twist it certainly seems more fun! There are several different classes to play as, including Rifleman, Gunslinger, Native, Sniper, Officer, Gunsmith, and many more. They are all different, and have perks and downfalls. You can temporarily upgrade each class to give you a boost in the game, or permanently upgrade them for quite a bit of money. The one downfall is that it cost quite a bit of money to unlock a new class. For example, an Officer cost $50,000, but you only make between $500-$3000 a game, depending on the match. There are a few problems with multiplayer I should point out. This was not a very hyped game as because of its reputation, so there are not too many matches online(there are enough, so don't worry). It also seems to once and a while freeze, and is known for hit detection fails. As stated before, nothing new, but quite fun with the different maps and tons of classes. There are, I believe 5-7 maps with more on the way. All are pretty big, and resemble American Wild West type towns.

Graphics/Engine - The graphics are truly outstanding in this game. Everyone’s faces look extremely realistic. This game cna definitely be compared with Killzone 2. It uses the Chrome Engine 4, a really decent FPS engine. The guns look amazing, and everything truly looks great. It is a feast or the eyes, from the horses getting wet and soaked fur, to the blood that splatters out of an enemies head.

Final Verdict - It had a terrible reputation from the first game, but it really pulled through. This game is worth every penny! The story is very good, and the gunfights are amazing! Things like shootout duals, 13 different multiplayer classes, riding horses, and a great story move this away from other FPS games I would say this is the best western game for years. It raised the bar for FPS and western games alike. The game definitely deserves an 8.5.

8.5/10