{"id":73806,"date":"2023-08-30T13:57:49","date_gmt":"2023-08-30T18:57:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/?p=73806"},"modified":"2023-08-30T13:57:52","modified_gmt":"2023-08-30T18:57:52","slug":"game-review-call-of-juarez-gunslinger","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/?p=73806","title":{"rendered":"Game review: ‘Call of Juarez: Gunslinger’"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By NICK McCOY<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tiger Media Network<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite how legendary the genre is, Western video games aren\u2019t exactly a dime and a dozen. There are obviously games that do adopt this motif, but it\u2019s still a pretty low number. Just looking at a list of World War II video games versus Westerns, and it\u2019s laughable how little there is. Of course, \u201cRed Dead Redemption\u201d is what really put Western games on the map, but there\u2019s another series some might jump to: The \u201cCall of Juarez\u201d series.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Consisting of four entries, the \u201cCall of Juarez\u201d series has a bit of a rocky history. The first entry, 2006\u2019s \u201cCall of Juarez,\u201d didn\u2019t exactly set the world on fire, but was still a fun Western first-person shooter with cool shooting mechanics, a solid story and memorable characters, particularly preacher and former gunslinger Ray McCall. The series would garner much more attention and praise with the 2009\u2019s \u201cCall of Juarez: Bound in Blood,\u201d which featured improved shooting mechanics and a more interesting, deeper story. Unfortunately, Techland would follow this title with the abysmal \u201cCall of Juarez: The Cartel,\u201d removing the Western aesthetic for modern times. \u201cThe Cartel\u201d would go on to be a critical and commercial familiar, lambasted for its poor writing, unsatisfying combat and numerous technical issues. Wanting to move past \u201cThe Cartel,\u201d Techland would go back to the drawing board for the next entry.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This entry, \u201cCall of Juarez: Gunslinger,\u201d more than made up for the faults of \u201cThe Cartel.\u201d Featuring incredibly fun and satisfying arcade-style shooting mechanics, a cool cel-shaded art style, and an engrossing story featuring several real-life Western figures, \u201cCall of Juarez: Gunslinger\u201d is an amazing Western game that deserves much more attention.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCall of Juarez: Gunslinger\u201d was released May 22, 2013, as a digital-only title. It was developed by Polish company Techland, also known for the \u201cDead Island\u201d and \u201cDying Light\u201d series, and published by Ubisoft. A Nintendo Switch version was also released Dec. 10, 2019. Techland would learn a lot from the mistakes of \u201cThe Cartel.\u201d The return to the Western theme of the original \u201cCall of Juarez\u201d and \u201cBound in Blood\u201d was their main concern.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGunslinger\u201d is narratively unrelated to both \u201cCall of Juarez\u201d and \u201cBound in Blood,\u201d but returns to its Western motif. The game follows Silas Greaves, an aging bounty hunter who arrives at a bar in Abilene in 1910. Speaking with the bar\u2019s patrons, Silas tells various stories from his younger days as a bounty hunter, while searching for a man named Roscoe \u201cBob\u201d Bryant, who is responsible for a tragedy in Silas\u2019 life. The story has Silas encounter numerous Western figures, such as Billy the Kid and Jesse James among others.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s far from the greatest story ever told, and it does contain a predictable twist and ending but is still enjoyable to sit through. This is thanks to Silas Greaves being an interesting and fun protagonist. He also quickly establishes himself as an unreliable narrator, often embellishing facts and changing aspects of the story on a whim. This transitions into gameplay. As the missions take place while Silas tells his story to the bar patrons, the game world will change right in front of your eyes. Paths will appear out of thin air and objects will move to give players an exit. It goes to smaller things, such as Silas mentioning fried chicken when you kill a chicken in the level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those who aren\u2019t that interested in the story and just want to see how it plays will not be disappointed. \u201cCall of Juarez: Gunslinger\u201d has some of the best shooting mechanics of any first-person shooter. \u201cGunslinger\u201d puts heavy emphasis on combos and hitting different parts of the body to earn points, much like an arcade shooter. Players can choose from a variety of different revolvers, rifles and shotguns in order to mow down enemies and progress through the levels. Players can also use dynamite, as well as Gatling guns in certain sections. There are also several duels: Players must focus on their draw speed and keep focus on their opponent to succeed, controlled by thumbsticks or mouse and keyboard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The game features a few interesting mechanics: First is concentration, which slows down time and highlights enemies in red, allowing you to quickly pick them off. Then, there\u2019s the Sense of Death ability, indicated by a yellow skull icon in the corner of the screen. This allows Silas to survive what would be a fatal shot, dodging out of the way as the bullet whizzes past. From the points they receive by killing enemies, players can upgrade various abilities, all related to six shooters, long-range weapons, as well as shotguns and explosives.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The weapons in this game all feel amazing to use. The shotgun in particular is quite possibly the most satisfying shotgun I\u2019ve ever used in a video game. You feel the power and kickback of the shotgun with each pull, as it absolutely demolishes enemies from close range. The other weapons also feel great, whether you\u2019re picking off enemies from a distance with a rifle or mowing down multiple bandits with dual six-shooters. While there admittedly isn\u2019t a lot of variation with the weapons, this isn\u2019t really an issue when the gunplay is this good. Players can put their shooting skills to the test in arcade mode and dueling mode, outside of the main campaign.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Simply put, \u201cCall of Juarez: Gunslinger\u201d is a fantastic experience. Its entertaining story and the way it’s told, cool visual style, implementation of real-world figures, replay value and astounding shooting mechanics just solidify this fact. Currently, the \u201cCall of Juarez\u201d series has an uncertain future, with no news of a possible fourth entry. However, it\u2019s a good thing the series ended on such a high note, rather than a whimper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nick McCoy is a senior at Fort Hays State University, studying Digital Media and Journalism. An avid gamer and music listener, he reviews video games and songs, and hosts the radio show The Understanding of Nick for Tiger Media Network.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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By NICK McCOY Tiger Media Network Despite how legendary the genre is, Western video games aren\u2019t exactly a dime and a dozen. There are obviously… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":73807,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[55],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-73806","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Call-of-Juarez.png?fit=512%2C512&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73806","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=73806"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73806\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":73814,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73806\/revisions\/73814"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/73807"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=73806"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=73806"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=73806"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}