Call of Juarez

The description on the store page mostly reflect the reality. The duels mostly happens while playing as Reverend. The game still looks good, despite its age. Mostly, the missions are corridors, which I don't mind. Maybe one mission contains an open map. That one is my favourite. All missions are filled action and gunfights. In this mission, you hunt rabbits and climb a mountain to gather some feathers. It is something to make a man from Billy Candle. My favourite part. After that, the story gets more interesting. Shame that the mission is in the half of the game. Also, having the option to have Reverend read from Bible during fights is quite fun. The soundtrack is mediocre, as is the clichéd first half of the story. There are some interesting mechanics, like using a rope to climb or descend mountains, or to jump over gaps in Indiana Jones's style. However, due to the clunkiness of the controls and the execution of the mechanic, it is not as joyful. Same goes for the dueling mechanism. The missions are heavily scripted, which is what bothers me the most in this game. The first time I played the game some years ago, I was repulsed by the scripts in the first mission. Sometimes, you must do exactly as the game says. If not, you fail the mission and restart from the last save. Some cutscenes can not be skipped, so you will have to sit through them every time you need to repeat. Games set in the Wild West usually reference some western films. Here, Reverend Ray wears an iron plate as chest armour. Rings a bell? There are few games in Wild West. From my experience, GUN is still the best.

This game is a fantastic example of what not to do with design. It tried to force you to play a certain way with each character, and it will *not* tolerate any deviation. It has mandatory stealth sections that will instantly get you a game over, but enemy detection is all over the place. You'll have sequences where you're supposed to have pistol-only gunfights with enemies 20-30 yards away where you will very rarely hit anything because there's no way to improve accuracy. Hell, I got to chapter 7 and the game has included little useless nothing mechanics like riding a horse for 30 seconds and using Billy Candle's whip to swing over gaps and climb -- and by the way, the game *doesn't tell you* how to climb at all, even in the controls. It's a game that wants to be an arcadey action shooter but also a stealth game, and both sides are undercooked. This is a game that has no idea what it *actually* wants to be and just throws a bunch of different ideas at the wall and hopes something sticks.

This game is circa 2006 .. and it definately feels it. The biggest problem with this game is poor design. The designers intend you to play a level or chapter a certain way - and any deviation results in failure. Probably the most disastisfying was right out of the gate - the designers intended you to run out of town. You have no resources (guns, bullets ..etc) So what happens? As soon as you take 5 steps - 3 gunslingers are ported behind you and start shooting 'Very Accurately'. You're running in a straight line (up hill). There's no cover. I died 10 times trying to stealth and another 30 times just trying to run away serpentine like. Save yourself some grief. Buy the game on sale. Play on Normal or Easy and spam F5 (quicksave).

After playing Call of Juarez: Gunslinger, I decided to go back to this original 2006 release, and it was a rewarding experience. The game offers a well-told Wild West story. The dual perspectives give the story depth, and the setting—dusty towns and wide-open deserts—is nicely captured. However, the gameplay can feel a bit clunky at times. There were moments where I got stuck or struggled with awkward controls, and the enemy's movement is often predictable. While the gunfights are satisfying, especially with dual pistols, some encounters did feel repetitive. Despite these flaws, the story and atmosphere shine through. For fans of the Western genre, the game delivers a solid, immersive experience. While it might not stand up to modern standards, Call of Juarez remains a memorable FPS, offering an enjoyable ride for anyone who loves a good Western tale.

This is a fun game that shows its age but still manages to deliver fun. The proposition is interesting; you're playing either as Billy or Padre: the antagonists in the game. Basically, Padre believes Billy's murdered his brother and is out for revenge. CoJ is a rather linear adventure game. Much like CoJ: Gunslinger the story is chopped into independent chapters that you play as independent sections. Before you buy, word of warning: there are bugs in the game, crashes to desktop, and some systems are clunky. So make sure right away that your system runs it properly. The most serious issues I've encountered were easily solved by loading the last save, alt+tabbing, or increasing the mouse dpi (more about that later). The game itself is fun. When you're playing as Padre it's shoot, shoot, shoot. You can go into slow motion to shoot the foes around. You can use fanning to shoot a single gun very quickly, or equip both guns and go nuts shooting left and right. There's a handful of guns you can use, but it pretty much boils down to pistol, shotgun, rifle with a few variations each. I enjoyed the gun play very much and it's the highlight of the game. In addition, you'll go through all the classic sights in the old west: typical cowboy town, train robbery, mines, countryside, stagecoach chase, horse riding... You name it, it's in there. Billy is a different story. He's living the most Kafkian existence imaginable, so he's constantly sneaking or on the run; it's definitely not as much fun. Not all is good, though. The game has a few moments were you want to slit your wrists. e.g. eagle mountain. The whip-swinging was not working well in a specific point. I couldn't figure it out even after watching footage. I still don't know how I got through, but I nearly gave up on the game. The duels were a nightmare at first, because my character would not unholster his gun. If it happens, try alt+tabbing or increasing the dpi on your mouse. Not mind-blowing, but good. 7/10.