Posted on: March 27, 2025
Louard_le_Barbare
Verified ownerGames: 295 Reviews: 126
Somewhat messy, but definitely badass
Serving as the prequel to 2006’s Call of Juarez, Bound in Blood is a clear improvement over its charming but flawed predecessor. The gunplay feels better, the level design is superior, the A.I. is more responsive, and even the storytelling is more engaging. It does a good job of expanding on CoJ’s qualities, doubling down on the explosive action and wide open spaces while omitting or enhancing some of its egregious design elements. For instance, while it still has two playable protagonists with different gameplay styles, you can now select your character at the beginning of each level, letting you skip Thomas’ stealth/platforming gameplay if you prefer to incarnate Ray the gunslinger. Still, Bound in Blood makes a few missteps along the way, notably because of its “Call-of-Dutesque” gameplay style. The gunplay is now more about knowing when to cower behind cover to regenerate health than it is about being quick or accurate… Although since you’re wielding manual-action guns, you can’t spray and pray your way out of combat and need to make every shot count – no full auto in the Wild West! It’s also full of small imperfections, like how easily the enemies blend in the environments, how awkward the automated leaning system feels, or how much of a pain the fast draw duels are. But hey, you can’t deny the gameplay is wrapped in a nice package. Much like the first game, CoJ:BiB’s advanced visual tech and great art direction allow it to remain very pretty-looking in spite of its age (as long as you tweak the FOV and Vsync); and while the plot isn’t incredible, it’s told with a lot of conviction and sincerity and has all of the grit and anti-heroism you could possibly want from a Western story. In the end, CoJ:BiB is a fine experience. It's everything we loved and hated about late 2000s/early 2010s FPSes, clad in a badass outlaw duster. There’s a lot of good here, alongside some bad and a bit of ugly, making for an overall fun Wild West shooter with a few clever twists.
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