Call of Juarez: Gunslinger

I didn't give it 5 stars because, for me, 5 star games are ones that you remember fondly 10 years after playing. That being said, very solid, fun game. About 8-10 hours long for the main story, with new game plus and extra challenges if you feel like playing more. Some dude said it's 3.5 hours long - yes, yes, we are all very impressed with your mad skillz, but that won't be the experience for most players. Some players like to actually observe and enjoy a game instead of speed running through it like it's a work assignment. The story is ok, nothing amazing, but the main attraction is the gameplay, which is super-fun, maybe because the western genre has not been very explored in games. The duels can be a bit frustrating if you play it on hard (and you should, normal seems a bit too easy if you're an experienced gamer), but other than that, time and money well spent. Save file is located here if you want to do a manual backup (at least if you're not using GOG Galaxy, not sure if that changes it): C:\Users\Your Username\AppData\Local\Techland\COJGunslinger

Better than its predecessors, it was great fun while it lasted and if you enjoy FPS this one is a must The good: - nice graphics and art style, they ditched the full rendered cutscenes for a more basic "graphic novell" novel style, I can't really complain - nice sound design and music - the gunplay is really good, and after you get some skill combinations you will only wish there were even more NPCs to shoot at - The story is no award-winning, but the narrative is very entertaining, with a feel of tall tale to the whole thing - The areas are more open than in BiB but not as big as in the original, it sits comfortably right in the middle, plus you're not pinned to an NPC like in BiB - Shooting a flying stick of dynamite was never this fun The bad/ugly: - The duels are a staple of the series, but were never my cup of tea, it hasn't changed for this entry - The campaign felt short, maybe is because I was having so much fun and wanted more - Regenerating health (a personal grudge of mine) - No saving options besides the checkpoint system, which means you can only have 1 playthrough at a time - reused asstes and level layouts make some missions pretty similar (coffeyville and forth smith look pretty much the same)

This is a fun, short-lived, FPS that takes place in the "wild west". That's in quotes because it's much more of a fictitious presentation of the old west than anything based in reality, but I'm not saying that as a knock against the game. Dysentery and tuberculosis would be realistic, but not exactly fun. The story is told by the character Silas while having drinks at a bar and each story that he recounts is a level that we play through. There's not much cohesion between levels, but that actually works with this "playing a flashback" style of story. Plus, it means that there is quite a bit of variety between levels; fighting through old towns, mines, railroad bridges, moving trains, and in the mountains. The story itself is your typical tale of revenge and is both predictable and forgettable, but works to keep things moving forward. Your weapons consist of various types of pistols, rifles, and shotguns. You gain XP by killing enemies and finding secrets until you level up, where upon you get a skill point to improve your abilities with one of the aforementioned weapons. It proved to be a pretty stable game, only crashing on me twice, and only one of those being during a level. And it auto-saves frequently enough that, whether from a crash or taking a death, you never have to replay much of a section over again. Although I'm not a big fan of the art style in this game, it does look pretty good at times. The music is appropriate to what you would expect in a western movie. It's also short, which I consider a positive in a game like this, taking me about 6 hours to complete. If I had to say anything negative, it would be that I had to edit a file to adjust the FOV since there isn't a setting in the options menu. Even then, it never really felt comfortable. Also, the last level was the worst in the game, ending the game on a low note. It's not Red Dead Redemption, but it's fun if you've got an afternoon or two to kill.

I really enjoyed Call of Juarez: Gunslinger (CoJ:G). The gameplay is solid, the graphics and sound work well, there is a well-narrated story line, and the controls and UI work fine (I played with an XBox controller). The protagonist, Silas Greaves, is likable, and the voice acting is well done. There are enough weapons to add variety to the gameplay as you hunt down some of the Wild West's most notorious outlaws. There are several quick-button events, but no big deal. The only issues that I had with the game are all minor. The quick-draw mini-game was hard to figure out, even when I won. These draws should have been high points of the game. Also, some of the skills that you could acquire were rather useless, though there were a good number of choices overall. But these are again minor gripes. Red Dead Redemption is still the gold standard for western-themed games. However CoJ:G is a great addition to the genre.

As incredible as it might sound up today there are only a handful of western FPS games and even less good ones. I can only think of Outlaws and Call of Juarez trilogy and that is it. So any new western fps will be close to the top but Gunslinger is a really good game on its own. It is basically a simulator of a badass gunslinger. If you ever longed to shoot bad guys in wild west with a colt, a rifle and a shotgun then this is your dream come true. It is needed to mention that it is a very lineral game with elements of on-rail shooters especially compared to COJ 1 and 2. Sometimes you get some free choice how to attack but mostly it is just a corridor like game. There is even a story which is quite funny and badass but it is also completely redundant. It is not a story driven adventure like its two predecessors. You will likely forget the entire storyline in a week. So in the end it is mainly focused on action and the action is amazing.