One of the major highlights of the game is its gunplay. Any fan of westerns will find the experience of handling the in-game weapons quite satisfying. There is a wide variety of revolvers, handguns, shotguns and rifles to choose from and almost every gun feels appropriately weighty and sounds punchy when fired. Like the first game, Bound in Blood also features an interesting bullet-time like mechanic called Concentration Mode. However it’s largely improved and far more effective this time around. The concept is simple – kill enemies and fill up a (rather cool-looking) meter. Once the meter is full, hit a key to enter the Concentration Mode. Depending on whether you are playing as Thomas or Ray, the abilities you get during this mode are different. Thomas can use the classic hammer “fanning” technique to quickly shoot multiple enemies, while Ray can use his dual revolvers to target multiple enemies and take them down in a single burst of bullets. These moves are extremely satisfying to perform and look and sound very cool. In addition to the regular gunplay, there are also some fun sections where you get to control gattling guns or cannons.
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As authentic as the gunplay feels, the same cannot be said about the other Wild West staple – horses. The levels in the game are large and wide open and there are certain sections where you will have to travel on horseback. Now this would have been a lot of fun if the horses did not control like spastic donkeys on roller-skates. It’s quite weird to see the horses perform quick 180-degree turns and come to a dead stop every time you let go of the forward key. The horseback riding does not feel one bit realistic and is a real shame considering how everything else feels so amazingly “western”. The animations during getting on and off the horse also could have used some work. It just doesn’t feel right when you’re standing next to a horse and a key press later you’re on its back with no transition animation whatsoever. This is a minor nitpick at best, but for a rather well made game, a little more polish could have gone a long way.
One of the new additions to the gameplay is a new first-person cover system. It works somewhat similar to the cover system in Killzone 2 on the PS3. Basically, you can crouch or press against walls and objects and automatically enter into cover mode. Once there, you can move the mouse up, down, left or right to simulate peeking out from cover to take shots at the enemy. You’ll stay in cover for as long as you do not hit the movement keys. While it’s a decent addition, it’s not as useful as most of the time run-and-gun tactics work rather well. Also, getting in and out of cover isn’t quite as the intuitive as the developers may have hoped for. It’s best to just stick to conventional first person shooter means while dispatching enemies. Most of the time, enemies aren’t too smart; they will use some basic tactics and take cover, but can be taken out with a single shot to the head. Besides, the “sticky” crosshair makes headshots very easy to pull off.
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As described in the beginning of the review, the game puts you in several quick-draw showdowns with enemy characters, which are essentially the boss fights in Call of Juarez. The set up for these fights is brilliantly done and the fights themselves are quite tense as you literally have a second to draw your gun and shoot the enemy before he does. The gun needs to drawn by making a quick movement of the mouse and it takes a while to get the hang of it as the mouse isn’t the most ideal controller when it comes to simulating movement. But once you’ve figured it out, these fights become extremely easy and you will begin to feel like a quick-firing badass gunslinger in no time.
Bound in Blood is mostly a linear game with a mission-based structure. However, Techland has also included a few sandbox type levels. These levels feature large areas you can free roam in and take up some optional side-missions in order to earn some extra cash. The missions typically involve riding around an area and killing wanted outlaws or recovering stolen items. Earning extra cash does help as it lets you buy new and better weapons and ammo. Buying new weapons is a good idea since the ones you’ll find on enemies are generally worn out and aren’t as effective as new ones. Besides, what Wild West gunslinger would like to brandish a rusty revolver when you could be handling a shiny silver-plated one instead? These non-linear sections aren’t particularly great, but offer a fun distraction from the story every once in a while. Besides, the levels themselves are a blast to travel through especially since the game features some of the best graphics you’ll see this generation.
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The first Call of Juarez was quite a looker back in 2006 and this one is no different in that respect. The wide open areas look amazingly realistic. Every level seems larger than it actually is and the developers have done a great job of making them feel every bit as epic as the movies it is inspired by. The outdoor levels feature some amazing lighting and shadowing effects. The draw distance is pretty impressive as well. The game takes you through a variety of environments, from desolate towns, harsh sun-scorched deserts, tall mountaintops and dense green woods – and all of them look stunning.
Character models look slightly dated but decent enough. However, there are some glaring clipping issues, especially when you’re trying to take cover behind low walls or objects, but that’s just me being too nitpicky. Overall, Bound in Blood is a gorgeous game and also isn’t too demanding on the system. I was able to max out everything at 1680 x 1050 on my (almost outdated) 8800GT and was still able to run it at a solid 55 to 60 frames-per-second.
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The game also sounds as good as it looks. The gunshots and explosions are loud and sound exactly how you would want them to. The music also deserves special mention as it adds significantly to the whole western theme. Listening to the soft acoustic guitar themes playing in the background while riding through the deserts and canyons during the free roaming sections feels strangely soothing.
Bound in Blood has full support for the Xbox 360 controller and it works flawlessly. In fact, some of the gameplay mechanics such as the lasso or the quick-draw fights somehow feel better while playing with the controller than the keyboard and mouse.
The story should take you about 12 hours to finish on the normal difficulty setting, which is a bit on the lower side. Still, the quality of the single player campaign more or less makes up for the length. The replayability however is a little bit of a concern. Once you’re done with the story there is little incentive to go through it again. You may want to experience some of the awesome set pieces again or try playing as a different character than you did the first time, but most gamers would just want to move on to something else instead. The game also has a multiplayer option, which unfortunately we could not try out due to certain technical constraints.
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Conclusion
Despite some minor flaws and a somewhat short single-player campaign, it’s hard not to recommend Call Of Juarez: Bound in Blood to anyone who enjoys first-person shooters. It’s a breath of fresh air in the midst of the usual bald-marine-in-a-power-suit type of shooters. It oozes atmosphere in each and every level, has some incredibly satisfying gunplay, and also features some of the best voice acting this side of GTA. Until Red Dead Redemption comes out (and hopefully blows us away) this will remain as the definitive Western-themed game. So if ya lookin’ for a game that ain’t generic, has a good story, well-developed characters ‘n some awesome action, give it a try. Won’t regret it son, tell ya what.
(+) Refreshing and authentic Western movie-like atmosphere
(+) Well written plot and characters, brilliant voice-acting
(+) Solid satisfying gunplay
(+) Looks and sounds very impressive
(-) Rather short
(-) No option to play through the story co-operatively
(-) Horseback riding is unrealistic
(-) Some minor graphical glitches
Title: Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood
Developer/Publisher: Techland/Ubisoft
Genre: First-person shooter
Rating: 16+
Platforms: PC (Rs 999)
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