These days you’d be right to feel hesitant as you hover over the order confirmation on a Call Of Juarez game. The series has never really been a source for consistency, a lot like their developer, Techland, whose games run anywhere from pretty good (Call of Juarez: Bound In Blood), to just okay (Dead Island), all the way to downright shameful (Call of Juarez: The Cartel). So hey, you’re on the fence, I get that, I actually can’t even blame you if you’ve left the fence far behind and made it clear into another country at this point in the game.
Having said that, Call of Juarez: Gunslinger is without a doubt the best game in the Call of Juarez series to date. I realize your mileage may vary with that statement, but let me try to assure you that while the evil team that makes bad games at Techland was off developing Dead Island: Riptide, it seems like the good version of Techland was making this little gem.
The game opens on Silas Greaves, a worn and ragged bounty hunter moseying his way into a saloon in Abilene, Kansas. He introduces himself to the bar staff and its patrons, some, like young Dwight already know of Silas, having read about his numerous exploits in dime novels of questionable authenticity. Others like the incredulous Jack, doubt that Silas is even the person he claims to be. With his new found audience Silas begins to spin a yarn, and it’s at this point that you assume control.
Much like Bastion or Portal, Gunslinger’s story is told almost entirely by narration while the player navigates the game. Unlike those games the narrator has a tendency to stretch the truth just a little bit. Silas will frequently mis-recall events or change his story after being called out on it by one of the members at the bar. In its most creative moments this leads to the game scenery rapidly changing before your eyes, or enemy numbers increasing or changing in faction completely depending on how the story has been misconstrued. But this unique aspect is not always a positive feature. There are a number of moments where the misleading narration will cause you to repeat entire sections of a level, and there are also a number of plot fake-outs, some of them work, while others just feel like cheap ways to pad out the game.
The story will cause you to bump into a number of famous characters anyone with a brief knowledge of the old west will recognize. Billy The Kid, Johnny Ringo, and Butch Cassidy all wind up making appearances among others. Though the way Silas presents these characters is often historically inaccurate there are some nods to actual history throughout the game in the form of “Nuggets of Truth”, these are essentially collectible items that when viewed in the menu will tell a true, actually researched story regarding the history of the level or area you are in.
The level design is a high point in the game. Locations range from a run of the mill logging camp, to much more grand set pieces like an abandoned river boat stranded in a swamp or a train dangling off of a cliff side. Even mission objectives often have a little more variety to them beyond “Go stand here.” For example, at one point you’re tasked with chasing down a lit fuse that’s set to blow up a railroad scaffold that you happen to be occupying.
Shooting enemies will reward you with points. A traditional kill will get you 50 points of XP, shooting someone in the head will net you 100, shooting someone while they’re running to cover will also net you 100, clip a runner in the head and you’ll get 200 points, take out a few enemies in a row and a normal 50 point kill will jump to 75 and further, you get the idea. Earning XP will grant you two rewards. Once you’ve acquired enough of it you will level up. The game has three forking upgrade paths that you can use to acquire skills. These upgrades can run anywhere from letting your guns hold more bullets, to slowing down time for a split second whenever you aim down your iron sights. You won’t have time to pick up all the upgrades in your single player run, but you can carry your upgrades over to other modes and second playthroughs and eventually max Silas out completely.
Your second reward after netting a few kills is you can press a button to drop into a bullet-time-esque mode called concentration. The world will slow down and enemies are highlighted in red, ripe for the headshotting. Concentration also has upgrades attached to it, ranging from making you move extra fast while in the mode, to just causing more damage.
At the end of each level you’ll generally either be confronted by some type of boss, forcing you to switch up your tactics, or you’ll be pushed into a duel, one of the series’ long standing staples. In a duel you’re responsible for keeping your cursor or right analog stick trained on your opponent, while also using the left stick to ensure your hand doesn’t stray too far from your pistol. It’s trickier than it sounds. The game encourages you to wait for your opponent to pull their weapon before you go for your own. You can draw early and shoot them, but you’ll lose out on an XP bonus and be marked as dishonorable in the mission summary screen.
The game is considerably short. A single player playthrough will run you about four to five hours. The game also does feature an arcade mode and an opportunity to replay all the duels you experience during the main story. If you find the gun-play to be entertaining there’s more than enough here to keep you busy.
Gunslinger is available as a download only on the 360, PS3, and PC. Given the game’s heavy reliance on sharpshooting and headshots, if you have the option I’d recommend going for the PC as mouse and keyboard support does help quite a bit in nailing some tough shots. If the game had launched as a full sixty dollar title I might have some reservations about recommending it, but as it stands I can pretty wholeheartedly recommend snagging this beauty at $14.99.
