Tame the Wild West in Ubisoft's first person shooter, Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood, available for both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. In it, you play as brothers Ray and Thomas McCall, two varmints who abandon the Confederate army (circa 1864) to head west for fortune and glory. With soldiers, lawmen and other enemies on their tails, you'll engage in enjoyable shootouts across varied terrain. You'll also get to choose which brother to control in most missions (some require you to play as one or the other). Each differs in abilities and weapons -- the heavier Ray uses a shotgun and dynamite, while the quicker Thomas shoots evildoers with a bow and arrow, providing a somewhat unique experience. In addition, you have the option of riding horseback, using a lasso and entering Concentration Mode, a cool feature that slows down the action and lets you paint targets, resulting in quick multi kills. You can even duel, though a tough learning curve may result in some frustrating deaths.
On the downside, the game features a only handful of enemy types and they have a nasty habit of standing around waiting to die. We also grew bored of the repetitive missions, comprised of the same objectives (blow this up, kill that guy). On top of that, some of the facial animations look strange.
Multiplayer, thankfully, makes story mode's shortcomings a bit easier to swallow, with 13 unique character classes (Rifleman, Gunslinger, Hombre) and the following five modes: Shootout (deathmatch), Posse (team deathmatch), Wanted (only the Wanted player can score points), Manhunt (kill the other team's wanted player) and Wild West Legends (one team breaks into a location while the other team defends it). While not the most original games, the western theme offers a nice break from all the sci-fi/modern day shooters.
Thanks to a gripping story, furious gunplay and cool multiplayer, Call of Juarez makes for a smart rental. Be sure to grab your six shooter and come out firing.
Chris Buffa is GameDaily's senior editor. He enjoys easy achievement points, first person shooters and starting trouble.
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