Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood Review & Game Analysis

By Mike Norton

Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood is a top-notch foray into the "Classic Western" – it is bursting at the seams with style, enticing storytelling, and some of the best implementation of action movie clichés I've seen since Max Payne.

Taking place during the American Civil War - and as such a good deal of time before the original game - Bound in Blood focuses on the exploits of the three McCall brothers: Ray, Thomas, and William. After the events of the war leave their homestead in ruins and their dear mother dead, Thomas and Ray decide to desert their ranks in the Confederacy in order to chase after a mythical lost treasure in Mexico which they hope to use to rebuild their home. While William is the non-combatant of the three and prefers to fight using words of faith rather than a hail of bullets, he ends up trailing along with the hope of keeping his brothers from straying too far to the dark side.

There are quite a few cool gimmicks that make the game stand out from other FPS titles, but most notably is how it can almost be defined as a "single-player co-op" title. Just about every mission lets you pick between playing as either Ray or Thomas, with the other character being driven by the AI and following you throughout the level instead. Either choice has some interesting implications; Ray is pretty much the master of barging into a room and gunning everyone down with his grenade-styled dynamite sticks and akimbo handguns, while Thomas focuses more on an assassin-styled approach with the use of a ridiculously-detailed lasso to get to high areas, scoped rifles for ranged combat, and fancy throwing knives for up-close stealth kills.

Selecting a given character therefore also affects what kind of actions you'll need to perform throughout a given mission; a lot of situations may call for Ray to provide cover fire while Thomas scales a building to scout the area or unlock a door, or for Ray to plant explosive charges on something while Thomas picks off enemies from a distance. Since the AI ends up directing these actions for either of the two characters depending on which one you choose, it's actually quite a cool novelty to go through the levels a second time just to experience things from the other side. Just be prepared to play differently for each character - I spent half the game playing through as Ray and getting used to soaking up bullets, which resulted in me getting cut to ribbons when I suddenly switched to Thomas and realized he was a lot more fragile.

While the game provides one intense thriller after another all the way up to the ending, something suspiciously absent from the game is an actual multiplayer co-op option. So much of the game involves both you and your AI-controlled brother duking it out in the same playing area that I'm surprised support for co-op wasn't built in. Another part of me does understand some of the challenges involved in making this work properly (particularly in some of the cutscene-heavy areas and segments that have you working separately from your brother), but otherwise something like this would have been really cool and could have meshed nicely with the game. At the very least, the existing objective-based multiplayer options are pretty interesting and good for a lark, but I feel the game's strength otherwise lies in its well-crafted single player component.

From start to finish, the single player campaign of Bound in Blood definitely provides one of the most memorable FPS gaming experiences of the year. Even though running through a town gunning down dozens of bad guys does get a little repetitive after awhile, the often-hilarious lines of battle dialogue that occur between Ray and Thomas keep things fresh and interesting, along with the well-animated cut scenes and constant opportunities for Eastwood-esque bad-assery.

I personally found the LIVE/Multiplayer portion of the game quite entertaining. There are your typical deathmatch modes as well as some welcomed new ones. One that stands out is a Gametype called 'Wild West legends' where each team is broken into either Lawmen or Outlaws. Depending on the Map you choose to play, the outlaws are required to perform a few different tasks (rob a bank, break into stables, crack safes ect. ect.) and then escape town within a set time limit. However the lawmen just have to stop them..... This formula breaks into many fun scenarios that are a breath of fresh air amongst the many 'cookie cutter' shooters... Plus the fact that it typically takes just a few shots to put someone down, Rather than being a bullet sponge that most online FPS allow... If you enjoyed the first game than you will definitely enjoy this title... Even if you haven’t played the first and are into first person shooters or westerns. I would highly recommend this Game... Give it a Spin!!!

Mike Norton – Gamertag: PrototypeMike