Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood (Xbox 360) Review

Posted by Joe Roche on 09.12.2009

Are the McCall brothers worth your time, or does this sequel fail to deliver?



Title: Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood
Publisher: Ubisoft
Developer: Techland
Type: Western/First Person Shooter
Players: 1
Rated: T

One of the great things about video games is that there is always a chance that something is going to surprise you. We all know about the Fallout’s, the Gears of War’s, and Halo 3’s, but the greatest satisfaction that I get as a gamer is being blown away by Bioshock, or Dead Space. Sure it’s great to play the big blockbuster, but it’s even better to experience that hidden gem. It’s with that in mind that I bring you Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood. I don’t mean to put it on the same pedestal as Bioshock, but I went into Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood with mediocre expectations – but once I began the story of the McCall brothers I could not put the controller down.


- The McCall brothers

Graphics:

Call of Juarez: BiB is almost perfect graphically. Now that sentiment may come from a very deep rooted love of westerns that stems from my grandfather and was imbedded in me at a very young age but I loved how this game looked. Every aspect of this game feels as if it was taken right out of a Clint Eastwood or John Wayne film. The water is beautifully rendered (always a telling sign graphically in video games), especially in the scene where you are tasked with riding a horse through a river. The characters are all distinctively presented and unique while maintaining the character of the old West during the post Civil War era. When taking on side quests you will ride a horse through the desert, and you do get the feeling that you’re in the middle of nowhere – which I imagine is a pretty accurate representation of the old west during the period in time that this game takes place. Another aspect of the graphics that I simply loved was the shadows. Commonly in games the two things that I look for to determine the level of details in the graphics is water, and shadows. Well I already mentioned that Call of Juarez: BiB did a good job with the water, but it did a great job with the shadows. There were points during this game that I’d be riding a horse across the desert and just spend some time watching my character’s shadow. There is a very Clint Eastwood feel to the horse and rider silhouette that I was absolutely drawn to during game play. That’s not to say that everything is perfect – I didn’t think that the character models were particularly attractive to look at, although that was done on purpose (these aren’t great guys by any means), and the final scenario comes off looking a bit disjointed although I account most of that to the difficulty in graphically representing a waterfall of sand. Overall though I thought this game brought a lot to the table graphically, and did a fantastic job of making you feel as if you were playing through one of those classic westerns that we all remember from years past.



Gameplay:

The game starts during the Civil War, as you jump right into the shoes of one of the McCall brothers fighting for the Confederacy. The Civil War battles are the least interesting part of the game as you are kept on a pretty linear path to achieving your goal. The game opens up to allow for more exploration as you get past the Civil War parts and more towards the Old West. However, before you can get to the Old West you have to abandon the Confederate army in an attempt to rush back to your family farm and stop the Northern army from ransacking your birth right. Unfortunately you’re too late and after a firefight you save your youngest brother, the preacher and bury your mother. Of course you’ve also deserted the army so now the McCall Brothers are wanted criminals so it’s off to the Old West until things blow over.

The best laid plans have a funny way of falling apart though as the Brothers McCall get into a blood feud over a woman, causing the death of the town Sherriff and once again sending the McCall’s on the run. This time you pick up and head to Mexico to chase after the legendary lost treasure of Cortez . You can imagine where this decision takes you.

The game plays itself out over a series of different “Chapters” but between each Chapter you’re given free reign to perform some side quests. I actually enjoyed doing the side quests which ranged from tackling a band of outlaws, to wrangling cattle, and finding missing gold. Of course most of the time you wind up having to kill some outlaw in a duel in order to achieve your objective, but the side quests add depth to the game without getting in the way of the main storyline.

This brings me to the worst part of Call of Juarez: BiB, the quick time duels. In theory this seems like a great idea – you get to face off, one on one with the head bad guy, or the evil sheriff, or whomever in a mano-y-mano duel at the toll of a bell. I must admit that the first time you get into a duel it is pretty fun. It immediately brings back thoughts of Val Kilmer as Doc Holliday in Tombstone, or really any western that has ever happened – ever. The duel is a staple for the western genre so I can understand why it was implemented in this game. Unfortunately every chapter and/or side quest has to end with a duel, which becomes bothersome, but also takes away the novelty and unique character of the duel since you wind up doing one about every twenty seconds. I guess even the repetitive nature of the duel could be overlooked if the duels ever seemed to change, which they do not, which leaves you feeling underwhelmed about the whole duel concept.


- The game features two main characters, and you work together -- yet no co-op?

For as much as I was bothered by the duel – I loved the manner in which the story was told across the various chapters of Call of Juarez: BiB. Instead of giving either of the main McCall brothers the voice to tell the story, Ubisoft gave the third McCall brother William, the main narrative voice. The reason that this plays out perfectly is twofold, the first reason being that William is a man of God, while his brothers Ray and Thomas are essentially womanizing, alcoholic, outlaws so the story is told through the eyes of someone who is at least pure of heart (a trait that is pulled in various directions near the end of the game). The second reason that this is great is because it allows the story to unfold without the player’s voice. I should clarify that statement; throughout the game you are given the opportunity to play the Chapter as either Ray or Thomas. Each character has their own benefit and drawback (I found myself playing as Thomas almost exclusively). But since you’re playing as either brother throughout the game by having the story told by the third brother – who is not a playable character – you’re able to embrace the outlaw side of the McCall brothers and then hear about the developing tension from an outside party. It’s difficult to explain but I loved that William was the narrator for the game, and it actually helped me become more immersed in the story. Oh and I should also say that by having William be the narrator the story is allowed to become much more emotional at the end – and you are given even more insight into how and why the events that lead to the original Call of Juarez story came about.

One criticism that I do have with Call of Juarez: BiB is that it starts to become a bit repetitive near the end. I really enjoyed this game, but by the time I reached the final Chapter I was ready for it to be done. Western’s aren’t really known for their variety, and by that I mean that you can watch any number of Clint Eastwood westerns and feel as if you’re watching any other Clint Eastwood western. In that regard this game was a bit limited in what they could do – however after your sixth duel and tenth shootout in a dust blown city you will start to wonder if anything else ever happened. Ubisoft did a nice job trying to incorporate Native American’s and a level where you’re rowing a canoe, but at the end of the day it comes across as the same mission with a different skin. What is here is fine, but I just wish there had been more variety because for a game with the limited length of Call of Juarez: BiB I shouldn’t have been wanting it to end when it did.

Sound:

A lot of time went into the sound of this game that much is obvious. The voice acting is top notch, the weapons all sound authentic, and the musical score holds it’s own against any classic western that you can think of. In a surprising twist there wasn’t even a character in this game that I found myself openly loathing because of their VO work, which is a rarity for me because I can almost always find someone who drives me nuts. I thought that Ray McCall’s voice was a bit much, and William’s voice takes a little while to adjust to – but for the most part everything on the sound front was done to perfection.

Lasting Appeal:

For a game with a very short single player campaign there is quite a bit of lasting appeal for Call of Juarez: BiB. For starters there is the obligatory online mode – which I’d love to talk about more but as I played through the game at a time when my Xbox Live account was on the fritz I didn’t get much time with it. However, I have heard nothing but good things for the online mode, and I know Ubisoft has planned two DLC packs to add more multiplayer maps in the future so that should give even more shelf life to the online component of this game.

While the single player campaign is pretty short (I finished it in two days) because you can play each chapter with either Ray or Thomas there is some incentive to go back and try each level with the other brother. Both brothers play a bit differently so there is going to be some things that you’ll do differently when you head back through the game and play as the other brother. There is also some achievement love to be had for playing through the game as one brother only, and for completing all of the side quests so you achievement whores will want to head back and complete everything to the fullest possible level. Also Ubisoft has supposedly said they will release some single player DLC that will add to the campaign, possibly a bridge between the end of Call of Juarez: BiB and the beginning of the first Call of Juarez game (which is actually a sequel to BiB in terms of story).

There are also hidden items throughout all of the chapters and levels which you can try to find – although if you’re like me you have little patience for opening every flower pot and trunk in the Old West trying to find rolled up pieces of paper. I must admit though that these hidden items are accessible from the main menu and they do add art work and story bits to the main story – so it’s worth it to at least give a cursory glance around the area that you’re in to see if you can pick up any of the hidden items.



Fun Factor:

I had a very good time playing this game. I’m not going to say that it was flawless, or that I couldn’t go to bed because I was up all night thinking about six shooters and Mexican gold, but I really did enjoy this game. I think there is a lot to do, the story is pretty engaging, and the characters are all believable. One thing that this game does well is it makes you want to play the original Call of Juarez which is the goal of any prequel type game right?

The 411:

Frankly the western has always been under represented in the current generation of video games. I mean World War II has sixty five thousand titles per year released and maybe one a year we get a video game from the Old West. Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood is a fantastic addition to any library and a must own (or at least must play) for anyone with a soft spot in their heart for the old Clint Eastwood/John Wayne westerns like mine. At the end of the day this is a slightly repetitive game that provides some serious fun and a very good story right out of western lore.

Graphics	9.0	You will feel like the surroundings are ripped from your favorite Western
Gameplay	8.5	Everything is fine, but a bit repetitive
Sound	9.0	The music fits perfectly, the voice acting is pretty good, chicken sounds are tedious
Lasting Appeal	8.8	Relatively short single player campaign, but does have multiplayer, no co-op is a problem
Fun Factor	9.0	Really enjoyed this game, and you will too.
Overall	8.8   [ Very Good ]

Screenshots
All 7 Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood Screenshots