Review - Call of Juarez Gunslinger

Call of Juarez Gunslinger

Techland
Ubisoft

Windows (reviewed), PSN, XBLA

Western, FPS, Arcade

May 21, 2013

The Preamble

I love westerns. Western movies, western comics, and the few and far between western video games. The Western video game is a rare beast, one that we have seen very few of over the years. Outside of Gun, the Call of Juarez series, and Red Dead Redemption, we've seen virtually no western games this generation.

And then here comes Call of Juarez: Gunslinger, out of nowhere. This seems to be happening more and more frequently: I wake up, open Steam, see a AAA quality game staring me in the face for $14.99. Not only does this game breath some life into a setting that is not seen very often, it presents it to the consumer at a smokin' price! 

More than ever before, we seem to be consistently getting these sleeper 15-20 dollar games, and the best thing is, they're damned good! Mars: War Logs, The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing, Dust: An Elysian Tale; while these games aren't perfect, they are surprisingly up to snuff with the latest AAA titles. It's an interesting trend, and one that I'm particularly fond, especially when it produces games like Call of Juarez: Gunslinger!

The Overview

The narrative of the game is relayed in an interesting manner. As the game starts, you watch a cinematic of an old gunslinger sitting down in a saloon for a drink. Before long, people notice that he is the legendary bounty hunter, Silas Greaves, and ask him to tell some stories about his adventures. You listen to Silas tell the stories to the patrons (and their reactions) as you play through his tale.

Call of Juarez: Gunslinger is set up more like an arcade game than it's predecessors. It's very linear and the FPS action is all of the shooting gallery sort. This ends up fitting with the style of storytelling very well in that each segment of the story Silas tells is its own chapter of the game. It all ties together very nicely into a snug 5-6 hour game. With the addition of a New Game Plus mode and a $14.99 price point, Call of Juarez: Gunslinger is a prime example of a Grade A middle tier game.

The Good

• Gunslinger isn't the first game to use a flashback-narration storytelling style (Bastion, ahem), but man does it do it well. The way that Silas gets carried away on tangents and misremembers facts throughout his tale makes for cool dynamic level redesigns and wacky happenings throughout the game. This was one of the most refreshing parts of this game.

• The guns look and feel amazing. When you're playing a Wesern game you really want to feel the weight of those two revolvers, or that double barrel shotgun. Gunslinger does a great job in bringing you some highly detailed, weighty guns, that feel great while you're shooting them.

• Duels are tense and truly test your reflexes. It's tough to make a good dueling mechanic, but Gunslinger has done a fine job. There's tons of tension building up to the draw, and to effectively win, you really have to be on top of your game.

• Silas' story is a rip roaring good time for any Western fan. You encounter Billy the Kid, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Wyatt Earp, and plenty of others. Silas supposedly knew all these folks, which means you get to play through the story of his adventures with them. Being a huge fan of all the movies involving these guys, it's an absolute blast playing through parts of the game with them by your side.

The Bad

• The game is pretty darn short. I can't complain too much about this because of the price, but if I have to gripe about something, I definitely wish there was more.
• It's a linear game. Again, for the style of game that this is (shooting gallery FPS) and the price point, I really can't legitimately complain about this. But I have to come up with something, don't I?

The Verdict

I'm sure I've made this clear by now, but this game is a beautiful orgy of Western lore conglomerated into a cohesive, fast-paced, blast of a shooter. If you are a Western fan of any kind, or just in the mood for a quirky, over the top shooter, I'd highly recommend picking this up. 

The Extras

Here's a playthrough of the first level. Keep in mind, this is New Game Plus, and also on the hardest difficulty, True West.