Retro Gaming: Call of Juarez (2007)

Though not nearly as lucrative as that other XBOx 360 "Call of..." franchise, I have recently begun playing my way through the Western-themed first person shooter Call of Juarez series, of which there is a second sequel (or first sequel following a prequel) due this summer.

The original Call of Juarez, developed by Techland and released in 2007 (and purchased just last week by yours truly at Gamestop for $10) follows the story of both Billy, a young Mexican-American who has previously succumbed to the Gold-lust of hidden riches, herein refereed to as the call of the title, and his uncle Reverend Ray. Apparently, upon returning home to visit his mother after wandering for riches in Mexico, Billy is accused of murdering both his parents. It is at this point that Reverend Ray, with a dark secret of his own, sets out to "redeem" Billy (translation: revengin'), as well as any other evil-doer he come across, brandishing both guns and a Bible.

While the game play does not offer nearly the open environments one may have grown accustomed to with Red Dead Redemption (now the accepted becnhmark for Western-game greatness), it does offer a cinematic, if somewhat limiting, storyline. The gunfights (think "boss-battle" but with an Old West aesthetic) were not too challenging, which I would attribute, in part, to what was in 2007, very early generation approach to the mano-y-mano shootout.

Game play challenges lay in some problem solving moves which are required to advance the game, some of which were especially challenging given some visibility issues with the shading of certain scenes. I actually found myself referencing an online walkthrough after fifteen frustrating minutes attempting to work through some points in the story.

The characterization was fairly impressive and the voice acting, admirable, though Billy was played a little too "Gee Whiz" in demeanor given the character's implied rough and tumble backstory. One interesting consideration is that this game was developed by an Iceland firm, so one might safely infer that their perspective was colored and influenced by old television Westerns as much as by any indepth historical research.

For $15 this was a solid purchase--especially if you consider that one can't even see a new movie in theaters once (with popcornand soda, of course) for the same price!