Reviews
Gaming fans of the Western genre have been feeling largely neglected. With the exception of the respectable ‘Gun’, there has been little for them to get excited about, that is until now. Techland in Poland has developed Call of Juarez, a first person six shooter that takes the gamer on a multi-character adventure through the old West. It may seem strange for a Polish company to release a game based on the West, but it is a welcome release to a barren 360 genre.
In Call of Juarez you play the role of two characters, Billy Candle and Reverend Ray. Billy is a brash and cocky young man who has recently returned from a failed quest to locate the lost gold of Juarez, which is the gold that the Aztecs paid to see the release of their leader, Montezuma. Upon Billy’s return, he is discovered having a freebie from the town prostitute and runs off home only to find that his mother and stepfather have been murdered.
Reverend Ray is a reformed gunfighter that is happily preaching in his church when he is told that there is trouble up at his brother’s place. He then dashes up to see what’s going on only to find Billy (his step-nephew) standing over the bodies of his brother and sister-in-law. Naturally enough, the worst is assumed and Reverend Ray picks up his old quick shooters and decides that he will carry out the Lord’s work and smite all the hooligans and ruffians from the town, as well as dispense judgement upon Billy when he finds him. This sets the framework for the game where you alternate between Billy’s quest to clear his name and Reverend Ray’s quest to hunt Billy down. It’s an interesting approach to a single player campaign, seeing two different perspectives to the same events, and it works quite well though it is a largely clichéd homage to the spaghetti westerns of old, with a dash of Bonanza thrown in for good measure. The voice acting does seem a little hammed up from time to time, but Reverend Ray’s occasional reciting of passages of The Bible helps create a believable atmosphere.
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