Call of Juarez

"The World Needs More People Like Reverend Ray"

Introduction:

Call of Juarez is a transplanted Western from the PC game of the same name that introduces the memorable character of Reverend Ray McCall and a plot that dives into being wrongfully accused and the wrath that follows. You will play between Billy Candle, a misfit with no real past to call his own and the vengeful emissary of God, Reverend Ray. The Polish makers of this game have a weird understanding of the landscapes of the Old West and some elements in this game you may find down right annoying or pointless to the story. Despite Call of Juarez being based on a compilation of Spaghetti Westerns the story is original and is what really carries this game through. Of course there is Reverend Ray who is by far one of the most interesting and fun to play characters of any first person shooter.


Gameplay 7
Not much was improved from the PC version of Call of Juarez as it has that PC style of gameplay along with its polygonal graphics. You will play between Billy Candle who is the run like hell, shoot somebody from behind type of character and Reverend Ray, who will quickly overheat any six-shooter he picks up. Speaking of which, the guns are the first thing you will notice have flaws with them. After firing more than ten rounds the guns will break on you. Not a bad concept, but when it happens to every gun you have it gives reason to why Reverend Ray gave up his life of crime as an outlaw. You will have to pull off a few Indiana Jones attempts with Billy and his whip. I mentioned before the landscape is probably that of a Polish developer's imagination of the western landscape of the US and you will have to employ the use of the whip to get make it through this landscape alive. Then there are some objectives in Call of Juarez that really take away from the story like fetching a feather from the top of this gigantic rock in the middle of a waist deep lake. There is also a lot of scaling down mountains and the quick draw gunfights are ok for the concept that Call of Juarez uses, but for some reason requires you wait for a timer before you can start blasting some bad guys. It is fun to shoot the guns in this game despite the graphics and there is a variety of territory you will cover along with a few chances to ride on horseback. The gameplay of Call of Juarez does get an extra point for Reverend Ray's ability to whip out the Good Book and start spouting hellfire and brimstone to all the poor dumb idiots to step in his way. I had so much fun with Ray's taunting ability I had his few lines of scripture memorized by the end of the game. There is somewhat of an online community for multiplayer, but the matches are pretty basic for a first person shooter.


Story 9
Call of Juarez is pleasing with its story line. What really wins with Call of Juarez is the character development of the two guys you play. Most games that put you behind the floating hand with a gun do not even try to develop a concept of what the character you play is like, but Call of Juarez takes you for a ride with Billy and especially Reverend Ray. Billy is the main character of the game and narrates what he is trying to do in each scene and gives you a reason to feel for him at the beginning of the game. Of course when the Old Medicine Man commands you to go take an eagle's feather from the top of this huge mountainous rock you may be more than willing to end Billy's suffering by letting him slip a few times, but otherwise Billy is pretty interesting. His quick to judge uncle who also happens to be the pastor of the most corrupt town of the West wrongfully accuses Billy of murder. Here we meet Reverend Ray. Apparently the good Reverend found his calling to redeem sinners instead of shoot them a long time ago and you begin as Ray behind the pulpit stand being harassed by the town saloon owner about your outlaw past. Actually there is a quick scene before this as Ray, but I won't spoil it for you. It's too good. As Ray you will do a lot of walking the talk with your pistols and being a hypocritical man of God, Ray has a much-needed bulletproof cuirass to avoid being shot up. Because Reverend Ray is going to do a whole heck of a lot of shooting. The story ultimately brings the two characters together at the end to deal with the head bandit Juarez although you will still alternate between the two characters. Call of Juarez has a very original and enjoyable plot.


Graphics/Sound 7
The graphics of Call of Juarez are not commendable, but the sound is. The landscape of this game is just weird and almost comparable to the game Gun which had real locations centered a few hundred feet from each other. Call of Juarez is not like that, but it is usually linear with each map being different and only a gives a few chances to be able to explore certain levels openly. The graphics can make anyone tell that Call of Juarez is a transplanted PC game, and that really takes away from what this game could have looked like if they had given it some time to improve. I would venture to say Gun has much better landscapes and graphics for a console game than Call of Juarez. I do like the sound of the guns and the dialogue of this game however. Some of the pistols are just fun to shoot and sound like the real deals. There are a variety of different pistols each with a unique sound and feel and the dialogue can be fun and witty at times. The music goes well with this game as well.


Play Time/Replayability 8
Call of Juarez will take you a few days to play through if you are going through to get the achievements. You can probably get it done in a day, but Call of Juarez is a game to sit back and enjoy. The achievement points are spread out between secrets, single player mode, and the online multiplayer. The online multiplayer achievements are difficult to get without the help of friends, and the secret achievements will need to be looked up. There are some easy ones to unlock like the ones that require you run a certain amount of distance in the game, which in this game you will be doing plenty of running. Perhaps they made half of this game involving chasing Billy to make you overlook the weird landscape of the Old West. There is an existing online community if you do enjoy a basic Western style shooter experience and the levels are somewhat fun to go back and replay. There are also a few bonus levels you can play as this unrelated law man which are quite fun to play, but have nothing to do with the plot of the game. So Call of Juarez is definitely a game on my list of games to go back replay sometime. There aren't that many Westerns for the 360 anyway.


Final Recommendation 7.75/10
Call of Juarez is definitely a good rental or buy off the Pre-Played rack. The only major flaws I have with the game are its graphics and imaginative landscapes, but otherwise it is an enjoyable Western with an original story to it. Plus you have to add a few points for having such an awesome character like Reverend Ray in this game. Call of Juarez will give you plenty of “Oh hell yeah!” moments with the good Reverend.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 04/23/08

Game Release: Call of Juarez (US, 06/07/07)