Call of Juarez

"Yellow Bellied Coward"

As anyone who has been paying attention can attest, the western is a woefully underrepresented genre in gaming. It is likely that one could list off every western game to be released in the past decade on a single hand. Naturally, if you're only looking at the good ones the number shrinks even further. With that said Call of Juarez is the latest to join that small pool of titles and attempt to become the first real blockbuster western game. Unfortunately Call of Juarez ends up joining the rest in their shameful mediocrity.

But as far as the narrative is concerned, Call of Juarez demonstrates a valiant effort that provides a compelling reason to suffer through the problems. In all honestly, it seems like the kind of thing that would make a great Clint Eastwood movie. The story itself it a twofold deal which revolves around a young man named Billy Candle and an old grizzled preacher, Reverend Ray. It begins with Candle, who is returning home after some time spent searching for the legendary gold of Juarez. However, upon arriving to the old homestead he finds his mother and stepfather brutally murdered. At the same time, local preacher Reverend Ray has been alerted to something going on at the place and arrives to find Billy at the scene of the crime, naturally assuming he is responsible for his brothers (Billy's stepfather) death. Thus, the chase ensues with Billy on the run desperate to get away and prove his innocence, with the Reverend hunting him down in order to confer a “holy smiting” (murder, in other words).

While Billy as a character is relatively unimpressive (personally, I loathe him), Reverend Ray may just be the coolest guy in recent memory, and is undoubtedly the most awesome preacher in the history of gaming. He is, unarguably, out of his mind. After finding his brother dead, he decides to cleanse the town of its sin, which he proceeds to do by killing everyone who gets in his way, quoting scripture all the way. I'll admit; I'm not exactly fond of fanatical lunacy but this guy is absolutely awesome.

Given the duality of the story, it is only natural for that to be reflected in the gameplay itself. During the course of the game players will take control of both Billy and Reverend Ray as they flee and chase one another. Each character has a different style of taking on obstacles, and unfortunately, there is a substantial disparity between the quality of these.

The levels in which Billy is played usually revolve around stealth and have him sneaking through bushes to make it through enemy encampments without being caught. They also consist of a fair amount of platforming. To be completely up front, these levels are atrocious. While the minority of your time will be spent with this yellow bellied coward, they are so bad that they significantly detract from the experience as a whole.

There are plenty of reasons for this; namely the iffy enemy AI which acts with no consistency whatsoever. To give you an idea of how dodgy their intelligence is, I once walked past two enemies with no cover and wasn't noticed. On another occasion I was hunkered down in a bush, completely hidden (signified by an on-screen indicator) and somehow I was spotted. This goofy AI leads to a lot of cheap kills and restarts, which leads to a lot of unnecessary frustration.

Then there is the platforming, which crops up almost exclusively while playing Billy. When you're not leading the dork through the bushes, you'll be trying to jump him across little chasms or using his whip Indiana Jones style to grab onto protruding tree branches and swing across gaps, or pull him up to higher ledges. The whole routine just feels very forced and completely unnatural. That's not to mention that half the time success comes down to more luck than skill…

So, Billy sucks and with good reason. However, the duality of the story pretty much necessitates that players take control of Billy. If the game didn't require this, the story wouldn't have nearly the impact or interest because players would only be seeing one side of the story, and that through the crazy eyes of Reverend Ray. Ultimately, it's an unfortunate conundrum.

Call of Juarez does find a minor sort of redemption when it comes to Reverend Ray. Unlike Billy Candle, chicken extraordinaire, Ray is a pure grade-A raging badass in the vein of classic gunslingers like Clint Eastwood and John Wayne. His levels require no subtlety and simply involve blasting everyone who gets in the way. The shooting mechanics are tight, and it's pretty easy to put a bullet between someone's eyes, even from a long way off (and that's really all I ask for).

But that's far from the extent of Ray's abilities. With his pistols holstered, he can do a quick draw which causes him to enter a sort of Zen-like slow-motion state where two targeting reticules move in an arc from the outside of the screen to the inside. When they move over someone, Ray can start firing, allowing him to take out a room full of bad guys in quick succession. He can also utilize the classic one-handed fast fire method so often seen in westerns, by holding a pistol in one hand and fanning the hammer with the other.

Perhaps the coolest thing Ray has going for him is the fact that he can use his Bible as an offensive weapon. With the Bible in one hand and a revolver in the other, Ray can start quoting scripture which causes enemies to stop and listen. This of course presents an opportunity to take them out without resistance.

There are a few other issues to be found with Call of Juarez. On the few occasions in which you'll engage in “old-timey fisticuffs” (that's fist fighting for you uncivilized barbarians) you'll have to contend with slow punches and attacks that don't always register. A more persistent problem is the fact that level design is linear to the point that you're just running along narrow walled paths ninety percent of the time. In the rare instances in which the level design does open up, there's still little illusion that you're moving through anything more than a single pre-set route.

Visually, Call of Juarez soars above the petty problems its gameplay has in spades. Given the scarcity of western games, it's easy to say that it's the best looking game of its kind. But this is a good looking game by any measure. The scenic representation of the Wild West is top notch and fancy lighting effects are not only used to good effect, but they're well done to boot. It's also worth noting that this game has some of the best looking foliage and leaves you're likely to find (trust me, it's important because of all the time you'll spend in bushes while playing as Billy). Character models are also very realistic, however after enemies are killed their bodies disappear a little faster than is typical. One issue is that owners of standard definition televisions will have a hard time reading the puny text. Thankfully, most of the important stuff is fully voiced, so you won't miss out on any plot elements.

Speaking of voice acting, it happens to be better than average. Characters are believable, and once Reverend Ray really gets going it's easy to see just how crazy he really is. The music, which moves between twangy guitars and full blown orchestrations, is very impressive and helps create that epic feel that most western movies have.

THE VERDICT
Call of Juarez has its high points, but its low points are what people are going to remember. The real downfall of the game is the mediocrity of the stealth elements. While these Billy levels are largely outweighed by Ray levels in terms of quantity, the suck value of the Billy levels is so high that they can't completely be counteracted. In short, if John Wayne was still around and Billy was a real person, he could expect one of those patented haymakers right to the jaw. And he would deserve it. So, Call of Juarez is another title to add to that small pool of games catering to the genre, but it looks like we're going to have to wait a little longer for the Grand Theft Auto of the Wild West.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 05/21/09

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