Bound in Blood and Bullets
Carve a bloody path through the Civil War and the Wild West.
April 29, 2009 - A year and a half ago, Techland and Ubisoft introduced Call of Juarez, a gritty first-person shooter with a Western theme. Searching for the lost gold of Juarez, players were introduced to a striking gunslinger known as Reverend Ray, who packed a bible in one hand and a six-shooter in the other. While wielding a bible might seem like a hazard in the middle of a gunfight, the reverend's skills in delivering a sermon from the Good Book allowed him to freeze enemies long enough to send them packing to their maker. But instead of creating a sequel to that story, Techland and Ubisoft made a prequel showcasing the earlier action packed adventures of Ray and his brother. I got a chance to check out some of the levels of the game to see what kind of hell Ray raised in his younger days.
Similar to the first game, players will alternate between two characters; in this case, either Ray or as his brother Thomas. Both characters have their own specialties that they use within battle, and although there are some levels in which you'll be forced to use a specific sibling for that stage, you'll frequently be given the opportunity to choose which one of the brothers you want to fight as. Ray appears to be the tank of the family, as he appears to be able to take a large amount of damage and still keep shooting. This also seems to translate over to a brute strength approach, as Ray also packs dynamite and shotguns as he goes into battle, allowing him to provide a little extra punch as he attacks enemies. On the other hand, Thomas appears to be the stealthier sharpshooter of the brothers. A bit smaller than Ray, Thomas is extremely skilled with pistols and rifles, and also carries throwing knives that he can use to quietly eliminate opponents. Clearly, the distinctions will give a different spin to your tactics as you go through each level with your guns blazing.
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Prepare to die, Yankee!
When I say guns blazing, I don't just mean a firefight every once in a while. Everywhere the McCall brothers go, they seem to leave a path of bodies and destruction in their wake. I'll try not to spoil major story points, but the McCall boys start out fighting in the Confederate Army at the Chattahoochee River. Due to threats to their family and their lands after a significant series of battles, the brothers desert the army and attempt to protect their property. Of course, this puts them on the run, which eventually leads them to make their way to Mexico and the Wild West in the search for gold and freedom. But the brothers are clearly not ones to back down from a fight. As I've seen so far, the siblings fight their way through a Civil War battlefield in the midst of a full attack, blast their way through a plantation house and even shoot their way out of a town that is clamoring to hang them high.
Regardless of the brother that you choose, successfully killing an enemy adds a bullet to each man's concentration meter, a super ability that allows them to slow down time and take out multiple enemies. While that might seem like it would be overpowered, there's a bit of a check and balance system involved with the title – Once you earn enough kills, you have sixty seconds to trigger the power or you lose half of the meter. That way, you're not constantly able to stockpile this skill and continually unleash it in the middle of a large battle. Each character uses their concentration power in different ways as well. Ray pulls out both revolvers and unloads a hail of bullets, which players can direct at multiple points on an enemy's body. Since you can shred multiple targets in this way, it's possible to take out five our more targets with a full barrage. Thomas, on the other hand, performs more of a rapid fire shot that locks onto any nearby threats, instantly killing the soldier in their sights.
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The McCall brothers are here to raise some Hell.
Of course, your enemies won't simply stand around and let you blast them without a fight; they'll seek cover, attempt to snipe you and even try to throw dynamite at your position. To protect yourself, you can immediately move against boxes, barrels or other objects scattered around the environment. The game instantly will suck your character into cover, and you'll be able to aim around corners to blast enemies. What's more, depending on the sequence, you and your brother will take part in co-operative cover sequences where both of you will take the side of a door and blast away at the people inside. During these moments, your targeting reticule will move from one enemy to another, allowing you to perform a surprise attack if your aim and timing is good. Even if you don't take out all of the opponents during this moment, you'll have a good chance of wiping out most of the people in an area.
Although not an open world kind of game, players are rewarded for exploring their surroundings as they move from one objective to another. In fact, players can acquire new weapons from ammunition boxes, collect money bags from fallen opponents or cabinets in homes, and even track down secret items. All of these activities are tracked by the game, and wind up being reflected in a character's stats at the end of a level, which shows off, among other things, your weapon accuracy, cash on hand and secrets collected. Money is useful because players can use it to purchase additional weapons and ammunition, while secrets seem to translate into additional items for players to get a sense of the time period that the McCall's lived through. As I played, I found items that translated into photographs and even sketches that translated into specific memories, which adds an extra dimension to the characters. While I only had a few levels of the adventure, the quick taste of the Western adventure is definitely making me feel the Call of Juarez once again, and with the game scheduled to be released at the end of June, I'm eagerly awaiting a summer showdown with the McCalls.
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