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    Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood

    Game » consists of 9 releases. Released Jun 30, 2009

    Join Ray McCall and his brother Thomas on a quest for gold, lust, and greed.

    kalmis's Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood (Xbox 360) review

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    • kalmis has written a total of 110 reviews. The last one was for Lume

    Pretty decent

    Playing and reviewing Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood after release of Red Dead Redemption is not fair thing. Especially when RDR is in every way better game than this. I don't have much recollection of the first Call of Juarez other than I know that I finished it.

    Call of Juarez 2 (COJ2) is a story driven first person shooter in a western skin. Game levels or chapter as the game calls them are mostly shooting waves of enemies. As well some stationary deference mission where you are controlling a gatling gun or a cannon. Traveling in the world is done by running or horses. Only difference difference in the physics being the fact that traveling by horse is faster. On few instances safe hubs between chapters have multiple side missions such as killing more bad guys and killing more bad guys. Either Ray or Thomas can be selected for each chapter. Both having their own advantages. Thomas the younger brother is more agile and versatile with weapons and he is used for climbing and opening doors. Ray in other hand is more of a tank type who can take much more hits and can use dynamite.  

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    The wild west is presented in beautiful graphics which with the fitting soundtrack relay a nice western feel. Levels placed in caves and buildings, which is where most of the game is placed in, are too dark and similar. Characters are rugged western gun-slingers who surely will win no beauty contents. Especially the oldest brother. What I mean is that, while the characters are reasonable well detailed and animated there is surely no point of creating such a ugly character. Yes Ray, you are one fugly man. The voice actors are borderlining horrid. I mean this is no JPRG with forced English voice but performance of Marc Alaimo was absolutely horrible. This guy is a professional actor and should be able to do so much better. Rest of voice acting is not too much better. Insert the necessary thick southern accent and unnecessary general Mexican accent. Normally I am all for Spanish in a video game but not with such bad acting.

    Controls for this game are bit of a mixed bag. As with any recent FPS game one can't really go wrong with controls. It is no different for COJ2 here either, except for couple of things. Weapons in the game are loyal to the original 1800 era weapons where big magazines didn't exist. What this means in the game is that you will be using most of your time reloading, to the nuisance point even. Other unfortunate choice was to deal with game's boss fights. All except for one boss fight is done in 
     a traditional duel shootout. This is done with odd reaction mini-games where fun factor is not taken into consideration.
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    To be honest, story for COJ2 was the only thing that kept me going. Story tells a tale of three McCall brothers. Youngest William being a preacher and the who does most of the narrative. He also is the conscience for his older brothers Ray and Thomas. Early in the game Ray and Thomas turn into outlaws in favour of saving their family. Then stumbling to a ancient Aztec treasure that is also interest of a certain dangerous Mexican senor  with a gorgeous girl. Of whom both McCalls show interest in as well. Throw in some Apaches and disgruntled Colonel from Civil War times and the soup is ready to be served. Ending is gratifying and fitting for a western story.
     
    Call of Juarez 2 has it's flaw, but there isn't enough western games to go by. And with a such a good story I'd recommend this, despite the rating. 3/5    

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    Other reviews for Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood (Xbox 360)

      Techland's western shooter is arguably the best western game yet. 0

      Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood is the story of Ray, Thomas, and William, who desert the Confederate army, seek ancient Aztec gold, and clash over a woman. They travel from lush southern fields and plantations to arid southwestern plains, creating a subtle, but effective variety of scenery. And what scenery it is - the game's settings are frequently stunning, showcasing wide open vistas, thick evergreen forests, and detailed (if sparsely populated) towns.   The story is another strong point in t...

      14 out of 15 found this review helpful.

      Yee Haw! 0

      I did not like the first Call Of Juarez. I thought that the gameplay was too clunky and that the single player experience was marred by weak stealth sections and dumb climbing portions with the whiny Billy Candle. So imagine my surprise when I fired up Call Of Juarez: Bound In Blood and discovered that it is the game the first one should have been. The gameplay has been drastically improved in all the right ways. The story is more interesting, the shooting makes the game feel like a complete pro...

      5 out of 5 found this review helpful.

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