Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood
Outlaws,gunslingers, prison breaks, bank robberies, stagecoach chases.Yeeehaaa! The wildest western showdown this side of the Pacos. John Wayne would be proud of this game. Infact I bet old Eastwood is somewhere now with a wry smile on his face and an xbox controler in his hand saying, ‘look at me now sergio’.
Western feel , action-packed shoot-outs. large-scale set pieces and intimate one-on-one gun duels. The game plot is set in the American Civil War period and presents adventures of two brothers across different parts of North America.
Brothers Ray and Thomas McCall.
Fighting in the Civil War as Confederate soldiers. You begin as Ray holding the line against Union soldiers.
Before each mission you can choose between one of the two brothers. At first the game just moves from mission to mission. There will be an open Free World where you can take side-missions as a bounty hunter, Hired Gun for either attack or defence, and other side quests.
The available weapons for the many Bound in Blood shoot-outs are fairly limited compared to other shooters, although given the time period, that’s hardly surprising.
The large set pieces happen with good regularity and include using a cannon, blowing up a Union paddle steamer, riding a raft through rapids while being pursued by angry Native Americans, using a cart-mounted Gatling gun to mow down enemies on horseback, and even fighting your way out of an ancient underground temple as it gets buried in sand. You’ll also get plenty of time on horseback.
In each Free World area there is a small town, a Trader who will sell you certain weapons available at different qualities and out in the wilderness you will find ruined buildings, farms, camps and bandits that can be hold up there. Bandits will also hide at certain road points to ambush people, you will see them robbing/attacking people on the roads and robbing caravans and it is your choice ; to save or not to save the people.
One-on-one affairs act as boss fights, pitting you against an especially powerful enemy in an old-fashioned quick-draw fight to the death. The camera shifts down to a cinematic view low behind the player for these duels. You’ll have to match your opponent’s left and right steps to keep him in the centre of the screen, while keeping your hand close to your pistol. Duel controls are quite precise, and you’ll never feel like they’re preventing you from winning a quick draw. It’s heart-in-the-mouth stuff most of the time, and you’ll probably die plenty of times before you get the timing of a draw right.
Hard difficulty straight off makes your enemies more accurate and able to deal more damage (and there’s the unlockable very hard difficulty to try after that). Even on hard, the game can be quite forgiving, thanks to Bound in Blood’s generous checkpoint system and some unsophisticated enemy AI, which sees many of your foes simply standing in the open and not using any flanking or support strategies.
Ray or Thomas (depending on whom you’re controlling at the time) are great companions, able to hold their own against most foes and generally lending strong support throughout the entire campaign.
Most classes are initially locked, and you’ll have to earn money through participating in ranked matches in order to buy them. The modes include standard Deathmatch and team-based VIP modes.
The most fun mode is Wild West Legends, which requires a team to complete a set of objectives across a map. Most of these involve blowing stuff up, and it’s the opposing team’s job to stop that from happening. There are eight scenarios mimicking famous real-life events (such as the gunfight at the O.K. Corral), and these matches can be enjoyable affairs where coordination with teammates is vital. Multiplayer, in fact, is quite strong across the board.
At the end of most missions you will have a “Showdown” with the leader of the group you are fighting. In Bounty Hunter missions you need to first defeat the leader in a gunfight before he will challenge you to a final Showdown.
The Wild West looks stunning, and you’ll see a variety of realistic environments, including dilapidated ghost towns, open deserts, lush forests, and dusty Mexican villages. There are some great visual effects at play, too; focusing down your gun’s sights will blur the foreground in favor of what you’re aiming at in an impressive depth-of-field showcase. While the lighting shifts as you move.
This game’s strong narrative and high production values make it an almost cinematic experience.
Ray McCall: The older of the brothers, prefers a close combat style and tasks which require the use of brute force. Of the two, he is also more deadly with dual guns and dynamite. Ray is also more resistant to damage and stronger of the brothers. This allows him to carry heavy weapons such as a portable Gatling gun, he wears the same Cuirass as he does in Call of Juarez which is why he is so resilient to bullets. Ray is the only brother featured in the first Call of Juarez as Reverend Ray McCall. He takes the role as an old Gun Slinger turned Preacher (because of William) who is hunting down the man who killed his brother, which he believes to be his Step-Nephew. Ray’s bullet time freezes time to allow you to pick up to 12 targets to shoot, when the bullet time ends Ray quickly unleashes all 12 shots at perfect accuracy.
Thomas McCall: A sharpshooter who chooses a long-range combat style which requires such weapons as rifles, knives and a hunting Bow. He is also the stealthier of the brothers, which allows him to sneak and silently eliminate his opponents (using throwing knives) or the Hunting Bow at long range. Another feature is his ability to use lasso which enables to access otherwise unreachable places.
Thomas’’s bullet time slows down time and allows you to shoot up to 6 enemies at perfect accuracy for one hit kills. He fires the shots from the hip by holding down the trigger and rapidly pulling back the hammer, you must simulate this movement by holding down the fire button and moving the analog/mouse forward and back to simulate the hammer movement. Though there are less possible shots than Ray’s bullet time, Thomas can shoot up to 6 enemies in an 180 degree radius around him at different levels of height.
William McCall: The younger unplayable brother, who at the time is a Reverend. He follows his brothers anywhere because he believes it is his duty to turn them “towards the light”. He often follows his brothers into firefights and must be protected and he is always trying to convince them not to get into trouble.
Juarez: A powerful mexican Bandit leader, named after the town he was born in, is one of the main Antagonists who at first is an ally. The McCaul brothers meet Jaurez when they save Marisa from a group of bandits that take her for a common whore. The McCaul brother’s reason for being in Mexico is to find the Lost Treasure of Cortez, Juarez is also looking for it and he employs the McCaul brothers to help him find the it for a cut. At the time Marisa is his mistress, this is what generates most of the conflict between him and Ray because Ray secretly loves her. Juarez is also the biological father of William “Billy Candle”, the protagonist of Call of Juarez
Marisa: Juarez’s Mistress first met when she is saved by Thomas and Ray from a group of Bandits who take her for a common whore. Ray secrety falls in love with Marisa the moment he sees her and wishes to steal her away from Juarez when their work is finished. Marisa on the other hand is secretly in love with Thomas. Ultimately she ends up with Thomas they marry and she has Juarez’s son, William “Billy Candle” whom Thomas and Marisa look after until the events of Call of Jaurez happen.
Developed by Techland and published by Ubisoft, it is a fantastic so-called prequel to the first game, Call of Juarez.
