Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood - Review

Added August 2nd, 2009 by Artie Augustyn

Over the past century the entertainment industry has proven its hidden desire: to become a cowboy. With thousands of books, films, and action-figures based around the lifestyle of the dirty west, it’s obvious there’s something inherently cool about being a cowboy. Despite this obvious fact, the western genre has somehow evaded the video game industry. The amount of Western video games in the current market can probably be counted on two hands, which makes the release of Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood all the more special. Bound in Blood is one of the few games to attempt the western setting, and unlike previous games such as Gun who tried to accomplish the esthetic, Call of Juarez manages to succeed in its attempts. However, style alone does not make a game. Luckily, Bound in Blood is an entertaining package for western and shooter fans alike, and should be checked out by anyone with a speck of interest in the setting.

Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood is a prequel to the first game that was released two years ago. This narrative decision allows new players to approach the series without any prior knowledge of how the last game ended, which is probably a good thing since Bound in Blood’s predecessor wasn’t exactly a great game. The story focuses on three brothers: Ray, Thomas and William. Ray and Thomas are two civil war veterans who’ve turned cowboy outlaws after deserting their ranks to protect their home, while William is just a gentle pastor-in-training and serves as the group’s moral compass. The plotline begins in medias res with Thomas and Ray pointing guns at each other’s brains, as William’s narration explains that “just yesterday we were family” revealing the eventual downturn in the trio’s relationship occurred over a quest for gold and a girl’s heart.

Meet Ray and Thomas, two brothers, bound in blood

It seems clear that Bound in Blood is aware of how silly its story is by revealing every major plot twist in the first five seconds of the game. Despite the three main characters retaining some amount of charm and likeability, the story that they’re wrapped up in gets increasingly ridiculous as the adventure continues. Fortunately, the narrative serves its purpose of keeping the player moving forward and interested in what’s going to happen next. The story won’t be winning any writing awards, but instead works as a tool to guide the player into intriguing sequences and set pieces.

It’s in the level design where Bound in Blood really shines. Every chapter deviates from the previous one just enough to keep you in new and interesting places as well as retain some familiarity of where you are in the greater scale of things. Since the Call of Juarez is a Western, you’ll be spending a lot of time looking at dirt and sand.  Eventually you’ll move into mines and forests as Thomas and Ray travel through the Wild West.

In addition to the variety of backdrops, the graphics of said environments are absolutely stunning. Polish developer Techland certainly holds true to their company’s name since they’ve somehow managed to make a barren and dead desert look like one of the most beautiful landscapes you’ll see on the Xbox360. It’s hard to say the same thing for Bound in Blood’s character models and animation. All the action-based animations such as reloading guns, enemies falling dead off their horse or shooting your weapon look fine. However the interaction based animations fall down into the uncanny valley. Every character has a blank stare on their face the entire game, and most of the cast moves their body in odd mechanical ways that don’t seem natural.

Bound in Blood is one of the greatest looking games for the Xbox 360

Regardless of a few flaws in the presentation, Bound in Blood succeeds in accomplishing tight and satisfying controls. Shooter fans have always theorized that you can’t make a shooter before World War 2 since “the guns would suck” but Call of Juarez disproves that theory. Each brother has a specialization in weapons; Ray gets up close and personal with his pistols and shotgun, while Thomas stays back and picks guys off via his rifle. No matter which brother you decide to play, you’re bound to be content with taking down your adversaries from either up close or at a distance.

Bound in Blood centers its combat around first person cover techniques and brings some new innovations to the design. Whenever your character walks close to a box, wall, or wagon, they’ll casually stick to the side of it as if taking cover. From here you can move the right thumbstick to peek out of cover. The mechanic somehow always knows what you desire and spares you the frustration of sticking to cover you didn’t want or fumbling with the controls when all you wanted to do was duck. The design of this unique cover mechanic is implemented so well that it’s impossible to describe the simplicity and convenience without playing it. Just take my word for it; it’s the best first-person cover system out there.

Dueling is a cool idea, but proves to be more frustrating than rewarding

The best part of Call of Juarez is its accomplishments in capturing the Western feel. Every line of dialogue leaves you reminiscing over your favorite Hollywood films and oftentimes you’ll find yourself asking your enemies if they’re feeling lucky (punk). It’s a style that for some reason hasn’t been popularized in video games yet.  This makes Bound in Blood that much more intriguing since it’s unlikely you’ll find another game like it. Although some Western elements, such as dueling, are better suited for other mediums as you’ll tear your hair out each time you’re forced into one of these frustrating trial-and-error sequences.

With everything Bound in Blood does right, it leaves you desiring more after the credits roll. Despite Ray and Thomas being present in every single chapter, there isn’t cooperative play in any form. In addition to this, Bound in Blood follows a linear format, but two specific chapters allow a more open-world free-roaming approach to be used. These just seem like missed opportunities for the developers and players alike. The entire game should’ve allowed cooperative play over Xbox Live, or even better, the entire game should’ve been open world which would allow the western world to truly come to life.

Despite all this I can’t rag on a game for not doing as much as it could have. The fact of the matter is that Call of Juarez is a fantastic one of a kind adventure that I doubt you’ll see again unless another sequel is produced. The single player story won’t take you long to complete, but there’s an entire multiplayer aspect of the game to keep you occupied long after you’ve finished the story mode. Bound in Blood greatly exults over its predecessor and proves to be one of the finer single player experiences you’ll get to play through for your Xbox 360.