Playstation 3 Review - Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood

In the long and convoluted history of sequels and prequels, most number twos end up aptly in the toilette where they belong. “Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood,” however, quickly debunks history by delivering a prequel that is not only better than the original, “Call of Juarez,” but also a game with a solid story that can easily stand on its own. From the moment you begin playing Bound in Blood, you will be thrust right back in the days of the Old West or at least the old west you envisioned from movies like “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” or “The Magnificent Seven.”

The Old West was all about outlaws, sheriffs, preachers, showdowns, outlaws, Indians, deserts and women – all of which are deftly captured in this excellent, albeit brief game. Well, let me correct myself. Not all of these things are captured correctly. The typical problems with how Native American are depicted and portrayed through non-Native American actors is prevalent in this game. But, we’ll discuss that in detail later.

Bound in Blood serves as an origin to tale to Call of Juarez. Instead of Ray McCall being the fiery preacher toting a six-shooter, he is a distinctly different overtly abrasive killer and thief. His brother, Thomas, joins him as the quieter, but equally lethal, McCall brother. Ray and Thomas’ skills vary like their personalities. Thomas is quiet and prefers long-range weapons, like a rifle or bow. He is the more agile of the two brothers, and can also use a lasso to get to hard to reach places. Ray is the rambunctious older brother who makes up for his lack of subtly with a hefty dose of dynamite and the ability to dual-wield six-shooters.

The story begins with the two brothers in the Civil War, fighting for the Confederacy. Ray and Thomas decide to abandon the army and venture home to save their plantation only to find it destroyed. Then, the brothers’ lives fall in a downward spiral of villainous treasure hunting and callous murder. During this time, the general, whose army the McCall’s abandoned, constantly hunts the McCalls – blaming them for the loss of the war. Throughout the tale they are joined by William, their younger brother who serves as their unwelcome, but loved, conscience. William also delivers narration throughout the game to push along the tale of Ray and Thomas’ spiritual decadence from an outside perspective. The story and narration work in tandem to create an immersive world that is worth playing through.

Initially, gamers are only allowed to play as Ray or Thomas depending on what the board requires. Later on, you can choose which brother to play as. You may decide to stick to one brother over the other so that you can get the achievement for playing all chapters as Ray or Thomas. Also, the games well-architected story as well as the varied gameplay, between the two brothers, is intriguing enough to warrant a second run through. There are only a handful of situations when the boards actually vary depending on which brother you chose, but it’s just fun to walk through the path of one brother at a time. As Thomas, you’ll save your older brother who brashly runs into battle, guns blazing, with a well-timed rifle shot. Or, you’ll help him up a hill since he’s too bulky to climb a rock or fence by himself. You can also ride a horse, while twirling your lasso. Just a warning, the lasso mechanics in relation to your thumbstick movements don’t look natural on screen, but it still works well within the game. As Ray, you deliver the bang that you’re brother can’t – setting off a well-timed dynamite explosion to escape the Confederacy. The only here is that this game could have been delivered with a nice cooperative online feature, so that gamers could play through Bound in Blood as they do in Gears of War.

There are a few side missions interspersed throughout Bound in Blood. You can pickup a wanted ad to hunt down a known criminal. Or, you can help a rancher with problems from wealthy businessmen seeking to take over their land.

The game features a healthy variety of weapons depending on which brother you choose. Even the guns sound western: guns have names like rusty, classic, hybrid or superb. As you pickup money throughout your missions, completing side quests or stealing for fallen enemies, you can use your money to buy new weapons or stock up on ammo. Most of the time, you won’t need to buy ammo. Enemies suffer from poor AI. So, unless you’re stepping up to a harder difficulty, you will have no problem conserving bullets.

Two of the best features of the game are concentration mode and showdowns. When you kill a certain amount of enemies, you will unlock a concentration mode that varies between the two brothers. Concentration mode is pretty much your classic bullet time effect. As, Ray will be able to target multiple enemies to shoot with your dual pistols. While as William, you can cut down multiple enemies with a quick flick of the thumbstick. Showdowns are like boss fights in the Old West. The first time you enter a showdown, you won’t win. Showdowns require timing and precision. As the Showdown begins, you’re given a third person perspective of your character, looking up at your enemy from your Ray or Thomas’ holster. Before you’re allowed to draw, you must sidestep to match your enemy’s movements. If you don’t move, he will move out of your line of fire and become blurry in your periphery vision. When the bell sounds, you must grab your gun from your holster and shoot. If you try and grab it before the bell goes off, your hand will snap away from your holster giving your enemy an open chance at a shot. You’ll also start to feel like Pavlov’s dog after a while.

Unfortunately, all the great gameplay and story can’t overshadow some of the technical glitches in Bound in Blood. For starters, there are just way too many checkpoints. The game borders on annoying every five minutes as it freezes for another checkpoint. Some of the cut scenes tend to present boxy animations, which is unfortunate, since the characters are so superbly modeled. You’ll often experience clipping and texture pop throughout the game. After I got my Boyscout trophy, and just before taking down the Florez gang, I backed up into a wall and all of the cacti and rocks in the desert disappeared. There was nothing left but the desert sand. It was a little jarring to see that in a game this good.

One of the best parts about this game is the audio. The Sound Design is amazing. Bullets feel like bullets. Shotgun and rifle shots throw you right into the action. The voicing of Ray and Thomas is nothing short of stellar. Unfortunately, the Mexican Apache Indians sound nothing like Native Americans and are almost caricatures of themselves. This tends to take away from the realism of the game. For instance, Dante Basco (Prince Zuko from Avatar: The Last Airbender) as the Indian voice just doesn’t seem to work. They later explain it that he’s half white, but the voice just doesn’t fit the era. The dialogue is great and the down right witty banter between the two brothers is a joy to listen to. It’s great to hear how Ray smacks aside his brother Williams’ redemption concepts.

The online multiplayer is actually quite good, delivering the classic Deathmatch style games as well as team mission games. There wasn’t any noticeable lag in gameplay. The only problem was the lack of an online community made it difficult to find a match on the Playstation Network. This was startling because I found it easier to get a match in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.

Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood is an addictive game, rich in story and plot development. Unfortunately, a few technical issues mar this otherwise great release. Also, for the price tag, I really wish the game had just a few more chapters. They could have easily made this game a 10 hour game and added in a few more side missions as well as other enemies to take down. Despite the hiccups, Bound in Blood delivers an enthralling game that any gamer will enjoy. Diving into the Old West has never been so much fun. And, honestly, any game where you get a deputy’s daughter pregnant and then shoot the father is just hilarious.