Review: Call of Juarez (X360)

Call of Juarez is a below average FPS dressed-up as an appealing Western themed shooter

For: Great Western aesthetic; large environments; good story
Against: Multiple weaknesses in game design; below par multiplayer; floating up ladders!

Juarez is a disappointing addition to the X360 shooter fold. Whilst looking fantastic, and having some engaging Western settings, the weaknesses in the game’s design prevent Juarez from delivering on early promise.

The majority of the game's problems surround one of the two playable characters - Billy. Billy is on the run and so he spends much of his time involved in copious amounts of stealth and platforming based elements; neither of which fit comfortably into the Western genre - unless he was playing a Native American tracker, then it would make more sense.

Stealth and platforming elements are rarely successful in a FPS because the fixed perspective camera doesn’t give you the required peripheral view necessary to successfully avoid detection or position yourself for jumps. Worse, done badly as it is here, you end up playing 50% of the game looking at your feet and the others replaying the same death over and over again.

The game design also requires the environments to have “platforms” where you wouldn’t have platforms: for instance lots of strange grassy islands or convenient branches to cross canyons. It just looks contrived and silly.

Ray, the second character, is a lot more fun to play with. His bible trash talking as you take someone down with your six shooters is pure cinema. Having to replay the level you just completed with Billy, however, is not.

Juarez looks good and has an genuine Western feel to it. The characters, music and voice acting are spot on and really add a level of authenticity to the game.

As well as the main campaign, there are also duelling and multiplayer modes. The multiplayer games are largely team based, and offer the run of the mill FPS action with a western look. The level design is not particularly inspired and some of the dodgy object physics in the main game creep in here too.

I am a huge fan of the Western genre and consider some of Sam Peckenpah’s and Sergio Leone’s films some of the best movies ever made. Although a reasonable attempt at a Western style shooter, Juarez plays more like a generic FPS dressed in a Western trench coat. Many of the gameplay elements don’t fit well and are poorly executed; whilst the beautiful environments are ruined by contrived platforming elements and linear/invisible barriers.

Call of Juarez is worth a rental if you are an FPS fan, but otherwise I’d save your money for some of the better titles out there or on the way.

5/10