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You know what I realized after playing the first Call of Juarez? There’s not that many western first-person shooters. For some reason, I thought there was more. There have been plenty of western games released over the years but not many are first-person shooters. And I’m strictly talking traditional westerns. I’m surprised. With that realization, I think the Call of Juarez series occupies a special place in the genre. The first game isn’t bad. As a straight up first-person shooter, it’s pretty good. But almost everything else it attempts to do doesn’t work well in my opinion. Apparently, it didn’t sell well in North America but did sell well in Europe and was successful enough to spawn a sequel.
Developed by Techland and published by Ubisoft, Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood was released for PC, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 in June, 2009. For this review, I played the PC version from GoG. I wanted to adjust the field of view as soon as I jumped into the gameplay and, unfortunately, this cannot be done in-game so I consulted the game’s PCGamingWiki page and learned it can be adjusted by using a specific file from the Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood Realism Mod. Bound in Blood does come with a multiplayer component but the online multiplayer services are no longer available so this review will only focus on the single player.
Bound in Blood is actually a prequel since the story is set years before the events of the first game. The story opens with brothers Ray and Thomas McCall fighting for the Confederates in the American Civil War. They disobey orders and desert to go defend their home from the Union Army. After their youngest brother, William, informs them that their mother died, the three flee and set out to find the legendary Gold of Juarez in hopes of using it to rebuild their home. Some time later, the brothers rescue a woman named Marisa who was kidnapped by an outlaw. Afterward, they meet her boyfriend, Juan Mendoza, who is also searching for the gold and promises to share if they help him find it.
While I think some plot developments feel rushed, I enjoyed the story, overall. This is yet another game that nails the western tone and atmosphere and I found the writing, dialogue, and voice performances to be better than those of the previous game. I particularly enjoyed the banter exchanged between Ray and Thomas during gameplay. And I feel the game’s use of more traditional cut scenes results in a more cinematic style presentation that works really well. The game includes plenty of western hallmarks and the plot touches on some interesting themes including family and betrayal. If you’re familiar with the story in the first game, you should be able to predict some of what happens in Bound in Blood.
As soon as I had control of a character and began moving and shooting, I got a hunch that Bound in Blood was going to be a better game than its predecessor. And I was right. Everything from the writing to the mechanics feels improved and the pacing is better here. It seems the developers were aware of the first game’s problems because basically everything I took issue with has been rectified in Bound in Blood. I felt the first game didn’t do anything interesting with interactivity or physics and there is less focus on it here. Furthermore, stealth was cut so Bound in Blood is basically a pure run and gun shooter.
Bound in Blood puts the player in the shoes of two protagonists, Ray and Thomas. The story plays out in acts with multiple chapters per act and before starting a chapter, you must select one of the brothers to play as. Although, some chapters will force you to play as a specific character and there are differences between the two. Ray is stronger and deadly at close range, can dual wield revolvers, throw dynamite, and carry gatling guns. Thomas is deadly with long range weapons like rifles, he can use a bow, and he can use a lasso to reach higher elevations. Both characters can charge Concentration by shooting enemies and their concentration attacks differ. During concentration, time slows down. Ray can paint targets to quickly shoot at and Thomas can fan the hammer of his pistol to rapidly shoot multiple targets. The brother you’re not playing as is controlled by the AI and there are points in the game where they will have to help each other or complete certain actions together. Oddly enough, the story does not support cooperative play which seems like a missed opportunity.
When compared to the first game, a lot has been changed and refined. The action feels faster-paced and more fluid. Duels or what the game calls Showdowns return and feels refined for the better and I’m also happy to say I didn’t encounter any control issues this time. Even riding horses feels better. In my opinion the gunplay is excellent thanks to great weapon feedback and good visual effects. I do think the first game had better gore effects and I feel bodies disappear way too quickly here. Nevertheless, I think the action in Bound in Blood is more enjoyable. Once again, guns come in different qualities and there’s different types of revolvers. Money can be found in the environments and will be dropped by enemies and can be spent at stores on weapons and ammo. Each weapon has different stats in power, reload speed, and rate of fire. As a result of this refined what I’ll call weapon quality system, when compared to the first game, I feel Bound in Blood gives you more incentives to hold onto certain weapons. Although, I can’t say I had too much trouble with low quality weapons when compared to better ones.
If there’s any complaint I have with the game, it’s that it does lean towards the easy side, at least on the Medium difficulty which is what I played on. And I feel this is due to multiple reasons. One; it doesn’t matter if you’re up against soldiers, bandits, or Native Americans, there’s not a lot of variety to the enemies or their behavior and they go down pretty easily. Bound in Blood can feel like a shooting gallery and I felt the quality of weapons didn’t make too much of a difference in regards to challenge. At least in my experience. Two; it’s not hard nor does it take long to fully charge Concentration and the attacks allow you to easily wipe out multiple foes. And three; with auto aim for dual pistols turned on, it’s very easy to hit targets at close range. But this can be turned off. In the end, I would say much of the challenge comes from being outnumbered. A firefight in this game is always you and your brother up against numerous foes. They come out of buildings, will shoot at you from ledges and windows, and some even lob dynamite. Survival comes down to staying behind cover and simply dropping enemies before they drop you.
While Bound in Blood is primarily a linear experience, the game does feature some open-ended areas. At certain points in the story, you’ll end up in an area with a store and optional jobs to complete. The jobs take you to different places in the surrounding area and can be completed for money. This entire feature feels somewhat out of place because most of the game is linear. Most chapters have you navigating along linear paths and shooting enemies. So these open-ended areas stand out. But don’t get me wrong, I really enjoyed the concept here. I only wish it was expanded. I don’t necessarily mean going in an open world direction but maybe a town or neighborhood acting as a hub that takes you to the different chapters or levels. And optional small jobs acting as side content to earn extra cash. The surrounding area doesn’t have to be massive, just big enough to support the jobs and offer some action outside of the plot.
Most chapters put you in some cool scenarios. You’ll shoot your way through the streets and buildings of different towns, ride in a stagecoach and wagon and defend them from attackers, and even shoot your way through Navajo territory. As mentioned before, most environments are linear and when compared to the previous game, Bound in Blood ensures you will never get lost or stuck since an objective marker always appears on the HUD and the game always makes it clear where you need to go and what you need to do. Thomas will have to use the lasso to reach certain areas from time to time but there’s no sneaking or puzzles or stacking things to climb on here. Much of your time will be spent moving and shooting.
Not only does Bound in Blood feel better than it’s predecessor but it also looks a lot better. From the character and weapon models to the environments, this has great production values. At least I think so. For the time it released, anyway. Animations also look noticeably better. Bound in Blood does showcase some beautiful backgrounds and landscapes and the environments are well detailed. Overall, I would say the game does a good job and conveying a cinematic style western atmosphere and tone. The action is accompanied by great visual effects and sound work and is backed by a soundtrack consisting of a good mix of dramatic and intense sounding tunes that fit in well with what’s on display. On the technical side, I encountered one crash but no other problems and it ran smooth from beginning to end.
Bound in Blood has become one of my favorite western first-person shooters and considering there’s not many out there, it’s pretty high on the list. This is a great example of what a sequel should be. You take the good stuff from the previous game and refine it and cut out all the bad shit. That’s basically what Techland did with Bound in Blood and it’s such a big leap in quality. It feels so much better to play and as a result, it’s much more enjoyable. It is a shame they didn’t include any kind of cooperative multiplayer for the story mode because I think it would have been a perfect vehicle for it. When the action gets going, it’s a lot of fun but it can feel like a shooting gallery. You move from area to area, shooting enemies, and there’s not much variety to it. But I think the western theme, alone, gives it an edge.
I would absolutely recommend Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood. To me, it’s such a massive improvement over the first game that I’m tempted to recommend starting the series here. If you weren’t a fan of the first game, I would still say give this a shot. It feels a lot different and a lot better. From the gameplay to the production values, everything is better. As of this review, I would say Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood is one of the best western first-person shooters available. Definitely check it out.