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Playing through the Call of Juarez games has been interesting. The first game isn’t bad but the sequel, Bound in Blood, is far superior and has become one of my favorite western first-person shooters. That was followed up by The Cartel which isn’t very good. It’s a generic shooter that was critically reviled and even deemed a “mistake” by one of the developers. Afterward, Techland aimed to redeem the reputation of the franchise with the release of Call of Juarez: Gunslinger, a digital-only budget title. Developed by Techland and published by Ubisoft, Call of Juarez: Gunslinger was released for PC, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 in May, 2013 and Switch in December, 2019. For this review, I played the PC version. Gunslinger is one of the first games in the series I played and I remember enjoying it so I’ve been looking forward to jumping back into it.
Gunslinger takes us back to the traditional western setting and the player assumes the role of bounty hunter, Silas Greaves. The story opens with him entering a saloon where he proceeds to tell a group of patrons tales of his adventures. But some find his increasingly grandiose tales hard to believe as he details events involving Wild West legends such as Billy the Kid, Sundance Kid, Butch Cassidy, Jesse James, and the Dalton Gang, among others. The events of the story are conveyed using an unreliable narrator format and blend elements of fact and fiction.
Narratively, Gunslinger is unrelated to the previous games so you don’t need to play those or know what went down in those storylines to enjoy Gunslinger. The way the narrative is structured, I enjoyed how it sometimes lets player experience events from different perspectives and at certain points, Silas will clarify things or give you more context on a situation which results in changes happening on-screen to match up with what he’s saying. However, when all is said and done, the pacing in the story mode did start to get to me after a while. Because of the way the narrative is structured, there are points where the gameplay slows down or outright pauses to convey story beats and I understand why it’s done but it fucks with pacing. It’s not enough to ruin the experience or anything – I did enjoy the plot quite a bit – but when you’re in the flow, in the rhythm, in the groove of things only to be repeatedly pulled out to listen to narration, that can become annoying.
Before jumping into the nitty gritty, I just want to say I think Gunslinger is the best game since Bound in Blood and it’s nice to see the series return to the Wild West setting. Gunslinger is a single-player only experience and comes with multiple game modes; Story, Arcade, and Duel Challenge. The Story mode is what you should jump into first. You progress through the levels advancing the story and unlocking skills and special weapons. You can unlock an additional difficulty level and a New Game+ mode where you can play through the story again with all your unlocked skills and weapons. The Arcade Mode consists of a series of levels where you get points for kills and awards. You choose a loadout before starting a level and can earn stars based on your performance and can unlock skills for your chosen loadout. Duel Challenge is a mode where the objective is to win a series of showdowns honorably and quickly.
If you’ve played the previous games, much of what’s here will be familiar. Gunslinger is a run and gun first-person shooter and is, thankfully, much better than The Cartel. The gunplay feels great thanks to good weapon feedback and excellent gore effects. Each kill awards you points which equates to experience and after earning enough experience, you level up and can unlock a skill and unlocking enough skills will unlock special weapons. The skills are indeed beneficial and will make you deadlier and more efficient with the different weapon types. Killing enemies does fill the Concentration bar. Concentration can be activated at the press of a button and essentially slows down time enabling you to blow away multiple enemies quickly. Gunslinger also employs a mechanic called Sense of Death. As you play, the Skull Dice indicator becomes active over time. When it’s active, you get a chance to evade a fatal shot.
Points are a big thing here. Gunslinger is very much an arcade-style shooter. Whether it’s the Story mode or Arcade mode, points are important. You are awarded more points for killing enemies in unusual ways and you can increase your score multiplier by killing enemies in quick succession. In the Story mode, more points means more experience. Arcade mode is all about high scoring so that multiplier is crucial. Even in the Duel Challenge mode, you are awarded points based your performance in each duel.
The Story mode shouldn’t take you too long to beat but it is action packed and I would say the game in general has a good amount of replay value. From the different game modes to the multiple difficulty levels to New Game+, Gunslinger should keep you occupied for some time. Most of the Story mode has you running and gunning through areas. There are secrets to find called Nuggets of Truth which offer some history on the Wild West and that’s your primary incentive to explore. There’s not many scripted set pieces but you will get opportunities to mow foes down with gatling guns and several missions end with a boss battle and others end in duels, typically against historical figures. I prefer the duel mechanics in this game over those in the previous ones. It’s all about focus and speed and you are allowed to draw first but it’s considered dishonorable and you will be scored accordingly.
The scoring is the real draw here because I think without it, Gunslinger would become repetitive. Also, unlocking new skills becomes addictive and it’s fun revisiting previous missions with new skills and knowledge to do better. The skills come in different, I’ll call them “trees”, that are designed for different playstyles but you can unlock them all and each tree contains useful skills that can benefit any playstyle. They include things like improvements to Concentration, better and faster aiming, increased ammo capacity, and faster reloading among other things. The skills not only make you more efficient but also make it easier to earn more points for better scores. If you’re into high scores and leaderboards, then Gunslinger is a game that has you covered. Achieving high scores is all about speed. You want move fast, aim well, and keep that multiplier or combo going.
What I really enjoy about Gunslinger is the situations and events you get to participate in and the locations. You’ll shoot your way through towns, mountains, swamps, a sawmill, caves, and a mine. You’ll always be outnumbered and enemies range from outlaws to Apaches. Most run around and shoot, take cover, and lob dynamite and some man gatling guns. Most foes can be dropped pretty easily but there are some distinct enemy types like shielders and shotgunners that may take some more effort to bring down. The environments are mostly linear with some routes and paths and buildings off to the sides for exploration and to allow for different approaches. You’ll foil multiple robberies, engage foes on a moving train, and even prevent a gang from blowing up an overpass. Firefights are loud, bullets will whiz passed your head, rip through things in the environments, and blood will gush out of bodies making for some very satisfying gunplay. There’s plenty of objects and structures that can be used as cover and activating Concentration will highlight foes in red which can be beneficial if you’re having difficulty spotting any.
Gunslinger’s presentation showcases a comic book style aesthetic which I think works out well. Cut scenes consist of comic book style panels with narration and that along with the narration during gameplay and colorful presentation help drive home the fact that you’re essentially playing through a story that’s being told. Jaggies and some pop-in here and there can be eyesores but I did consult the game’s PCGamingWiki page which details how to apply anti-aliasing which at least eliminates the noticeable jaggies. The soundtrack consists of exactly the kind of music you might expect from a game like this. The tunes are great and perfectly fit the theme and what’s happening on-screen nicely. In general, the audio is well done. Weapons sound powerful and satisfying, explosions sound booming, and firefights are often accompanied by a lot of shouting. And it all sounds western. On the technical side, I did encounter some drops in the frame rate but was able to follow some instructions on the game’s PCGamingWiki page to eliminate them. Other than that, no issues.
I love Gunslinger. It’s up there with Bound in Blood as one of my favorite western first-person shooters. It’s a little sad to think that the Call of Juarez franchise has been reduced to budget titles. The idea that The Cartel was so poor that they had to scale back the sequel is a little shocking to me. That said, the developers utilized the smaller budget well. Gunslinger is a wonderful and satisfying shooter that’s a lot of fun to play which is more than I can say for its predecessor. Not only does Gunslinger take the series back to the Wild West, giving it the edge it had before The Cartel, it also comes with a unique and colorful aesthetic and a fun and addictive scoring system. There’s not a lot of negative things I can say about the game. It is a bit on the short side and it’s a shame there’s no multiplayer or cooperative modes but it does come with a good amount of replay value. You can see care was put into it and it doesn’t feel rushed or unfinished like the last game.
I would absolutely recommend Call of Juarez: Gunslinger. It’s one of the best games in the series and since it’s narratively unrelated to the previous titles, you shouldn’t be afraid to jump into this first. Personally, I feel it does redeem the reputation of the franchise. The series started out okay, got better, got worse, and Gunslinger brings it back to form. As of this review, it is the last game in the franchise so at the very least, it ended on a high note. Definitely check it out.