Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood (360)

When I reviewed the first Call of Juarez back in 2007, I praised the game's unique Wild-West setting but lamented the poor pacing and weak gameplay. Techland's follow-up effort, Bound in Blood, is much, much better and it's obvious that the developers learned from their earlier mistakes. It's about as close as you're going to get to playing a Sergio Leone movie and really, it's about damn time we had a good Western shooter.

THE VERDICT by Will Herring Will Herring's Avatar Having grown up on spaghetti westerns, the idea of stepping into the boots of a gun-slinging cowboy on par with Eastwood's finest definitely is more than a selling point for me -- it's a dream come true. Tae really enjoyed what Bound in Blood had to offer, from its beautiful visuals and solid story to its fast-paced dueling action.

Back in the Saddle

A prequel to the original Call of Juarez, Bound in Blood improves upon the set formula in almost every way. The new proprietary engine pumps out some amazing visuals, especially in the cutscenes; the vast desert vistas and arid mountains also stand out as do the authentic frontier towns. The story, which relies on standard Wild West tropes like greed, betrayal and redemption, is effectively told and remains solid and engaging throughout; it's not up to the level of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly but it's also more than just an excuse to move you from shootout to shootout. It definitely helps that both the voice acting and writing are solid.

It's nice that the visuals and storytelling are expertly handled as it serves as a nice backdrop for the much improved gun battles. You get a chance to reenact pretty much every type of Wild West shootout you can imagine, from hairy bullet exchanges in a saloon to long distance rifle battles out in the desert; there are even sequences where you're astride a horse and there's nothing like picking someone off while in the saddle. The gunfights are integrated into the story really well and you always feel like you're doing something, rather than just wasting bullets on nameless foes. I also liked the cool quick-time events and classic quick-draw duels as well.

Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood

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