Frankenreview: Call Of Juarez: Bound In Blood
Grab your hat and strap on your irons, we’re going on a Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood review round-up!
Developer Techland revisits the Spaghetti Western in Bound in Blood, the sequel to 2007’s Call of Juarez. This time around the game focuses on Thomas and Ray McCall, the original protagonist’s step-father and uncle respectively, as they make their way from the front lines of the American Civil War to Mexico on a quest for the mythical Lost Treasure of Cortez. Gunfights, chases, and other Western-themed occurrences ensue.
As Crecente pointed out in his review, Western shooters generally fail to achieve the same level of acclaim as more modern day tales of bullet-fueled valor. Can Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood rise about the rest? Let’s gather us up a game review posse!
Offical Xbox Magazine UK
This prequel starts out on a promising note. It’s the height of the American Civil War, and the Yankees are murdering and pillaging their way through the state of Georgia. As cannons tear Thomas and Ray McCall’s land asunder, there’s hope this game can build on its fiery beginning. Sadly, it goes from the gritty thrills of an episode of Deadwood, to the easy-going cliché of the Milky Bar Kid adverts.
Eurogamer
Bound in Blood canters unapologetically through every western cliché in the book, and does so with enough vigour and sense of style that you’ll enjoy the ride. The first chapter tips the nod to Call of Duty with its depiction of a battle in the Civil War, but then the brothers promptly become deserters and outlaws; they burst into saloons both guns blazing, pull bars off a jail window with a horse, steal a stagecoach, fall in love with a Mexican bandita, recognise the honour and pride of the Native American, and shoot lots of other Native Americans – as well as lots of Mexicans, lawmen, outlaws, Yankees, rebels and prospectors. They shoot lots of everybody.
1UP
…the single-player’s strong focus on the McCall brothers makes the omission of co-op seem bizarre. With very few exceptions, you have an A.I.-controlled brother with you. The A.I. is actually decent, killing fools and navigating to objective points just fine — the amount of mistaken navigations or A.I. glitches is smaller than I imagined. Even the banter between the two — the way they simultaneously bicker/one-up/compliment each other — is surprisingly good…Perhaps there is some developmental reason I don’t understand, but it’s still odd to me that for every time I do a cooperative shoot-out with Ray and Thomas quipping about how ornery and badass they are, that I can never do that with a friend.
TeamXbox
Ubisoft even decided to go all out and put a robust little multiplayer experience in there. The game types definitely bring a few new fun components to old school FPS online multiplayer. But the classes seem a bit unbalanced to me, though I admit I’ve only played with the first six or so characters. Too many games I played were almost all Riflemen. Even so, the game types provide enough fun team-based experiences that don’t mess too much with the source material in terms of power-ups and such. Ain’t got no quad damage round these here parts, pardner. But we do gots a levelin’ system and such, consarnit!
GamePro
Bound in Blood doesn’t have any major flaws but I did notice that dynamite is way too effective in the hands of the enemy. They throw it like grenades and the heads-up display does a poor job of telling you where it lands; the only saving grace is that only a handful of enemies use them as thrown weapons. Engaging enemies at long-distance can also be tricky as it’s sometimes hard to pick them out against the horizon.
Kotaku
Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood doesn’t redefine the genre, nor, I fear, will it win over the mainstream audience that these games so richly deserve. What it does do is offer gamers a chance to step into the boots of lawless men in lawless times, to slap leather, to avenge wrongs and to peek into the motives of single-minded men.
There’s only one way to settle this fight. I just don’t know what that is.
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Comments (AU Comments | US Comments)
@terrible reviews from the contributors to think much of the site.
I can only assume you're a contributor, and your hostile post does nothing to change my opinion.
@Kobun:
Fuck you. No 1up is not 'Dead.' It suffered very severe casualties, when UGO bought them up, and left EGM to the flies. 'regrettable as ever?' What crawled up your ass?
And European magazine/websites always score games lower than their American counter-parts. They have 'higher standards.'
ReconToaster.
So I'm the only one who thought this game was abysmal, huh?
Stavvy
@ttocs:
Yeah, except those fuckers refuse to put out the PC versions on the same day, or even close to the same time-frame as their console counterparts, and they probably won't put games out on the pc AT ALL anymore, after all the backlash they got from their shitty port of GTA IV.
"The PC market is plagued by rampant piracy" they'll say, when complaining of why their secu-rom infested software didn't sell well.
*sigh
ReconToaster.
With a name like CowboyShootist you would think this would be the game for me and I may pick it up.
I notice one very glaring historical error. The screen shot above showing the two confederates is not right. They are holding Smith and Wesson Model 3 Schofields. The problem is that gun wasn't available until 1870, and the Schofield model was 1875.
Other than that, it could be a fun game.
@FunkyMunxy: Yep, I'm sure that's what he meant, primarily that the European sites didn't think much of the game.
Isn't 1-Up dead? I swore it died a few months back, but, here it is, regrettable as ever.
I'm gonna wait til the price drops a little. And if a co-op patch happens to be released in the interim period, I might wait for a little less time than I otherwise would.
dd528
@[en.wikipedia.org]
@Scopitone: Does that place have anything to do with Fighting Amphibians?
@ヽ(´ー｀)ﾉ (NO MEANS YES): You forget one thing, you never know who is Vidya!
@SeedyXX has the munchies: You have to move with your opponent so that you don't need to aim much when the bell rings and always keep your hand near the gun so that you don't need much time to get it out when the time comes. It's not that hard actually.
TheOddOneDies
@Tom Clancy's Samuraidino: Don't you think he meant IRL West. As in, Eurogamer and OXM UK gave it poor reviews, American sites reviewed it more positively?
FunkyMunxy
@SS Ymer: Wait I just had a thought! A JRPG, set in the Wild West. You're an Indian living in your wigwams, chilling and learning 'bout the spirits and shit. In bursts Guy "Strong" Buster with his rag-tag group of cowboy hooligans and busts up your crib while you try to defend with like "X Arrow" or "Spirit of big snake" and all kinds of magic shenanigans. (Combat is your usual FF-fare but with some Valkyria Chronicles cover system tucked in) Of course it's all over when Buster finishes the entire tribe off with his "Ultima Bullet-Rain Death" and you're just sitting there think "Bullshit!".
But like the game is all "FOOLED YA BIATCH!" and you wake up to the sound of your million year old grandpa telling you about "the wheel of (the jackal) is turning" and that you're the descendant of some furry spirit and that you totally got the touch and the power and must defeat these damn gaijins in your land. Off you go to tackle the evil Empire army and must go to FORTIFIED MILITARY INSTALLATIONS and collect 8 feathers of the eagle that will help you escape BUSTER'S REVENGE and save the land.
Ok this is getting stupid so i better stop soon. Anyway, somewhere along the way you meet and team up with Pochahontas and Sacagawea who are both extremely well-shaped and under-dressed ladies and the final boss is the machine from Wild Wild West.
[Stamp of Excellence]
Good night!
@baconfrenzy:
I could never understand the shitty reviews the first game got, the stealth missions were a little boring but helped balance the pace quite well and Reverend Ray (as in CoJ1) is pretty high on my list of fave game characters ever. Reading lines from an open bible in one hand and shooting people in the face with the revolver in your other hand... what the fuck is NOT to like!
I like the game, but man, I really suck at the duels. I learn the song, but I swear as soon as I hear the bell, I've already been shot and spat on. So I try again.
@televizor: It looks like the artstyle of The Vidya.
So no, most likely he did not.
ヽ(´ー｀)ﾉ (NO MEANS YES)
this game isn't too shabby - what really stands out is the sheer amount of set pieces. I haven't seen so many since at least the second half of MGS4. This game would be an utter failure without them. I found myself unable to put it down just to see what kind of crazy cowboy antics would pop up next.
I don't mind short games.
I think it deserves somewhere around a 7.75 and a 8.25
diagorus
@Scopitone: Shh....
Demosthenes7898
Shipping out from Gamefly today, excited to play it.
CMcCon342
Will put this on my "to buy" list.
Woah woah wait, last I heard it was going to release with co-op. Thank fucking god I didn't rent it yet.
@bkchurch:
but.. what if he's posting from the north pole and facing south..:s
D3lphiki
@SS Ymer: Man, rereading this is almost like reading the translated script of some B-list JRPG. I really gotta work on that.
Europe just don't get it.
/xenocentricity
I bought this day one, because I really enjoyed the first game despite it's flaws. This title impressed me in almost every way. The only downside (other than co-op, which was never promised so I don't consider it a flaw) is that the first game had more value in the downtime. I don't need to shoot someone ALL the time to enjoy a game. In fact, the best action games have periods of quiet mixed in with the gunplay. The first game did this plenty and with wide open expanses. Anyway...
The graphics are good, the gameplay is good, the story is...alright, and for once the multiplayer is good. And you can trust me on that one because I NEVER enjoy multiplayer. I quit Killzone 2 before I even hit Sarge and I played CoD about 30 minutes and quit. This really nails the experience, even if it sacrifices "realism" a bit (but honestly, I hate dying from a single shot pretty much no matter what the weapon is. CoJ makes it more like 2 or 3 unless it's a shotty to the face or something).
A truly enjoyable game that is definitely gonna build momentum as the dry gaming days of summer drag on.
jargy1
5/5
My brothers have got a fever. Gold fever. And then there was the girl. I saw the way Ray looked at her and I saw the way she looked at Thomas. Somewhere in this brilliant game, there is no doubt that this isn't going to end well. The brothers McCall have deserted the Confederate army, seen their orphanage demolished and their mother die.
[...]
This is a raw,, gritty, dirty old western game. With gun-fights and ambushes that almost manages to deliver the stench of the horse shit and chewing tobacco. The dialogue is excellent, the atmosphere is brilliant. Here you'll find both story-driven stages and open-ended segments a la Far Cry 2. Here you'll find all the pieces that makes a good game. They [Techland] had fresh ideas and seen them all the way through. They have created the ultimate game from the Wild West.
You just gotta loosen the stir-ups and ride off.
I am captivated.
(For some reason I just translated some of the review from my local newspaper and posted it here. I think it might be because that review was what helped me decide to get the game. It's great BTW)
@BubbleF**kingBuddy: This is what happens when 4Chan goes down.
Scopitone
@ttocs: I do believe you mean Rockstar's revisiting of the Western genre--Redemption's a sequel.
@Mommar:
Fail
bkchurch
@ttocs: bingo!
exion
@exion:
Yeah. I'm not particularly let down about there being no co-op, but I will be waiting for this to get a nice Steam Sale. $30 = purchase
It's not that I don't think it's worth the full price... but I have quite a few older game I'm going through at the moment, so I can wait.
ReconToaster.
@BubbleF**kingBuddy:
omg hey lol did you do this?
televizor
@Mommar: West = Left,East = Right
@exion: Totally agree on this. I went from wanting to get it on the first day to being completely baffled as to why there was two characters and no co-op to mild disappointment to a little hungry to general apathy.
NEED MORE CO-OP GAMES PLZKTHXBYE
@BubbleF**kingBuddy: oh lol
Dingler
@BubbleF**kingBuddy: I actually enjoyed the first one a lot,it had a lot of great ideas that just needed some Fixing.
The stealth sections as Billy were annoying and very much trial and error,but in a way I think that helped my enjoyment of the game.After having to sneak all the way through an area Id get to play as Reverand Ray and kill each and every one of those muthafuckas that hassled me.
Very satisfying
Notice how the further west you go the more positive the reviews of the game are?
Mommar
Its short right? That makes it a bargain bin purchase for me. Yeah I know about the multiplayer but it seems this game excels in the single player story instead while the MP is lacking and not worth forgoing CoD, TF etc.
The less people buy this, the sooner I'll be able to pick it up (used or not) for $20.
It looks interesting, but I really wish this had co-op for the story mode, like RE5 did. I'd have been really inclined to get it. Now, it'll join the list of games that I'll consider getting via a store clearance.
Zonrith
@exion: Bargain Bin Hopefuls?
Oh man, Fahey, you just killed me. My eyes went completely wide at "Grab your hat and strap on".
I was like, "This review is gonna be freakin' sweet."
Which it was but not for the reasons I thought it was going to be.
I rented this game from Gamefly and it's pretty good. I'm still excited about Rockstar's attempt at their western game, but this will definitely hold me over until it comes out.
I'm actually tempted to pick this up, though the ommision of co-op has knocked this from my must-buy list to a "if I see it cheap and I have the spare cash I'll grab it" list.
man that list needs a more succinct name.
exion
I enjoyed BiB a lot more then I had planned on... I definitely agree with the Kotaku review and the sad fact that the game won't get the recognition it deserves on the scale it deserves, a good game to be sure.
baconfrenzy
Uhhh duel at high noon maybe? Lets have all the reviewers shoot it out old west style!
(Hollow) svenhoek
This game kinda came out of nowhere. Wasn't the first one terrible? By the way, great summer we're having with games.
I liked the first one, so I'm looking forward to checking this game out.