Let's Talk... Call of Juarez: Gunslinger

Gunslinger is the 4^th game in Techland’s Call of Juarez series and arguably the best. The game follows the questionable tale of esteemed bounty hunter Silas Greaves as he regales his barbaric quest to avenge his two brothers, who were murdered by a so-called Roscoe “Bob” Bryant, to three patrons in a local saloon. The retrospective story becomes increasingly unbelievable as it continues, with Greaves claiming to have killed numerous legendary names in Old West History, including Butch Cassidy, the Sundance Kid, and Old Man Clanton.

One of Gunslinger’s main strengths is the unique storytelling style that it employs throughout the story. The story is told retrospectively and so is full of mistruths and hilarious hyperbole that can often confuse the events of the story. The initially awe-struck patrons will often interrupt Greaves to cast doubt over the credibility of what is actually being told, for example when Greaves claims to have killed Bob Ollinger the patrons will assert that it was Billy the Kid who really killed him. This unique storytelling device is a great way to take advantage of the shady and uncertain nature of much of Old West history and really reinforces the idea that nobody really knows what actually happened.

At various points in the story the player will be taken back to the beginning of a particular scene to re-enact the “real” scene. This will sometimes happen three or even four times for one scene and really makes the player wonder which of the different versions really happened. Complimenting the interesting story is some really excellent gameplay with a very arcade-like feel. The general gameplay is pretty basic but is extremely fun for a $15 game. Unfortunately, there is very little weapon variety (the weapons are pretty much limited to a rifle, two pistols, and two shotguns) so your weapons may feel a bit stale after a while. The gameplay consists of endless minions, numerous boss battles, and lots of QTEs. You are rewarded with points for your kills, with more points rewarded for acquiring headshots and racking up combos.

 An example of one of the three specs, this one focusing on dual-wielding pistols.

Your score is later converted into experience at the end of every level to earn level-ups, levelling up gives the player skill points to spend in any of the three specializations which favour long-range rifles, dual wielding pistols, and close-range shotguns. Each of the three specializations contains their own general purpose abilities and greatly improve the weapons at your disposal. When the player reaches the end of a specialization tree they will unlock a golden version of a weapon relative to the specialization, which vastly improve the weapon’s function. The point system and combos add a really enjoyable feel to the addictive gameplay, whilst the specs offer some nice variation to the way you can utilize your arsenal. Killing enemies earns the player “concentration” which can be unleashed to slow down the game.

Gunslinger has three game modes: story mode, duelling, and arcade mode. Duelling something that has been in previous Call of Juarez titles but it has been tweaked significantly in Gunslinger. Duelling requires you to maintain your character’s focus and hand speed by keeping your hand hovered over your holster and keeping the reticule focused on the enemy. The duels appear frequently in the story mode but can be essentially skipped as it allows you to win “dishonourably” by pulling your gun before he does and getting a free win; being able to skip duels is great as duels can actually be pretty difficult and sometimes feel frustrating. The final mode, Arcade Mode, is a timed score attack to get the best score possible in several of the games set pieces. Arcade mode is a fun way to add extra content and improve the replay ability of the game without adding some shoddy, half-assed multiplayer mode that would take away development time from the core experience.

One of the story mode’s duels, this one pits you against John Wesley Hardin.

Visually the game is generally quite nice but there are some lacking textures in some areas, however the visuals do a nice job of setting the very light-hearted comic-like tone of the game. Whenever a boss is introduced the game shows some pretty cool comic strips of said boss with captions in a very Borderlands-esque style. The major problem with the visuals of this game is the extremely annoying and extremely obvious black borders that border the screen that cannot be removed (as seen above). I get that it creates a more cinematic experience, but it just obnoxiously covers up a significant chunk of the screen and Techland should have really implemented a way to remove it instead of just claiming that it’s a “key feature” to the art style.  The sound design for Gunslinger is really excellent: all the guns sound great and racking up endless headshots sounds extremely satisfying. The music does a great job of keeping up with the gameplay and sticking with the themes of the story.

Strengths:

-Unique storytelling device and interesting re-telling of numerous Old West incidents

-Fun and addictive gameplay

-Three solid game modes with no half-assed multiplayer

-Impressively polished for a $15 game

-Collectibles offer insight to Old West history, making them more rewarding

Weaknesses:

-Obnoxious black borders that can’t be removed

-Very linear game set in very open yet unexplorable places

-Limited weapon variation