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Well look who walked right into my saloon… don’t get many cowpokes riding through town these days, let alone ones so eager for information about the exploits of one Silas Greaves. Now you listen here boy, that man had a trigger finger faster than any steam train and had collected more bounties than you have seen tumbleweeds. So if I were you, I'd drop that chase cold and go back to your ranch.
What? You still want more information on that dashing desperado? Maybe you wet my whistle and I'll tell you more about the revenge he carved along his dusty trail.
Despite the rather corny intro I've never really been into westerns. I’m not sure if it’s the cliche feeling tropes or the lack of cultural connection to the setting. If you asked me to sit down and watch a western film I would have to feign interest, despite my enjoyment of a good on screen gun fight. What I do enjoy every now and then is a simple arcade shooter. Me, some guns, bad guys by the dozens and some satisfying score popups everytime lead meets cranium. So after hearing good things around the time of its original release all the way back in 2013, I booted up Call of Juarez: Gunslinger and within minutes I realized this game was going to be a leap back in time. Not back in time to late 1800’s America where the game takes place, but a slightly more modern time period, where a major game studio could release a game with no DLC, no multiplayer, no battle pass and make some rather unique choices in what they were presenting.
A Tale of Revenge
Call of Juarez: Gunslinger is a western FPS that puts you in the shoes of grizzled bounty hunter Silas Greaves, a man on a quest to avenge his brothers by seeking out the leader of a ruthless group of bandits which caused their death. In reality, Silas’ quest is over many years before the start of the game and you play through his tales as he recounts them to a group of patrons at a local saloon, with excellent voice acting I might add. Age, alcohol and a hefty dose of embellishment have affected this retelling and in an interesting use of the “unreliable narrator”, levels of play change based on the discussion between those who are listening. It makes for a rather dynamic feeling campaign even if it is strictly linear as you try and piece together your own canon version of the tale while adapting to changing game situations on the fly. In a title like this the shooting is still going to be the focus, but taking a storytelling risk goes a long way to adding some charm and character to the game and I am a little sad it’s not something we have seen more of from big game studios since.
On this quest you will find yourself traveling through an assortment of western locales while taking out gun toting banditos and meeting some of the infamous western names of the period. It’s not particularly fancy but the setting leaves it fairly limited on where the game can actually take the player. Thankfully for a title that is now over 10 years old the graphics still hold up relatively well thanks to the semi cell shaded style Techlands chose to go with. The slight cartoon aesthetic this gives Call of Juarez suits the almost superhuman firearms handling of our main protagonist and slight silliness that comes along with the spaghetti western atmosphere of the story and humour. Just don’t go in expecting the graphical standards of a more modern game, it still looks good but doesn’t hide 10 years of growth.
Lock and Load
Enough stalling, let’s talk about the gunplay. An arcade shooter lives or dies by how satisfying it can make the act of you efficiently dispatching whoever looks at you funny in the trek between you and your destination. Maybe this is personal bias but I find guns from this era are almost always a blast to use. The satisfying hammer click or cylinder spin on an old school revolver, the arm flick motion to stylishly ready a new bullet into a level action rifle or the forceful reload of a break action shotgun all filled with enough black powder to deliver a hefty bang on any trigger squeeze. Gunslinger is no exception in this regard and the various weapons of the game are a joy to use combined with classic tools of the trade such as dynamite sticks. To increase the rule of cool further there is a healthy amount of slow motion added from the games concentration system, allowing a temporary slowdown of time and highlighting of targets to either help you out of a pinch or simply line up higher scoring shots. Western games can be a bit lackluster in terms of weaponry options due to the historical limits of the time but the excellent sound design and fast pace of the game never left me bored with the firearms I had.
You are constantly encouraged to keep up the games’ action through a scoring system, racking up multiple casualties in a short time will give you a multiplier to further kills you are making and help you progress faster through the game's rather limited skill system. That’s not to say the skills are bad, each feels impactful and the game encourages you to specialise into different archetypes to encourage replayability. On one run you might be a pinpoint sharpshooter focused on having a keen eye with your rifle and pistol, on another you might adopt a more aggressive playstyle with a revolver in each hand and a fragrant disregard for ammunition counts. It's not an addition that really sells the game though, nevertheless I am glad it’s there to give the player a sense of progress, some variety in their abilities and most importantly a slight serotonin boost everytime they land a headshot and see that XP number appear.
3…2…1…Draw!
That’s not to say I have no problems with the combat, levels will often culminate with a duel between Silas and a cowboy of legend. This slows the game down from an action packed shooting gallery to a single tense moment of quick reactions. In theory I like the concept, it’s perfect for the setting and coolness of Gunslinger to recreate a famous duel at sundown, hands hovering over holstered revolvers tensely waiting for someone to make the first move. In practice I rapidly found these to be an exercise in frustration. Your attention needs to be split between keeping your aim on the target while making sure your hand is in the right position to draw your gun when the other party reaches for theirs. There is a distinct lack of indication as to where your hand should be in a given moment and the controls to focus on the opponent are intentionally floaty. Rather than feeling like I was dueling a legendary opponent I felt like I was dueling the game's inconvenience systems so I could move onto the next level. Good idea, poor execution.
It’s also worth noting that Call of Juarez is rather short, the price to pay for it being slightly more unique. A full run through of the Gunslinger’s campaign can be completed in around 5 hours. There are a number of difficulty modes with collectibles, a new game + option and score leaderboards as well as an arcade and duels mode, but still less content than you might find in many of its contemporaries.
Final Thoughts
Call of Juarez: Gunslinger has become a bit of a cult classic in the years since its release and I can certainly see why. It’s simply a fun time. Easy to pick up and enjoy while also trying some new things that make it stand out from the crowd. It doesn’t ask mch from the player and simply dolls out a great shooting experience. The gameplay (duels aside) left me with a grin on my face after each round and perhaps more unusually for a shooter, so did the ending of its unusually structured story. If the 5 hour story playtime is worth the cost is a choice I will leave you to make but if you have just finished Red Dead and are still in the mood for some western action or if you just want to do less thinking and more shooting. I can’t see you leaving disappointed from Call of Juarez: Gunslinger.
This review was based on the PC version of the game,