Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood

What’s the Story?

A Western-themed first-person shooter in the vein of HBO’s Deadwood television series, CALL OF JUAREZ: BOUND IN BLOOD is violent, profane, and features a heaping helping of crude sexual references, clearly making it a game for players 18 years of age and older. The story follows a trio of brothers -- two of whom are playable -- from the trenches of the Civil War all the way to Mexican back country as they search for a fabled stash of gold. The siblings under the player’s control are extremely hard men who live by their own moral code, which doesn’t seem to prohibit, say, the slaughtering of any lawmen unfortunate enough to get in their way. The older one is a strong, brutish, ambidextrous pistol shooter, while the younger is handy with ropes and rifles. Robust online functionality lets folks who cue to the game’s gritty Western vibe keep playing after they finish the 10-hour campaign.

Is It Any Good?

Though it’s definitely not for kids, Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood is excellent entertainment for adults who enjoy a good Western. Though our protagonists are the sort of men who’d just as soon shoot you as look at you, they’re also strangely engaging. The expertly penned dialogue and terrific voice acting gives them real character, and, given the tribulations they suffer in the war at the game’s outset, it’s not hard to understand why they’ve become the men they are. An added bonus is the game’s art direction, which is wonderfully authentic despite not having the sort of visual polish given blockbuster titles. From the creaking, wooden towns through to the characters’ dusty coats and well-worn hats, everything in the game feels 150 years old despite being rendered with cutting edge modern technology. Simply put, it’s good fun for cowboy-loving grown-ups.