[XBLA/PC/PSN] Call of Juarez: The Gunslinger

[CeeKay]

from their Facebook page:



looks like an announcement is imminent.   I wonder if they'll try and imitate Red Dead Redemption's open world gameplay, or if they'll stick to a more level based style.  I know Bound in Blood had some open areas, but I'm thinking something on the scale of the RDR world.

either way it's nice to see they're going back to the Old West and not going for the present (or even a futuristic) setting.

[EddieA]

I'm surprised - The Cartel was such a big hit and beloved by critics

[Caine]

Good news. BiB was pretty fun and westerns are rare these days.  Glad the last one didn't kill the franchise.

[CeeKay]

XBLA, PC and PSN.  you hunt famous outlaws.

[metallicorphan]

I didn't like the first game,missed out on the second and third games although i heard they were better

4th game,maybe with it being XBL etc i may give it a shot

More info(new Trailer) due to drop on March 14th,its set for release ..well now(early 2013)

but right now,here are a few screenshots and there is a video in the link
CVG

Looking fairly decent for an Arcade game
These pics from 360a.org because the CVG ones were quite large(EDIT: Larger)

[metallicorphan]

Real-life historical figures such as Billy the Kid and Jesse James feature amidst a lot of blood-spattered shooting. There's also a mine train section and plenty of sunset-soaked vistas.

trailer in the link
Eurogamer

[metallicorphan]

May 22nd for 1200 Microsoft Points

trailer in the link
360a.org

[EddieA]

Gamespot really liked it and gave the game an 8/10 in their review.  After reading the review, the game sounds quite a bit like Bulletstorm.

[Reemul]

Picked it up for £8.99 on GMG 25% off. Looking good, RPS also liked it

[jztemple2]

If purchased through Steam you also get Call of Juarez - Bound in Blood for free. Not sure how well Gunslinger will run on my Radeon HD 6570 though.

[Bullwinkle]

Played the first mission of this last night.  Have to say I love it.  Honestly, I don't know why they didn't work up some multiplayer and make this a full release (although I don't know how long the story mode is).

So far, I don't see how this connects to the original Juarez stories, so it may just be a branding title that's been tacked on, but given how they threw it out and spat on it with the last release, I'm okay with that.  The first two games were good at telling their story, but the gameplay, while decent, wasn't quite there.  This one is the same, though the gameplay is even better than in previous games.

The story is pretty cool.  You walk into a bar at the turn of the century and a kid who recognizes you from dime novels wants to hear some stories.  Apparently, you are the Forrest Gump of the Old West, because you seem to have met everyone (at least that's what I gather from the trailer).  The first levels are with Billy the Kid and Pat Garrett.  There's even a part where the kid takes over the story, and then you have to rewind and tell him how it actually went down.

The graphics are good.  There was a moment at the beginning of the first level where they opened the scene with a wood grain effect, and I got excited that the whole game was going to look like that, but I suppose that would be too much.  They do a bit of cel shading so it has a Borderlands feel, but not quite as pronounced as in that game.  The animations seem good.  Everything looks really nice, again like this should have been a full release title.

If there's an issue with the graphics, it's that the people are hard to make out against the background until they move.  This was likely intentional, though.  There's a special meter that you fill up over time that lets you use Focus mode, which slows things down and makes the enemies stand out in a cool, etched, red and white pattern.  It doesn't last as long as it should, but there are upgrades to get along the way, and some of those will likely help in that department.

Shooting feels right.  The shots have a good weight to them.  The sights are a little off, usually you have to aim just a little lower or higher than you'd expect, but in a way that seems to be consistent.  I was able to pull off satisfying headshots fairly frequently.

Movement is a little more glidey than I would like, but just a hair, and I got used to it right away.

The showdowns are fun.  Similar to how they worked in past games.  You face your opponent, and he moves slowly around, while you have to stay focused on him with the right stick.  When he starts to draw, you hit the right trigger, aim and hit the trigger again to fire.  Now I have to say that something disconnected for me between the focusing and the aiming.  I'm not sure if it's that the speed of the cursor changes or if there's an actual switch in look movement orientation or if it's just that I'm used to an inverted look style, but not in that context.  I don't know, but I had an okay time keeping my opponent in focus, but was suddenly all over the place when it came time to shoot him.  I think it's just me, and I'll get used to it, but I may need to check some options the next time I get to a showdown.  Despite that, as I say, it is fun.  The tension pre-draw is just right.  And I only had to do it twice.

For the collection hounds (like me) there are "Nuggets of Truth" on each level.  These get you a cool bit of historical back story that explain how things really went down.  They also get you experience.  Everything gets you experience.  Killing dudes, shooting wildlife, hitting stray cans and bottles, etc.  You spend the experience on upgrades.  There are three categories to focus on.  I forget what their names are (something like gunslinger, ranger and shootist, but that isn't it).  Each one has twelve upgrades.  I started with the Ranger category, which let me get a small bit of focus anytime I aimed down the sites, which helps me line up shots at range.  That fits my playstyle best.  The other starting choices would let you carry two six shooters or give you a 25% chance of shots missing you.  The upgrades are arranged like bullets in a six-shooter, so once you unlock the first one in a category, two more open up on either side of it.  

Overall, I am very pleased with the game.  I'm curious what thought went into making it an arcade release instead of a full one, as it really does seem that polished.  The story is well done, the graphics are top notch, the gameplay is very good.  It all comes together in a great package.  I would love to play this multiplayer (the last Juarez game had some interesting MP, IIRC), and I'm more of a single player guy.  Regardless, it is definitely worth checking out.

[Reemul]

Id agree with all the above, really looking forward to getting home and playing this some more.

[CeeKay]

So far, I don't see how this connects to the original Juarez stories, so it may just be a branding title that's been tacked on, but given how they threw it out and spat on it with the last release, I'm okay with that.

they could just be making it a brand like Call of Duty; don't forget up until Modern Warfare/Word at War they weren't interconnected beyond being able to kill Nazis.  I was planning on skipping this after the whole reveal but not I think I'm back in.

[jztemple2]

I just played the trial on XBLA and yup, it's a lot of fun 

[spigot]

This one flew under my radar but I got a chance to play the demo the other night and it was actually pretty good. I liked the way they tell the story by having you play the missions as your character is recounting events to a captive audience. I'm probably going to get to go for the full version on XBLA. I heard the campaign is a decent length as well.

[jztemple2]

One of the little story devices I like is how you'll be sent down a path that ends in disaster and then the narrator will say something like "...and that's why it was a good thing I decided not to go that way". Very cool 

[Reemul]

One of the little story devices I like is how you'll be sent down a path that ends in disaster and then the narrator will say something like "...and that's why it was a good thing I decided not to go that way". Very cool 

Yeah its a clever trick and has worked well so far. I only managed 30minutes last night before the wife wanted my attention, i stuck at the gattling gun part atm on mission 2.

[Bullwinkle]

One of the little story devices I like is how you'll be sent down a path that ends in disaster and then the narrator will say something like "...and that's why it was a good thing I decided not to go that way". Very cool 

Yeah its a clever trick and has worked well so far. I only managed 30minutes last night before the wife wanted my attention, i stuck at the gattling gun part atm on mission 2.

It's all about running and ducking up those rocks, but that end bit is a pain in the ass.

[jztemple2]

This really is an awesome game, more so when you consider it's only 1200 XBL points. It is very much up my alley, a shooter without a bunch of over the top techno add-ons. I'd even prefer it didn't have the dynamite option, but it's really necessary at some points.

I thought the Flooded Town was a great level... till I got to the Railway Robbery 

[jztemple2]

Finished it up today, maybe ten hours of gameplay in the story. There's still the Arcade and some other mode Duels modes to try out and maybe try the main story with a different skill set (I used long range shooting first time through). Definitely worth the price, a lot of fun

UPDATE: Turns out when you finish the first time through you can go back and start the story again, but retaining all the skills you unlocked in the previous go-through; this is called New Game+. Interesting, I might give it a look.

[forgeforsaken]

Finished it up today, maybe ten hours of gameplay in the story.

I'd say it's closer to half that for the story.   It does have the Arcade mode and Newgame+ for replayability.  Easily still worth what they are asking for it, campaign roughly as long as a CoD singleplayer I'd say.

[jztemple2]

Finished it up today, maybe ten hours of gameplay in the story.

I'd say it's closer to half that for the story.   It does have the Arcade mode and Newgame+ for replayability.  Easily still worth what they are asking for it, campaign roughly as long as a CoD singleplayer I'd say.

Mine was closer to ten hours because I wandered all over each level just poking around. There are a bunch of destructible items around if you have the ammo to spare. I started the story again in New Game+ mode on Hard and trying to stay in dual wielding mode. It plays much differently than with the rifle.

[CeeKay]

just saw there's a demo up on Steam for this now.

[MonkeyFinger]

One of the little story devices I like is how you'll be sent down a path that ends in disaster and then the narrator will say something like "...and that's why it was a good thing I decided not to go that way". Very cool 

Yeah its a clever trick and has worked well so far. I only managed 30minutes last night before the wife wanted my attention, i stuck at the gattling gun part atm on mission 2.

It's all about running and ducking up those rocks, but that end bit is a pain in the ass.

Argh... currently "stuck" at that point. Need to get back to it when next I feel like dying repeatedly. 

[Reemul]

One of the little story devices I like is how you'll be sent down a path that ends in disaster and then the narrator will say something like "...and that's why it was a good thing I decided not to go that way". Very cool  

Yeah its a clever trick and has worked well so far. I only managed 30minutes last night before the wife wanted my attention, i stuck at the gattling gun part atm on mission 2.

It's all about running and ducking up those rocks, but that end bit is a pain in the ass.

Argh... currently "stuck" at that point. Need to get back to it when next I feel like dying repeatedly.  

I managed that bit last night. Go up the leftt and at the top is a wagon. On the right hand side of the wagon is a crate, shoot through it and you can hit him. As he fires back he destroys more of the crate allowing you to kill him.

[MonkeyFinger]

One of the little story devices I like is how you'll be sent down a path that ends in disaster and then the narrator will say something like "...and that's why it was a good thing I decided not to go that way". Very cool  

Yeah its a clever trick and has worked well so far. I only managed 30minutes last night before the wife wanted my attention, i stuck at the gattling gun part atm on mission 2.

It's all about running and ducking up those rocks, but that end bit is a pain in the ass.

Argh... currently "stuck" at that point. Need to get back to it when next I feel like dying repeatedly.  

I managed that bit last night. Go up the leftt and at the top is a wagon. On the right hand side of the wagon is a crate, shoot through it and you can hit him. As he fires back he destroys more of the crate allowing you to kill him.

Thanks! I'll give that a shot.