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Oh snap.

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.

How else am i suppossed to form an opinion, they do these shows and i form an opinion anything maybe in the future is wishful thinking atm.

How about don't form an opinion until all the facts are, you know, on the table?

I have no opinion on either the PS4 or XBone at this time.

I don't think you quite understand the concept of press conferences, interviews and product previews.

 

How else am i suppossed to form an opinion, they do these shows and i form an opinion anything maybe in the future is wishful thinking atm.

How about don't form an opinion until all the facts are, you know, on the table?

I have no opinion on either the PS4 or XBone at this time.

Does it come with an easier last level? Yuck. (Played it on PC within the last year. Liked it a lot except for that part).

Isn't Kobe beef famous for its marbling? And isn't jerky supposed to ideally be made with lean meat? Isn't making jerky out of Kobe beef therefor a waste of Kobe beef?

Well the market's response to the Xbox One's announcement tells me all I need to know.   I'm getting the PS4 at launch.    M$ will have some proving to do this time around to get me to the One.

My Ps3 lasted 5 years and is still running smoothly.  Xbox 360s were junk, but perhaps I just got 2 lemons in the early days.

I did like the original xbox and got years of service out of it.

But, Sony has earned my support and is imo superior in both hardware and software.  (exclusive games)  
Unless their is something else that comes up, PS4 will be my first buy.  Then I will have to wait and see if I also get a xbox one, or a 2nd PS4 later in the year.

I really cannot wait to play around with the new controller.  It looks very nice.

They still list this game as coming for the 360 on GameRankings.

I'm very interested, but those 19 gigs are holding me back.  Just don't have the room.