Call of Juarez: Gunslinger: Back to its roots.

     The first two Call of Juarez games were sleeper hits. They brought back the feeling of the wild west, lawmen, bandits, and old fashion shoot outs. The third game in the series called The Cartel was...well, just bad. It brought things into modern times and it just didn't feel right. Thankfully the developers at Techland returned the game to its roots and that has made all the difference. Call of Juarez: Gunslinger brings back the gritty wild west and all the bandits you can handle.

     The story is told by the main character named Silas Greaves. At the beginning Silas ventures into a town saloon to have a drink. Some people in the bar all gather around the table to hear Silas' amazing tales of vengeance. Silas' story takes you through the wild west as you battle against some of the most famous bandits the west has ever seen. The cool thing about the story is while Silas is narrating the events, the other people will chime in with "I heard this happened" and this causes the game to pause, enemies to appear or disappear, and at times even rewind itself to change as the narration does. There is even one point where the level goes into a slow motion state because Silas has to excuse himself to go take a leak. It's a simple yet cool feature to the campaign. There's also bits of humor that are well placed into the story too.

     The controls are pretty basic as shooting games go. The right trigger fires your gun and the left trigger aims down the sights. You can select between two firearms and even sticks of dynamite with the d-pad. Just like in your favorite western movies, you can dual wield pistols and really feel like a true gunslinger. Like a traditional gunslinger, you'll find yourself having to face enemies in a duel shootout. These can be difficult and down right frustrating at times. What you have to do is use the left thumb stick to keep your hand above your pistol, and use the right thumb stick to keep your enemy in focus. You'll have to keep moving both thumb sticks constantly to keep your enemy in focus and to be able to grab your pistol fast. As soon as your enemy grabs their gun you'll push the right trigger to grab your pistol, aim, and then press the right trigger again to shoot. When this is done successfully you feel like the fastest hands in the west. Unfortunately, you'll end up having to try several times to defeat some enemies.

     There are various kinds of pistols, rifles, and shotguns to use and ammo is rarely scarce as you can pick up more from crates or from your fallen enemies. You also earn xp for killing enemies. Once you gain enough xp and level up you can spend skill points to unlock new abilities. There are three tiers of abilities and they actually do come in handy. You will also fill up a meter that allows you to slow down time and quickly take down enemies. There are also hidden treasure items called "golden nuggets" hidden throughout each level, which also earn you xp. The cool thing with the golden nuggets is that they are actually pieces of history on the places and people you meet in the game. Each golden nugget has an actual photograph of the place or person, and gives historical information about them. So you actually learn something too!

     The game takes a more comic book or graphic novel appearance in the graphics department. Everything in the game has the classic cell-shaded look, but it really works well for this game. There are good lighting effects as metal of your guns shimmers, and sun rays shine through the trees. Speaking of trees, the game features some beautiful looking setting in the different levels. The developers really captured the look of the old west. You'll find yourself in old towns, farms, valleys, mountains, caves, and all look really good. Of course when you get up close with the environment you can see the simple textures, but overall the graphics are good.

     When you're finished with the campaign portion of the game there's still more to do. The two other available modes are arcade and duel. In the arcade mode you basically make your way through different stages and see how many enemies you can kill and how many points you can rack up. The duel mode is just what it sounds like. You'll face different enemies in duels and see who is the fastest gun in the west. Of course if you hate the dueling mechanic you won't like this mode. There is no multiplayer in the game so it's strictly a single player game.

     Call of Juarez: Gunslinger is a downloadable title only, but at $15.00 it's a steal. The cell-shaded graphics make the characters, weapons, and environments pop. Voice acting is well done and the story is engaging enough to keep you interested. The hidden golden nuggets that give you facts about the old west are actually fun to read and get you more involved with the game. The dueling system can be both fun and really frustrating and it would have been nice to have at least a co-op mode in the game. If you're a fan of the old west, fps games, or just want a change of pace from the traditional military style fps, try Call of Juarez: Gunslinger out...pilgrim.

Final Verdict: 8.5/10

Written by: Alter Ego 83