Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2666 in Computer & Video Games
• Brand: UBI Soft
• Released on: 2007-06-28
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• ESRB Rating: Mature
• Platform: Xbox 360

Manufacturer's Description
Call of Juarez takes place in the Wild West and it features classic gun slinging action including duels, shootouts and barroom brawls as well as a dual gameplay: players enter the world of two opposing characters equipped with contrasting weapons and styles. Billy is on the run, prime suspect in the murder of his own parents. Whilst Reverend Ray is the man who's hunting him down. Players will discover 2 radically different styles of gameplay depending on which character they play as hunter or pursued.

Customer Reviews

A pleasant surprise, but still pretty flawed
I went into Call of Juarez with low expectations. I only picked it up because it was dirt cheap in a shop sale and after the depressingly average GUN, I had long since given up on Western games. Surprisingly though, this ain't too bad on the whole, but it does have a few severe drawbacks that stop it being great.

Playing as two characters, Billy and Ray, alternately between levels, you have to escape from the law with Billy in a series of levels that utilise primarily stealth based and platforming based gameplay and as Ray, you hunt your nephew Billy down for the supposed murder of his parents using guns and little else to get by, and this is where the game is at it's best.

Playing as Billy was a real chore for the most part. The stealth is simply far too annoying and uneven to be enjoyable, and a lot of the time it felt far too dependent on luck and chance as to whether or not I'd get through a particular area or not. One sequence a couple of hours in that lasts a while has Billy having to sneak through a camp full of cowboys in the dead of night without being spotted, having to time movements so you aren't caught out in the open when lightning lights up the sky. It's frustrating and slow and was almost enough to make me give up on the game. The platforming bits with Billy are only slightly better, where you have to use your whip to swing across gaps and onto rocky outcrops on cliffsides. These are actually quite hard, as most jumps depend on Billy's ability to grab a ledge he gets near and pull himself up, but I found he only did this about 2/3 the time, leading to a number of unnecessary deaths. The Billy stages are slow, uneven, and a bit broken to be honest, and if the whole game was like this, it would have been awful to be honest. Thank goodness for the Ray levels.

The Ray levels in the game are mostly out and out gunfights, with loads of weapons to use and a handy 'quickdraw' function that slows down time for you to shoot multiple opponents quickly(A FPS cliche I know, but handy all the same). These stages are just fun to play, with some nicely large scale shoot outs taking place in a manner that does authentically capture the 'old west' feel perfectly and really is just how you'd want a game like this to be. There isn't much variety to your objectives in Ray's levels, true, but the Billy levels keep you wishing you were playing as Ray at least, so they do serve SOME purpose in that much at least. I will say that the 'duels' in the game aren't too great though, requiring you to time how you flick the left stick to shoot your opponent at the right moment, these feel unnecessarily tacked on when simply letting you use the regular controls would have been easier and more enjoyable in my opinion.

The game is visually quite nice, with decent textures and some nice, if unspectacular character models at work. The distance blurring effect is nicely used when aiming your gun, but things too far off in the distance look a bit poor to be honest. The sheer size of many of the game's areas also is offset by just how empty and lifeless these areas look and feel. You can literally travel miles on horseback in one level looking for a spot to hunt rabbits and you will see no other animals around anywhere and very little in the way of vegetation around. It feels a little too 'bare' in places(Oblivion it ain't). While not really an issue during desert areas, in the forested bits, it really stands out. Overall, the visuals are more than adequate, if not overly amazing.

The sound work is good on the whole though. Decent, authentic Western themed tunes, authentic and realistic gunshots and explosions on the go and some stellar voice acting(Especially from Marc Alaimo as Ray) make this an aural treat for cowboy buffs, and helps to compound the atmosphere of the game impressively, something which is all important for a game attempting to do what this one is.

I only briefly tried playing the game online, but had a lot of trouble with lagging and disconnects. Whether this is due to ongoing issues with this mode or if I just caught it at a bad time of day I don't know, but the experience left with no desire to revisit the multiplayer aspect. Besides which, the single player is sizeable enough, and there's a decent extra mission mode that extends things nicely, so it's worth what you'll pay for it nowadays if nothing else.

Overall, I had a lot of fun with Call of Juarez once I'd gotten past some of the annoying design flaws and bugs at work during the Billy sequences, and would recommend it to anyone with an interest in Western themed games, but for anyone after a good FPS and little else, there's simply too many far superior alternatives on the market to make this a priority purchase.

Good, not great.

Its pronounced waurez not juraz...oh who cares!!!
Westerns are cool and like this games setting your among the tumbleweed and rattlers. The story splits on a regular basis between the rev who is a reformed gunslinger for god and a mexican kid who uses stealth first and guns second.It works for the most part and the story does draw you in with some cool twists towards the end but it left me with a bitter taste in my mouth for two reasons. I didnt like the stealth bits and the kid just annoyed the hell out of me and as far as the shooting was concerned this game has a mode that slows down time so you can draw your guns and out wit your enemy. Its bullet time and its done badly and yawn its been done to death. FPS's need something different and if not different then done with style so you dont care that is the same rehashed affair. This game does feel quite authentic but it just doesn't have that X factor. Its average coz they should have dropped the kid and concentrated on the rev. Imagine being sent off in a possee to catch a criminal...a squad based western perhaps or left to roam the west you become an outlaw and plan and rob banks with your gang....hell all I want to do is drink whisky and start a fight over a game of cards. None of this happens in this game but it sounds good dont it? I WANT TO BE THE SHERRIFF FOR GODSAKE. Oh well may be next time but western games are a funny breed...some are good and some aint and this sits snuggly between the two. Graphics are good so try it before you buy.

A good western.
I really love the setting of this game. I wish there were more western games. The old west is stunning in Call Of Juarez. The levels are large and sprawling, giving the impression that you could go for miles in any direction you wish. Unfortunately there are a few niggles with the visuals. There is a tiny bit of tearing, however this is rarely noticable. There's a fair bit of aliasing but the one stand out issue for me is the lighting. As I said the locations are beutifull but it seems that even in the blazing sunshine, anything in even the slightest bit of shade is too dark. Another thing is that things in the distance are quite blurred. So generally the graphics in Call Of Juarez are average, but the stunning setting largely makes up for this. The speech in the game is a little too quiet but the sound isn't bad and the voice acting is decent. Half of the game is spent as Billy, a young Mexican on the run from his Uncle the Reverand. Billy uses the bow and arrow which is quite fun to use as the arrows follow a realistic trajectory. This means that you need to aim above a far of enemy to hit them. Billy also has a whip which can be used as a weapon but it's main purpose is to latch onto branches and stuff to help Billy swing onto a ledge or something. As Billy you can use guns as well. Billy can also climb onto slightly higher objects than the Reverend can jump onto. Billy's missions are mainly sneeking and platforming with minimum fighting. The other half of the game will be played and the Reverend. An old gunslinger similair to Eastwood's character in Unforgiven and the Saint of Killers in the Preacher comics. As the Reverend you'll get to use various fire arms and his slow motion concentration mode (bullet time). His missions are really fun wild shoot outs. You'll get to ride horses as both characters. You will also get into one on one duels but these are clumsy and not fun. Overall I recommend this game if you like westerns.