Review for Call of Juarez: Gunslinger. Game for PlayStation Network and PC, the video game was released on 21/05/2013 The version for PC came out on 22/05/2013
The dust of this damn place has gotten all over the place. My throat is drier than a fucking canyon and I really need a drink. The saloon is the only place I want to be now. This is probably the thought that accompanies Silas Greaves, the legendary bounty hunter, in crossing the doors of the saloon. Not even the time to order, however, that a voice rises from a table: “Hey, aren't you the famous Silas Greaves? Sit here and I'll buy you a drink! " Never was a voice more welcome, and in accepting the invitation begins the adventure of Call of Juarez: Gunslinger, realized by Techland, already out on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 e PC and that now also lands on Nintendo Switch.
Do you know your face looks like someone worth two thousand dollars? / Yeah ... but you don't look like the one who collects.
The collective imagination of the Wild West has always tickled and thrilled thousands of people around the world, even in its exaggerated meaning which takes the name of Spaghetti Western. This is a pushed, caricatured and exasperated genre that embodies the stereotype of the pure hard man with a soft heart and ice eyes. Quick with the gun, cold as coyote and upright as justice itself, the protagonists of this genre ride in the dying sun on the horizon, accompanied by their trusty 6 shots and many stories to tell in front of a glass.
Silas makes no difference, and for this reason he conquers right from the start by letting himself be involved by young people in telling them his exploits, famous to the point that they become a reading novel for those who have not been able to experience those stories firsthand. In fact, the scenario that brings the player back to relive the heroic deeds of a book, sometimes fictionalized by time and alcohol, comes to life from Greaves' stories. As the protagonist speaks, the scenario is painted and the action comes to life in his unbridled rush to the frenetic action central to the entire game experience of Call of Juarez: Gunslinger.
I go, kill him and come back.
Once you get into the character, you immediately find yourself coming to terms with the typical nature of the Western genre characterized both in terms of settings and in terms of action. Gun in hand, the player will be required to follow a predetermined path, blasting their way through hordes of increasingly bad and aggressive enemies. However, a minimum of freedom of movement is also left, certainly not devoted to an open world nature, but more oriented towards the possibility of approaching the enemy from different directions, selecting makeshift shelters and pre-established roads. The result is however appreciable given that Call of Juarez: Gunslinger manages to vary a minimum what would otherwise be a pure arcade shooter, where he only expects the enemy to put his head out of cover to shoot him.
Interesting - and in our opinion successful - also the stylistic choice to modify the adventure in real time using the protagonist's narration as a trick, blurred by time and alcohol and seasoned with tales aimed at making the story juicier. Thus it happens that the gamer faces the game scenario in one direction up to the point where Silas remembers that things actually went differently: the action is reset and the stage is restarted by facing it in another way, with a different approach or even moving in another direction. Also nice are the moments in which the patrons intent on listening to the story correct the protagonist of Call of Juarez: Gunslinger by pointing out for example that we were talking about cowboys and not Indians, making all redskins disappear on the screen and replacing them with ruthless herdsmen or bandits. A witty and intelligent way of keeping the player's attention and interest high.
When I look for someone I always find him. For this they pay me.
Call of Juarez: Gunslinger has really fast and fun gameplay, focused on shoot, cover and reload, but as much fun if the game experience were limited only to this the title would soon be monotonous and repetitive. Some tricks manage to turn the situation around: a feature, for example, allows you to activate a focus mode that - powered by a bar that recharges with kills - highlights targets and slows down time allowing us to chain long combos. Headshots, volley shots, static objects to hit give a higher score and feed the focus bar, and once every few times we will also have the opportunity to dodge the last bullet, the deadly one. This, combined with a series of quick time events and duels, varies the gameplay just enough not only not to be boring but even to decide to face a second run, perhaps at a higher level of difficulty.
The duels - also selectable as a separate gaming experience - revive the myth of the Old West. The left analog needs to be adjusted to keep the hand close to the gun while the right is to hold the sight on the target. When the heart beats faster it is possible to shoot but if you draw the gun before the opponent begins to make his move you will get fewer points and a dishonorable kill: unacceptable for a real cowboy.
Because you don't know it but I do. You're a bastard, everyone knows. You're a bastard son of a thousand fathers, all bastards like you!
The weapons park is not really very varied, but it is still interesting. You can count on a couple of shotguns and three or four pistols that differ in range, power and reload speed. In addition, there is the possibility of holding two guns at a time and using dynamite, even hitting it on the fly (whether it was you who threw it or not). A melee punch completes Call of Juarez: Gunslinger move pool. During Silas's adventure you will be able to enhance the character's abilities through a skill tree, actually rather trivial tree. Bullet carrying capacity, range, charge speed, focus and improved combos are examples of what you can acquire in the course of the adventure: this will allow you to play more agile and faster but will not vary much the gaming experience. .
The story of Silas in Call of Juarez: Gunslinger touches famous people of the Wild West and is filled with collectibles called Nuggets of Truth: each nugget corresponds to a documented curiosity about the world of the Wild West. Unfortunately, the nuggets are reduced to a mere tinsel for the completists, who will be the only ones to appreciate these gifts.
When a man with a gun meets a man with a gun, the one with a gun is a dead man.
From a technical point of view, the port of Call of Juarez: Gunslinger is not bad but it could have been done better. In the most agitated situations there are frame rate drops which, while becoming annoying only in rare circumstances, still bother. The textures of water or vegetation, then, become almost embarrassing in some moments. The only thing that saves the situation is the graphic style, which being based on the cartoon mitigates the imperfections and forgives the smudges in the graphic detail.
The game controls are precise but you can only choose between a couple of predefined sets for changing buttons and this is a problem: when you are dealing with a fast and frenetic title it would be good to think of providing a total customization of the keys . Artwork and soundtrack seemed to us to be up to production and overall the evaluation of the title in relation to the price seems good to us: we must always take into account the fact that we are talking about a title developed for old gen.
Call of Juarez: Gunslinger is a western-style title that makes genre lovers happy today on Switch as much as it did in 2013 on Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and PC. Despite being an old gen title, the final result on Nintendo Switch is not only enjoyable but fun both in the short term and in the long distance. The flavor of spaghetti western is accentuated by a well-studied plot full of fun tricks and tracing milestones of the Wild West such as Billy the Kid, Butch Cassidy, the Dalton brothers, Gray Wolf and many others. Given the low price and the fun gameplay Call of Juarez: Gunslinger is therefore a recommended purchase even net of some small graphic defects.
► Call of Juarez: Gunslinger is a Shooter-Adventure-Arcade type game developed by Techland and published by Ubisoft Techland for PlayStation Network and PC, the video game was released on 21/05/2013 The version for PC came out on 22/05/2013
