Pixelnauts.net

Westerns have finally hit there stride on consoles. With the relative deluge of titles recently being released, including the Red Dead series and Gun, it's becoming harder for developers to differentiate within a genre based on such a static motif. Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood, for the most part, succeeds because it isn't a revolution in gameplay. Since it's clear Techland's team loves westerns, they knew exactly where to spend their time: building the game's atmosphere.

For those familiar with pulp western fiction, Bound in Blood is a mashup of every cliché imaginable - but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. Bank robbery, prison breaks, shootouts and showdowns assure that this game is more akin to The Wild Bunch than Johnny Guitar.

The game follows three brothers: two are gruff fighters and one is a lover... of the Lord. Serving as the narrator, Rev. William McCall shepherds players along as we watch his brothers' descend into sin. Bound in Blood's story begins at the height of the American Civil War with Ray and Thomas McCall fighting for the Confederate army. In the midst of battling back Union General Tecumseh Sherman's forces, the two brothers become more concerned with their family's safety then that of the unit - which needless to say, does not go over well with management. After facing an easy choice between fleeing west or dawning new neckties, the brothers head to the frontier.

Over the subsequent years, they entertain thoughts of returning home to rebuild and oddly decide the best path for achieving their goal is thievery. Since dealing with the Devil always leaves one wanting more, the McCalls' yearning for their old homestead quickly becomes a hollow justification. And as their appetite for wealth grows, they look for bigger and bigger payoffs. Upon hearing a tale about the mythical treasure of Cortez, they decide the chance to amass heaps of gold is too good to pass up... or so they think. Soon after embarking on their journey, a spiral into madness engulfs them; their shifting alliances and romantic entanglements slowly destroy the bond between Ray and Thomas.

By boiling down the essence of the thrills associated with wild west gunslingers, Bound in Blood pushes a unique formula of FPS and minigame. As a scripted first person shooter, the game is competent, but pales in comparison to more famous AAA titles. Techland's game is riddled with poor FPS design choices: the lack of melee is sorely missed when using slow 19th century weaponry; implementation of a completely broken cover system, that thankfully, is never required; and most dishearteningly, the lack of a co-op mode. At the start of each level, players choose between playing as Ray or Thomas. Since the unchosen character is always fighting alongside as an NPC, it's a shame Techland didn't take advantage of a game environment seemingly tailored-made for co-op.