Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood was first officially announced on 14 January 2009 and uses the fourth generation of Techland’s game engine, the Chrome Engine 4. It was released between late June 2009 and early July 2009 under the genre of first-person shooter with an ESRB rating of M for Mature. The prequel to the first game, Call of Juarez which made its debut in 2007 on the Xbox 360, Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood is developed by Techland and published by Ubisoft. It derives from a typical spaghetti-western genre that involves gunslingers, outlaws, duels, prison breaks, bank robberies, stage coach chases and conflicts with Native Americans. Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood is said to be very similar to another western game entitled Gun. The game plot is based on the American Civil War period and presents adventure of the two characters, brothers Ray and Thomas across different parts of North America. In the game, players play as one of the two brothers who each have a different effect on the missions. There will often be split paths throughout the game for either brothers to take, or certain key points where one brother needs to do particular things while the other does something else.
Reviews
Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood is a tense, riveting and superb-looking first-person shooter that focuses on action-packed shoot-outs and set-piece moments that will make you feel like you’ve strapped on the six-shooters and entered straight into the dusty violent Wild West. In terms of theme, Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood features an impressive world that bleeds with Wild West iconography, with touches of many well-known Western motives, such as honour, betrayal, greed, faith and even love to make up a compelling narrative. Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood is set years before the first game and follows the McCall brothers, Ray and Thomas as they change from honourable Confederate deserters to amoral treasure hunters seeking a fabled fortune. Intense gun duel scenes are less hectic in the game. Besides that, players are also pit against an especially powerful enemy in an old-fashioned quick-draw fight to the death. During these duels, the camera angle shifts down to a cinematic view low behind the player to allow you to match your opponent’s left and right steps to keep him in the centre of the screen while keeping your hand close to your pistol.
“A prequel to the original Call of Juarez, Bound in Blood improves upon the set formula in almost every way. The new proprietary engine pumps out some amazing visuals, especially in the cutscenes; the vast desert vistas and arid mountains also stand out as do the authentic frontier towns. The story, which relies on standard Wild West tropes like greed, betrayal and redemption, is effectively told and remains solid and engaging throughout; it’s not up to the level of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly but it’s also more than just an excuse to move you from shootout to shootout. It definitely helps that both the voice acting and writing are solid. It’s nice that the visuals and storytelling are expertly handled as it serves as a nice backdrop for the much improved gun battles. You get a chance to reenact pretty much every type of Wild West shootout you can imagine, from hairy bullet exchanges in a saloon to long distance rifle battles out in the desert; there are even sequences where you’re astride a horse and there’s nothing like picking someone off while in the saddle. The gunfights are integrated into the story really well and you always feel like you’re doing something, rather than just wasting bullets on nameless foes. I also liked the cool quick-time events and classic quick-draw duels as well.” (GamePro, 2009)
