Call of Juarez: Gunslinger

By not taking itself seriously and focusing on the exaggerated swagger of old folk legends, Gunslinger manages to be the best game in the series. [August 2013, p74]

A pretty, interesting and thoroughly enjoyable shooter that somehow trumps the rest of the Juarez games despite being a fraction of the price. [Issue#232, p.85]

Call of Juarez: Gunslinger successfully puts the franchise back on track. At a purely mechanical level, the title may feel familiar to other first-person shooters – but its unique setting and novel storytelling methods give it the jolt of originality that it requires.

An action-packed love letter to the old west, and with its engaging combat, charming sense of style and overall craziness you really can’t say no to the entertainment of this shooting gallery.

We didn't get our hopes up for this one. Call of Juarez: The Cartel was terrible and we didn't expect Techland to get out of their downward spiral. They did, however. Gunslinger is repetitive and the enemy AI is an embarrassment, but the game is still a lot of fun. The story is interesting, the shoot-outs are epic and the environments quite beautiful. Not bad at all.

Blasting through the game's varied environments with a pistol in each hand never got old, and I always looked forward to the end-level duel with a legend of the Wild West. After the dreadful Call of Juarez: The Cartel, I was skeptical going into this downloadable offering. To my surprise, Techland has bounced back with a very enjoyable tribute to the tall tales of the Wild West.

It also makes no bones about what it is: A rock-‘em, sock-‘em shoot-‘em-up that pulls no punches – or in this case, bullets – and is unabashedly stupid.

Why it puts such emphasis on its broken dueling mechanic is confounding, and its ludicrous load times and occasional crashes are marks against it, but the good beats out the bad and the ugly.

This game is infinitely better than Techland's previous titles in almost every way.

The new Call of Juarez feels like an ode to the Wild Wild West. Although it doesn't bring anything new to the table, it has some pretty amazing shoot-outs and a few impressive Lucky Luke-like surroundings.

It may not be enough to rouse those with shooter fatigue, but this is a terrific genre piece: there’s a pleasing sense of weight and feedback in its gunplay, levels are snappy and replayable, while collectible cards offer an education in the real history of the era.

Call of Juarez: Gunslinger is an action-packed game that you will enjoy since the very first minute. Exploration is not one of its strong points, nor is it interaction with your surroundings, but the narration will get you hooked until the very end of the strange story of gunslinger Silas Greaves.

A solid arcade-style shooter with a rich Western theme, Call of Juarez: Gunslinger serves up fun gameplay with a well executed, albeit predictable, story.

While nobody could accuse this £11.99 PSN offering of being smart or original, like a fancy-dress night out in an animal onesie it still provides plenty of act-first-think-later thrills.