Call of Juarez

If Call of Juarez skipped its forgettable multiplayer and adopted a sandbox world more like Oblivion with fleshed out areas to explore and side missions, it could have been the gunslinger I’ve been waiting for all these years. As it stands, it’s a respectable if unambitious title that should tide over Western fans until the holy grail of six shooters rides into town.

Despite its frustrating enemy AI and the limitations of your arsenal, Call of Juarez has plenty of pistol packin’ heat for the average buckaroo, with a decent, profanity-laced storyline and a bevy of unique multiplayer modes.

Call of Juarez has a few flaws but is still a solid game that's recommended to those who want a shooter but are sick of killing Nazis.

Ray's action focussed levels are great fun and highlight how great the game could have been with a clearer focus. In the end though, the mix of gameplay styles doesn't really work.

The frustration of the platforming and stealth in Billy's levels is too much to go unnoticed, but thankfully the villainous Uncle Ray saves the day with his rootin' tootin' shooting action.

It’s got a solid storyline and plenty of racy language (although not quite on the level of “Deadwood”), and while the action isn’t groundbreaking, it’s enjoyable. That said, there are a number of places where the game just doesn’t deliver the goods, and we can’t help feeling like this could have just as easily been a last-gen title.

So in the end, Call of Juarez isn’t a title worth much more than a rental.

There’s just not a lot of “wow” here and it feels like a Vectrex game: it’s the same gameplay as any other on-rails FPS, but you’ve just changed the overlay on the screen to a Western.

At its best, the game is a fun and interesting diversion, but it's rarely at its best. It's a good first effort and I personally hope it's a sign of more to come.

Call of Juarez could've been a uniquely hard-boiled journey through the late 1800s, but it kicks up too much distracting dust to be worth the trip. [July 2007, p.78]

There is some fun to be had throughout Call of Juarez, but it’s despite the various bizarre and just plain bad design choices that litter the experience.

Call of Juarez resembles an archaeological dig -- in order to locate treasure, players must dig through lots of crap.

Speaking of headaches, as the final poison icing on the cake, the game possesses what I none-too-kindly call "Dead Rising Text."

There will be inevitable comparisons to Neversoft's GUN, but CoJ feels much more a next-gen version of the lackluster Dead Man's Hand than anything else. And it's about as worthwhile a purchase.

More old than wild wild west. [Aug 2007, p.98]

Call Of Juarez has mined its source material well, collecting a wealth of imagery that it then squanders on lacklustre and dysfunctional gameplay. [Aug 2007, p.93]