Call of Juarez: Gunslinger

Call of Juarez: Gunslinger is a true post western. A tale of men mistaken and idolized as gods for their violent deeds. A story of revenge and alienation, a legend reminding us what we must leave behind in order to evolve. Gunslinger is the retelling of the adventures of Silas Greeves, a bounty hunter reaching the end of his life and his trail of revenge. The story is mainly told by an old Silas as he tells his life story to a bartender, a waitress and three patrons who were also drinking in the bar. Though his clouded memory and embellished narrative the player is swept through the American frontier. From the dusty towns of Arkansas, to the dense forests of the northeast. Battling wave after wave of gun toting convicts, black hearted bank robbers, and vengeful natives.

Now I mentioned at the top that Gunslinger is a true post western and to elaborate to those who don’t know what that means; it’s a story about alienation and outliving your usefulness. Without spoilers, Silas’ life is one of blood, revenge, and chaos, with nothing to show for it except bitter hate and dead men. Gunslinger is about a lone outlaw realizing that he has no place left in the world and that the world is better off without him. It might not seem that way at first but if you play the game all the way though to the end you’ll see what I’m talking about.

Now about the actual game part of this video game. Gunslinger is a first-person shooter but in a more wild and hectic vain such as Doom and Halo. Where cover his nice, but the best solution to getting shot at is to kill the guy shooting at you before you die. To aid in this extermination of your fellow man there are a total of three-gun types for you to play with, pistols, rifles, and shotguns, your typical western arsenal. As well as a few clumps of dynamite to fill in for grenades. Added with a bullet time mechanic that also highlights enemies and an ability to dodge killing shots, you’ll walk out of Gunslinger feeling like a badass. This doesn’t mean the game is a cake walk, I played it on normal difficulty and still barely scarped though some fights. I will chalk most of those up to me sucking, but a few are because in some levels, the forest ones in particular, make it very difficult to spot enemies in the brush. But enough of me whining, back to the game. The player is given two weapon slots, a single hand slot and a two-hand slot. Meaning a player can carry a pistol and either a rifle or a shotgun.

So if you wanted to carry all three weapons and swap between them as needed, like I did, your shit out of luck. Fortunately, pistols are an all-around kind of gun meaning your secondary weapon is what’s going to decide your play style. Do you want to stay at a range, then use a rife; or if you want to wade into the middle of things and blow people in half, try a shotgun. All three weapons have their own perk trees that the player can fill out giving them a needed edge in battle, or cooler and more powerful guns. On top of fast paced arcade style shooting the game also has a showdown mini game. At the end of most levels, as part of a boss fight, you will face down someone in a standoff.

These sections are fairly simple and a nice little way to end off a level. The player keeps focus on their target with one stick and adjusts their gun hand with the other. Then when the other guy goes for his gun you have to draw first and kill him before he can get you. There a nice balance of luck and skill, however they sometimes lean a little towards luck. However, that’s my only real complete with the game. If you want some fast-paced western action that will leave your brain with something to chew on, then sit back and experience the tale of Silas Greeves.