Introduction
A prequel to the 2006 game Call of Juarez, Bound in Blood tells the story of the McCall brothers, Ray, Thomas, and William. It begins near the end of the Civil War, where Ray and Thomas are Confederate soldiers fighting for their home. Sherman's army is burning his way through the South, and causes the destruction of the McCall estate and the death of their mother. Because they deserted the army to try to defend their home, their leader Col. Barnsby vows to chase them down and kill them. Thus the brothers go on the run while scheming to one day rebuild their home. Eventually ending up in Mexico they fall in with a bandit named Juarez, who is a ruthless, devious bastard. Without retelling the story they go through many trials and conflicts along their path and ends with some truly good story writing. Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood has one of the best stories in a straight FPS I can think of at the moment.
Gameplay
Set in the late 1860's, this shooter features a fairly good array of period weapons, mostly composed of different types of revolvers and a couple different types of rifles. There isn't a huge number of different weapons, but each has four levels ranging from Rusty to Super, with better versions doing more damage and/or firing faster, etc. Ray and Thomas, being the protagonists both have their own unique abilities with their guns. By charging their respective "Concentration Modes" by shooting enemies, they can unleash a hail of bullets on any group of enemies. Ray gets a super slo-mo that lets him pick up to 12 shots from his dual revolvers, while Thomas gets an auto-aim on up to 6 enemies for a single shot kill on each. Both modes are pretty effective, though Thomas' is more interesting and cool. Also, there are pre-determined events where the concentration mode from the original Call of Juarez returns, usually when both brothers burst through doorways where the enemy awaits, though it isn't as slow as the original game's version, and thus is not as effective. Lastly, there are the showdown events with bosses. You and your enemy will circle around each other waiting for the bell before you can draw your gun and try to shoot the other guy first. This does take some patience and good reflexes, though I think having a good mouse helps out a lot. Turning the sensitivity on my G5 all the way up really made these parts a hell of a lot easier, and I was able to get through most of them on the first try that way.
Most will be pleased that the stealth parts from the original are nowhere to be found (except for one part of the opening tutorial level, it's ignored completely after that), so if that really put you off the first game, then you won't miss it here.
The gun battles are usually intense and satisfying. The only real problem is the high level of auto-aiming that happens all the time. I'm sure it's great if you're playing on a gamepad, but as a mouse user, it is very fucking annoying and unfortunately there is no option to turn it off. You can adjust to it without too much trouble, but they really should let you turn it off.
Sights and Sounds
Graphically, Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood is pretty similar to the original in terms of style. Technically the Chrome engine has been much improved so that the Depth of Field and other HDR effects are much nicer, as well as generally higher resolution textures and higher fuckin' poly models. You do get some pretty amazing vistas along the way, so I think it's safe to say that Bound in Blood is among the best looking games out there right now. The sounds are also fairly good, they definitely work. Guns have a decent report and there are lots of jarring explosions that really give you the feel like you're disoriented. They're not mind-blowing or anything, but they don't detract from the experience either. Voice acting is decent, most of the characters sound like people and not actors playing people.
Stuff that sucks
First off, Techland missed a huge opportunity for crafting an excellent cooperative experience with this game. Even the setup is perfect for letting two people play Ray and Thomas, since they're both in all the storyline missions. The lack of co-op is a real disappointment.
Next, some of the level designs are confusing and there are times where you will get stuck and not have a clue where you need to go. It's not as bad as some games, definitely an improvement on the original game, but it can still be frustrating.
Also having the potential for frustration is the forementioned showdowns. They are really there for their own sake, and they don't really add to the experience much. Normally you have to wade through a boss' many mooks before you get the chance to even face the boss themselves. Even then, you usually have to shoot them a whole lot (with the boss taking massive amounts of damage) before they call you out for the showdown. Now Ray and Thomas are pretty ruthless bastards, and I don't get why you have to agree to the showdown and not just continuing shooting the boss' face.
I also have a problem with my serial number even though I bought the game on Steam, meaning I can't try the multiplayer. Valve tried to help, but were not able to fix it, and Ubisoft's support is pretty much fucking nonexistent. I am really starting to hate Ubisoft even more than EA, those French fuckers are no good.
Finally, William is a whiny bitch and needs to shut up. Thomas is totally pussy-whipped, and Ray is just a straight up asshole. These brothers are pretty much only Bound in Blood, because there really isn't much love between them as far as I could tell.
Conclusion
Bound in Blood is good. I had a lot of fun shooting my way through legions of Union & Confederate soldiers, Mexican chicken bandits, lawmen, townsfolk, and the trash of the old west. The graphics are very good, maybe not as good as Crysis, but certainly as good as anything else out there. The story is pretty good and it sets up the original game well. If you are looking for a game that isn't set in the future with a bunch of pew pew pew space lasers then you should check Bound in Blood out. Probably not worth full retail price, but then again I don't think very many games are. I enjoyed this a lot in any case.
Score : 8/10
