Wild West showdown

by ERIK LEIJON

Not since Johnny Cash lovingly detailed his arrest in the fictional trad-folk song “Cocaine Blues” has the border city of Juarez, Mexico been such a point of interest. It’s hardly a revolutionary addition to the genre, especially since it plays like some unholy mix between Far Cry and Brother in Arms with a couple of cowboy hats thrown in, but as far as first-person shooters go, Call of Juarez (X360/Ubisoft, Techland) is more fun than riding with Doc Holliday himself.

What Call of Juarez lacks in graphics and A.I. it makes up for by perfectly capturing the vibe of what a Wild West game should be. Everything you could possibly want to do: horseback riding, gun-slinging duels, foiling train heists and tossing dynamite bundles, is available here and is an integral part of what makes Juarez different from other FPSs.

The pacing of the story is frantic, and both main characters’ stories interlock in every tense chapter. Players alternate between Billy Candle, a no-good bastard fugitive on the run for allegedly killing his mother and father-in-law, and Reverend Ray, a vengeance-seeking priest chasing down Billy in the name of the lord.

Ray, played with much aplomb by Gul Dukat himself (Marc Alaimo), combines religious zealot with bloodthirsty madman in one highly complex and enjoyable protagonist. Billy is an endearing (and innocent) character as well, and switching between both keeps the story moving quickly, and the action never relents. That’s precisely why this game is fun: the gun slinging starts right away and doesn’t stop. It’s also rare to play a game as both the hunter and the hunted, and have both characters be equally sympathetic.

The missions are all about getting from point A to point B, but the obstacles placed between checkpoints are usually quite varied. Especially with the Billy levels, more stealth is needed as he sometimes faces insurmountable odds against an army of criminals who want him dead. Reverend Ray’s missions contain more firepower and explosions, and more high and mighty speeches about the upcoming rapture.

Duels are another important part of the game, and they don’t always hit their mark. Flicking the right analog stick will remove the gun from the holster, and then time slows to a crawl, allowing you to aim for that perfect headshot in Matrix-style slow motion. Every duel is a white-knuckle moment, which was likely the main goal of the developers, but the reticle moves randomly enough that I was succeeding with very little skill. Still, it’s a cool way to settle boss battles, and a change of pace from running for my life from banditos.

The environments and graphics pale in comparison to some of the better offerings on the 360, although everything looks and feels accurate. Missions largely take place in the desert abyss, but there are old-fashioned towns, caves and trains, all staples of the spaghetti Western. The weaponry feels authentic too, and like in those days, the guns tend to smoke and become useless if you fire excessively. That doesn’t mean you aren’t firing constantly (you’ll never run out of ammo), but frequent gun changes will be necessary. Call of Juarez is an engaging game that will wrap you like a boa and never let go.

More Evil 4

Resident Evil 4 (Wii/Capcom, Capcom), by default, is the best Wii game ever. Of course, the game is unchanged from the RE4 that saved the franchise for the GameCube and Playstation 2 in 2005, and the Wii controls really don’t add anything (except another layer of difficulty to this insanely tough game), although the graphics are much better than anything the Wii has done thus far. Not worth buying if you’ve played it already.