Wild, Wild Web

I've completed Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood. It was an enjoyable game, although I played every available level as Ray to enjoy revolvers akimbo since using a bow and arrow, or knives, against rifle and shotgun wielding hombres didn't sound like a good idea to me. I should think I'll play it again as Thomas and try to find more secrets 'n' stuff.

It's certainly an enjoyable game, although there were a fair few niggling little details that annoyed me. First of all, the writer should have been shot and told to try again. The pivotal, climactic scene in which the brotherhood trio breaks apart was done so poorly I'm inclined to think that they rushed the entire scene because it was so near the end.

Secondly, the pacing was a little annoying. I like to take my time through most games; to explore the levels and find my own way around obstacles. I realise that cooperating with your brother (why is there no co-op mode?) is a central feature of the game, but when you're looking for secrets or trying to get a better view of the level ahead, the last thing you want is another character shouting whad're you waidin foar? and encouraging you to hurry up all the time.

Another thing about the cinematics: we're not playing with the technology of Tomb Raider 2 any more! Characters don't need to bob their heads, crane their necks, or randomly sway left and right to convey the idea that they're talking. You just need eye contact, a tiny bit of body movement, and some lip synch. But in Call of Juarez, character suddenly get very fidgety while speaking to one another.

I think there should also have been less screen-shake and blurring. If anything even remotely near you explodes, or if a bullet passes within half a meter of your character, your screen ends up rotated forty-five degrees one way, then they other, and you're unexpectedly looking at everything through beer goggles.

Was it worth playing? Yes. The annoyances above were distractions from an otherwise compelling game. Every time I told myself I'd save the game and do something else, I found myself playing for another half an hour. I've hardly tried the multiplayer side of the game, but from the outset it looks like one big snipe-fest since there's nothing stopping you from just picking up a hunting rifle and taking pot shots across the map at revolver-wielding opponents.

The graphics are top-notch. While the development team might have fallen a bit too much in love with depth of field blur, the models, props, and textures in the environment are startlingly good. I mean Crysis good. Not only that, but the game runs incredibly smoothly on my PC even with all of the graphical options turned up to eleven.

While I detest the blinging "top quality" guns, the weapons were balanced and varied enough that I didn't favour one sort of gun throughout the entire game. I could have done with a faster-firing but weaker version of the rifle, but oh well. The pistols were certainly the best thing on the menu, and the fact that there were at least six variations of sidearm made me choose a Sundance Kid approach to most situations.

The slow motion "concentration mode" from the original game has been preserved, albeit with a different trigger. You still get the slow-motion zoom of the bow, but revolver-based quick shooting now comes in three different flavours: you get the original twin-aiming system whenever you and your brother both decided to kick in a door simultaneously; as Ray you can line up a dozen targets for death within the space of a few seconds before unloading a hail of bullets on all of them; and as Thomas you are able to quickly fan the hammer of your gun and take out your assailants in record time.

The duel mode has also been much improved. Instead of a hit-or-miss game of dodgeball, you must now circle your opponent to keep him in view, constantly keeping an eye on your holsters to make sure your hands don't stray too far from your guns. When the bell rings, you use your mouse (or analogue stick I guess) to guide your fingers to your sixgun and blow your target away.

There were some annoying parts of the game, certainly; and they haven't really improved the horse riding to the levels of, say Gun, Shadow of the Colossus, or even Assassins Creed. But if you enjoy the wild west as a setting then I doubt you'd go far wrong with Bound in Blood. If you enjoyed the original Call of Juarez then it's a no-brainer. There is also no evil DRM included with the game, and you can play single player missions without the disc in your DVD drive. You only need your activation code to play online.