The original game takes place in Texas and Mexico in 1882 and tells the story of Reverend Ray McCall as he hunts down his nephew Billy, who has been wrongly accused of murdering his parents. Bound in Blood is a prequel to the first game and takes place in Georgia, Arkansas, Arizona, and Mexico from 1864 to 1866. It tells the story of how Ray and his brother Thomas went from being soldiers in the Confederate States Army to dangerous outlaws. The Cartel relocates the series from a Wild West milieu to 2011 Los Angeles and Mexico and depicts an interagency task force investigating a powerful Mexican drug cartel. This decision proved unpopular amongst fans, however, and Gunslinger returned to the West. Taking place from 1880 to 1910, and spread across Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Montana, New Mexico Territory, Wyoming, and Mexico, it tells the story of bounty hunter Silas Greaves and his encounters with many of the legends of the Wild West, including Billy the Kid, Jesse James, Butch Cassidy, the Sundance Kid, and the Dalton Gang.
From a gameplay perspective, all four games are first-person shooters, and feature several common game mechanics, such as "Concentration mode" (a slow motion technique which is slightly different from game to game) and duelling (in Bound in Blood and Gunslinger, duelling switches the game to a third-person perspective). The first three games in the series offer different player characters. For Gunslinger, there is only one player character, but the game does feature experience point-based skill trees which allow the player to customise their fighting style as they progress.
Critically, reactions to the games have been mixed, ranging from general praise for Bound in Blood and Gunslinger to universal condemnation for The Cartel. In terms of sales, the original game did not sell well in North America, moving only 137,000 units across both PC and Xbox 360. However, its European sales were considerably better, with Techland crediting the game as putting them "on the map". Bound in Blood sold better, moving 900,000 units across all systems in its first four months of release. Gunslinger also sold well, and was Ubisoft's second best selling digital-only game of 2013.
All four Call of Juarez games are first-person shooters. In the original game, the player controls alternating protagonists level-by-level - Billy 'Candle' and Ray McCall, each of whom has a different style of gameplay. Billy's levels are partially stealth-based, whereas Ray's are more traditional shoot 'em ups.[7] In Bound in Blood, the player controls one of two protagonists - Ray McCall or his brother Thomas.[8] Like in the first game, the two characters have different gameplay styles, but unlike in the first game, most levels offer the choice of which character to play as.[8] The character which the player does not choose is controlled by the AI for the duration of the level.[8] In The Cartel, the player controls one of three protagonists - Det. Ben McCall (LAPD), Agent Kim Evans (FBI), or Agent Eddie Guerra (DEA). The two characters whom the player does not choose are controlled either by the AI or by human player(s) in co-op mode.[9] Whichever player the character picks at the start of the game, they must play through the whole game with that character.[10][11] Playing as specific characters often results in different cutscenes and in-game dialogue.[10][12][13] In Gunslinger, there is only one player character available - the bounty hunter Silas Greaves.
In the original game, the main difference between Ray and Billy is that Ray is stronger and slower, and can take considerably more damage than Billy.[14][15] On the other hand, Billy can sneak up on enemies and perform silent kills.[16] Billy can also use two weapons that Ray cannot - a bow and a whip.[14] When he uses the bow, the game automatically goes into slow motion for a set period of time.[17][18] The whip is weak as a weapon, and is mainly used to aid Billy when climbing.[16][18] Unique to Ray is his ability to rapid-fire a single pistol (fanning) and his ability to wield and quote from a Bible.[19][20]
In The Cartel, the difference between the three characters pertains to their weaponry.[26] McCall gets a damage bonus when using handguns and heavy machine guns, whilst his speciality skill is rapid reloading of handguns.[27] Evans gets a damage bonus when using rifles and sniper rifles, whilst her speciality skill is enhanced focus when zoomed in.[28] Guerra gets a damage bonus when using light machine guns and shotguns, whilst his speciality skill is the ability to dual wield SMGs.[29]
In Gunslinger, although there is only one player character, the game features an upgrade system which allows the player to customise Silas's fighting style.[30][31] Every kill in the game is rewarded with experience points, and the player can increase their haul by achieving combos; multiple kills in quick succession which increase the combo score by one for each kill.[32][33] These experience points allow the player to level up their skills via three skill trees; Gunslinger (focuses on pistols), Ranger (rifles), and Trapper (shotguns).[30][32][34] After beating the game, the player can start a New Game+, carrying over their unlocked skills, which allows them to continue unlocking upgrades.[35]
All four games feature some kind of slow motion attack, aka "Concentration mode". In the original game, the player can activate concentration mode when playing as Ray.[36] During combat, when he draws either handgun, concentration mode is automatically activated, and the game goes into slow motion, with two targeting reticles appearing on either side of the screen, each moving towards the centre.[36][37] The player cannot control the movement of either reticle, nor can they move the character during concentration mode, but they can control the positioning of the screen, allowing them to manoeuvre Ray's stance to shoot when the reticles pass over an enemy.[36][37]
In Bound in Blood, there are three types of concentration modes, which are available once the player has filled their concentration meter by killing enemies.[8][22][38] In Ray's mode, once slow motion begins, Ray is free to rotate 360 degrees from a fixed position. If the crosshairs pass over an enemy, that enemy will be "tagged". Once the time is up, Ray automatically fires at all tagged enemies with near-perfect accuracy.[22][39] In Thomas's concentration mode, the crosshairs automatically move from visible enemy to visible enemy, pausing on each one momentarily. As the crosshairs move, the player must hold down the fire button, and when the crosshairs pause, the player must pull back on the analog stick or mouse to fire at the target.[22][39] The third type of concentration mode is dual concentration, which happens automatically at certain points of the game, always at doorways. Ray and Thomas simultaneously burst into the room, and the game goes into slow motion, operating in the same manner as Ray's concentration mode from the first game.[22][39]
The Cartel features two types of concentration modes. Irrespective of the character, players charge their concentration metre by killing enemies, and once the meter is full, they can activate concentration mode at any time. When they do, time slows down dramatically, but the player can still pivot, shoot, and reload at near-normal speed.[40] In co-op play, when one player triggers their concentration mode, it also triggers for all other human players.[11][41] The second type of concentration mode is dual concentration, which happens automatically at certain points in the game, always at doorways. The player character and one of the AI characters (or two player characters in co-op mode) simultaneously burst into the room, and the game goes into slow motion for several seconds.[41][42]
In Gunslinger there are multiple types of concentration modes. The standard mode is charged by killing enemies, and once activated, the game goes into slow motion and all enemies are automatically highlighted in red.[43][44] Other forms of concentration mode include falls, door breaches, Quick Time Events (QTEs), and "Sense of Death".[30] Falls and door breaches work the same way as normal concentration mode, except they automatically happen at certain locations irrespective of whether the player's concentration meter is charged.[45] QTEs also happen automatically. Silas will automatically target an enemy and the player is required to press a specific button to shoot and kill that enemy. If done correctly, the reticle will automatically jump to the next enemy, and so on.[46] For Sense of Death, as the player avoids game over, they fill their Sense of Death meter. When this meter is full, it will automatically activate when Silas is one shot away from death. When that shot is taken, the game will go into slow motion and the player can dodge left or right to try to avoid the fatal bullet.[44][47]
In the original game's duels, the player must wait for a countdown, at which point the enemy will reach for their weapon. Only then can Ray draw his own gun and fire. To draw Ray's gun, the player must move the mouse/analog stick downwards and then snap it upwards, at which point a reticule appears on screen which can be controlled as normal. Character movement during duels is limited to leaning left and right.[36][37]
In Bound in Blood, duels switch the game to third-person, with the player needing to keep the character's hand as close to his gun as possible without touching it.[23] At the same time, the player needs to keep the opponent lined up in the centre of the screen. When the time comes to draw, a bell rings, and the player must draw, aim, and fire as quickly as possible.[48][49]
In Gunslinger, duels also switch the game to third-person.[50] The player must keep the constantly moving target over the enemy to increase their focus, and the higher the focus percentage, the smaller the gauge gets and the more precise the shot will be when taken. At the same time, the player must keep Silas's hand as close to his gun as possible to increase their speed, and the higher the speed percentage, the quicker the gun will be drawn.[50][51] The player has two options in every duel - they can draw before their opponent and get a lower-scoring dishonourable kill or wait until the opponent has drawn and get a higher-scoring honourable kill.[50][51]
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