Originally called Lawman, Call of Juarez was initially conceived as a reaction to World War II and science fiction games dominating the first-person shooter genre. The designers drew inspiration from a range of Western-themed films, TV shows, and literature, as well as some real-life stories and figures. The game was built using Techland's own in-house game engine, the Chrome Engine. For the subsequent Xbox 360 release, numerous graphical improvements were made, and some gameplay elements were changed, reducing the amount of stealth in Billy's levels. The North American PC release version incorporated many of these graphical and gameplay changes, and was one of the first PC games optimized for Windows Vista and DirectX 10. Techland also released a patch allowing for those who owned the original DirectX9 version of the game to upgrade to the DirectX10 version.
Call Of Juarez Windows 10
Although the style of play for each character is different, controlling them is broadly similar. Each shares an identical HUD, with the same information available to the player.[7] Both can single-wield or dual wield handguns, and single-wield other weapons, such as rifles.[8] Both can also interact with certain objects, such as health pick-ups (in the Xbox 360 version, health automatically regenerates over time[9]), ammo, and weaponry.[8] Both characters can also throw dynamite and can start fires by throwing or shooting oil lamps.[8] Both are capable of hand-to-hand combat, although Ray is able to pick up items such as chairs, and either throw them at enemies or use them as melee weapons.[8] Both can also ride horses, from which they can shoot and enter gallop mode. Gallop mode can only be maintained for a certain amount of time before the horse becomes fatigued.[10]
The main difference between the two characters is that Ray is stronger and slower, and although he cannot jump as high as Billy, he can kick heavy obstacles out of his way and take considerably more damage from enemy fire, due to wearing a cuirass.[11][12] Billy can move faster than Ray and is quieter, allowing him to sneak up on enemies. He can also grip onto ledges and pull himself up.[13] Billy can also use two weapons that Ray cannot - a bow and a whip.[11] When Billy uses the bow, the game automatically goes into slow motion for a set period of time.[14] This is the only weapon in the game that allows for silent kills.[15] The whip is very weak as a weapon, and is mainly used to aid Billy in climbing or jumping over large gaps, by lassoing nearby trees.[13][16] Unique to Ray is his ability to rapid-fire a single six-shooter (fanning) and his ability to wield a Bible.[17][18] If the player presses the shoot button for the hand holding the Bible, Ray will quote a random bible passage.[15] This will occasionally cause enemies to panic and drop their weapons, freeze, or run away entirely.[9][17]
Another important difference is that when controlling Ray, the player has access to "concentration mode".[10] 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.[10][19] 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 passes over an enemy.[10][19] Players can also shoot independently from either their left or right gun, or both simultaneously.[19][20] Ray's levels also involve numerous duels between himself and one or more enemies. In these shootouts, 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.[10][19]
Techland were especially keen to make a specifically Western-themed first-person shooter, as they felt the FPS genre had become overly dominated by World War II and science fiction games.[16] They revealed that a major part of the gameplay would involve duelling, with players needing quick reflexes to win, just like the real-life gunslingers of the time.[16] The designers had also carried out extensive research for the game - for example, the guns act the way the real guns of the period did, and the clothes, flora, fauna, and architecture are accurate to the locations during the period in which the game is set.[16] They also worked with horse riding experts to ensure the scenes involving horses were as realistic as possible.[16] Zawodny believed the game would provide players with "a new level of emergent gameplay."[16]
For the X360 version, we implemented new motion capture animation (most of the cutscenes have been re-recorded using motion capture), and the appearance of the game has been changed dramatically. It is now even better looking and has even better atmosphere. All levels have once again been assessed step-by-step in terms of their playability, attractiveness and understandability. At nearly every step we made bigger or smaller changes that improved the reception of every level. Some of them were almost remade from scratch. The rebuilt beginning of the game dramatically changes the first impression.[23]
Eurogamer's Kieron Gillen scored the PC version 8 out 10, praising the alternating level structure, and calling the game "as good a cowboy shooter as I've played". He concluded, "of all the cowboy games in the last few years, Call of Juarez is the one which most feels like it has a soul [...] It's a game which you feel someone actually cared about making".[20] Tom Bramwell also scored the Xbox 360 version 8 out of 10, praising the multiplayer modes and the graphical improvements over the PC version. Although he was critical of the use of Billy's whip, which he found to be "needlessly fiddly", he wrote that the game "has given new life to an area of the FPS genre where tons of developers have given up".[9]
PALGN's Mark Morrow scored the PC version 7.5 out of 10. He found Ray's levels "an absolute blast," but Billy's "an absolute bore." Although he praised the tone and voice acting, he was critical of the controls and the overly linear levels, concluding, "the basic first-person shooter concepts are in place, but the essentials aren't." However, he also found it to be a "remarkably enjoyable game."[51] Luke Van Leuveren scored the Xbox 360 version 7 out of 10. He called Billy's levels "tedious" and was also critical of the first-person platforming sections and the use of the whip. Ray's missions, on the other hand, he found to be "brilliant fun". He also praised the writing, and concluded, "Ray's levels are solid enough to recommend Call of Juarez."[52]
GameSpot's Alex Navarro scored the PC version 7 out of 10 and the Xbox 360 version 7.4 out of 10, calling the game "a well-made genre exercise." Whilst he praised Ray's levels, he was critical of Billy's (especially the implementation of the whip and the platforming sections). Ultimately though, he concluded, "it does enough right to transcend its various issues and turn in a pleasing shooter."[14][46] PC Zone's Jon Blyth scored the game 70/100. He praised the voice acting, tone, and alternating level structure, writing, "there's talent in the storytelling." However, he found concentration mode made the game too easy. He was also critical of the enemy AI, but wrote of the game, "it has numerous problems, but there's something beneath all its faults that I can forgive."[53]
IGN's Dan Adams scored the PC version 6.8 out of 10. He praised the voice acting and Ray's levels, but was critical of Billy's, especially the implementation of the whip and the platforming sections (which he called "horrific"). He also felt that concentration mode was "hugely overused." He concluded, "solid basic shooting mechanics aren't enough to make a passable game good."[15] Jonathan Miller scored the Xbox 360 version 7.5 out of 10. He too preferred Ray's levels, and graphically, he found the game to be "solid", citing lighting and shadows as "especially well done". However, he also noted instances of aliasing, vertical tearing, and pop-in. He also praised the atmosphere, soundtrack, voice acting, and variety of gameplay styles, calling it "one of the most fun Westerns to date".[48] In his Australian review of the Xbox 360 version, Bennett Ring scored it 8.1 out of ten, praising the improvements made for the port. Although he found some of Billy's levels "unnecessarily frustrating", he ultimately felt it is "a game that isn't afraid to take chances."[49]
Official Xbox Magazine's Cameron Lewis scored the game 6 out 10, writing, "the game unwraps some interesting ideas, but not one fulfills its promise." He was critical of the use of the whip, the platforming sections, and the enemy AI. Although he liked Ray's levels, he concluded, "in practice, there's nothing to distinguish it from the rest of the shooter crowd on 360."[50] GameSpy's Thierry Nguyen scored the PC version 2.5 out of 5, calling it "well-meaning but ultimately flawed". He disliked Billy's levels, especially the platforming sections and the use of the whip. In Ray's levels, he found concentration mode made the game too easy. He concluded, "the really sloppy platforming and box-moving, which take up a good chunk of the game, puts a big damper on any joy that we might find in shooting up bandits and cowboys".[12] Sterling McGarvey also scored the Xbox 360 version 2.5 out of 5, suggesting it failed to capture "the ambience and authenticity of the historical period." He praised the shooting mechanics, but was critical of the whip, writing that the game "feels [like] a next-gen version of the lackluster Dead Man's Hand."[47] 2ff7e9595c
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