Genre: First-Person Shooter
Publisher: Ubisoft
Developer: Techland
Release Date: June 30, 2009

Along with movies and comic book properties, the Wild West shares the curse of never being graced with a quality video game. Some gamers are looking toward Rockstar's upcoming Red Dead Redemption to liberate the West, but I can tell you now that there's no need to wait. Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood, a prequel to the first game launched in 2007, improves the series in nearly every aspect. It isn't the most innovative FPS to grace current systems, but it's easily the best representation of the Old West that video games have ever seen.

Bound in Blood takes place before its poorly received predecessor and tells the story of Reverend Ray McCall before he turned away from his life of gunslinging and took up religion. Also along for the ride are his brothers Thomas and William. The game opens with an intense Civil War battle, which Ray and Thomas desert in order to protect their homestead. They arrive to see it in shambles and decide to head for Mexico in search of treasure to rebuild their life.

What follows is a series of betrayals, love triangles and intense standoffs that make for a very moving Western story. At its heart, Bound in Blood is about family and brotherhood, but it's also the pain that goes along with those relationships.

Just like the first game, players can choose to control one of the two main characters for each level, and each has his own set of specialties. Ray is slow-moving but able to deal out loads of firepower with his twin pistols and sticks of dynamite. Thomas is more of the quiet type, equipped with throwing knives and a bow. Anyone who played the first game can recall the frustrating stealth areas, but in Bound in Blood, being sneaky is thankfully more of an option than a requirement.

During the campaign, the McCall brother will have to work together. This usually involves Ray holding off the enemy while Thomas lassos his way to high ground to perform a flanking maneuver. It really feels like the game was designed with co-op in mind but at the last second, someone forgot to put it in.

There are features that don't rely on companionship, including the concentration mode that slows down and enables you to clear a room of enemies in an instant. It's a good mechanic but forces the player to use it within a short amount of time. Nothing is worse than finally building up enough kills to go into concentration mode, only to find the area cleared and rendering the power-up worthless.

The famous duel at high noon is a mechanic that fails in most Western games, and I'm not surprised. After all, a duel starts with two cowboys reaching for their cannons and is over a split second later. Surprisingly, the developers at Techland make the best of this iconic scene in a very smart way.

Bound in Blood's dueling is all about the tension leading up to the shot. The camera is placed to the left of the character's thigh, and his hand must be manipulated by the right thumbstick to stay close to the gun. This is all done while circling the enemy to keep him in focus. After the bell rings, it's a matter of flicking the right thumbstick and firing off a shot as quickly as possible. It's a simple mechanic but one that perfectly captures the intensity of a duel in the Old West.

The campaign takes the McCall brothers to locales such as mines, canyons and dusty ghost towns that nail the feel of the West. Sadly, the game never goes far beyond standard combat, so no new challenges arise as the campaign progresses. Occasionally, players must man a turret during a wagon chase or mount up on a horse, but most of the gameplay comes down to clearing an area of enemies and moving on without any real surprises.

A few attempts at variety are made with sandbox areas between levels, where side missions can be completed for extra cash to spend on upgrading weapons. These activities include retrieving stolen cattle or protecting railroads from natives, but even these missions come down to little more than taking out another group of baddies.

Luckily, the core gameplay is strong. There's plenty of action, and enemies always seek cover. Unfortunately, using cover isn't so easy for the player due to a very frustrating auto-cover system that feels like getting devoured by quick sand.

The multiplayer won't win any awards, but it still does an admirable job of keeping up with other FPS games. A leveling system is present, which is now pretty much an expected feature in a post-Call of Duty 4 world. Thirteen different classes can be unlocked using cash earned in each match. It's a nice progression system and should keep players returning.

The standard game modes are present, but Techland also throws in Wild West Legends, where two teams re-enact actual historical events such as famous Civil War battles and bank heists. Bound in Blood'smultiplayer runs smoothly but could have been more unique if features from the single-player portion, like horse chases or dueling, were included.

Another challenge that developers of Western games have to face is making barren deserts look pleasing to the eye. Techland has achieved such a feat. Bound in Blood's far-reaching and beautifully lit vistas are probably the best natural environments I've seen since Far Cry 2. The game even manages to add a dash of color with deep forests and flowing rivers in the canyons of Tucson, Arizona.

All of the game's character models are well-designed with great facial animation. When these traits are combined with impressive voice-overs, the characters come alive and feel like they've been taken from a film. The banter between Thomas and Ray is slightly repetitive and can get annoying, but the dialogue works well during the cut scenes. The only thing missing in Bound in Blood's presentation is a soundtrack. While there are some melodies, they lack any real punch and can easily go unnoticed.

All in all, the campaign has plenty of solid action, but the lack of variety in objectives causes the gameplay to wear thin after a while. It's the presentation that really holds the game together and makes you forget about the less impressive parts. A sure-fire buy for Western fans, Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood succeeds in bringing a new level of quality to the series and truly does the West justice.

Score: 8.0/10