Call of Juarez: The Cartel keeps the unique themes of the Wild West intact while taking gamers on an action-packed adventure set in present day. As with past Call of Juarez games, Call of Juarez: The Cartel is from inception to execution, a Western shooter.

Call of Juarez: The Cartel has a deep and gritty storyline that begins with a fictional drug cartel bombing a U.S. law enforcement agency, devastating the building and killing hundreds of people. The attack is a surprise, leading the U.S. to believe that cartel members had somehow infiltrated federal agencies.

The game's coopetition system is a mix of “cooperation” and “competition”, players are working not only together but also against each other.

Within the game, there are three types of “coopetition” mechanics:

• Secret Agendas – Additional objectives characters receive from their contacts, handlers or informants which need to be done in secrecy.
• Items – Each character needs to be on the lookout for items of particular interest to them or their contacts. The key is, of course, to avoid getting caught.
• Challenges – Measureable challenge segments where players race to reach a randomly selected goal. I.e. Be the first to score four headshots.

Players who successfully complete these tasks are rewarded experience points which can be used to level up and unlock more powerful weapons. If you can expose your partners’ dirty secrets, the spoils are yours.

In a last-ditch effort, the U.S. puts together a special task force to hunt down and stop the drug cartel. The task force consists of:

• Kim Evans, a gang-affiliated street kid-turned-FBI agent
• Eddie Guerra, a DEA agent with a chronic gambling habit
• Ben McCall, a brutal LAPD detective and descendant of Ray McCall from the original Call of Juarez

As the task force trio searches for the head of the cartel, they're confronted with a variety of challenges that take them on a journey from Los Angeles, California, through Arizona and New Mexico to Juarez, Mexico. To complicate things further, Kim, Eddie and Ben each have personal challenges and demons to face, resulting in a complex and high-adrenaline gaming experience driven by a rich storyline.

• Three player online co-op with Kim Evans, Eddie Guerra and Ben McCall
• Gamers can play the entire campaign with each of the three characters; each character has his/her own unique story and ending
• Huge selection of weapons including pistols, machine guns, sniper rifles, anti-air weapons and more
• Wide variety of maps and missions including punitive raids, witness protection, undercover missions, and car chases

Additional information will be revealed soon, including details about multiplayer and a twist on the three-player co-op storyline.