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Call of Juarez

EMAIL PRINTxbox360

7.0 User Score:

Mixed or average reviews

Based on 37 critic reviews
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Based on 19 votes
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Game Info

Publisher: Ubisoft

Developer: Techland

Genre(s): First-Person Shooter

Players: 16

ESRB Rating: M (Mature)

Release Date: June 5, 2007

Summary

Call of Juarez provides the only Western first-person shooter experience on Xbox 360. Call of Juarez captures the brutality and ruthlessness that turned the American Frontier into a theater of war. Players experience legendary Wild West action including duels at high noon, gruesome shootouts and barroom brawls. The intense multiplayer modes pit bands of money-hungry outlaws against one another through a variety of game options and different terrain. An authentic Wild West single-player campaign puts players into the world of both the hunter AND the hunted, each equipped with contrasting weaponry, styles and motives. The hunted, Billy Candle, is determined to prove he's not a nobody. But when his parents are murdered, Billy stands accused. Hot on his trail is his stepfather's brother, the hunter, Reverend Ray McCall, a legendary gunfighter who believes that the lord has chosen him to be Billy's judge, jury and executioner. [Ubisoft]

Cheat Codes & Hints: GameFAQs

Also On The Web: Official Website

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

Cheat Code Central

Call of Juarez does a fascinating job of blending an epic period in history with an already proven gaming genre. It strays here and there, but it is the overall experience that Techland set out to provide, which I feel they have succeeded at tremendously.

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Extreme Gamer

The original and bold, Call of Juarez draws you into it’s brutally clichéd Wild West adventure complete with a fun online mode, interesting story, gritty violence, and authentic gun play.

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Play.tm

It's easy to look at Call of Juarez and see a game split down the middle, one half great and the other horrible, but to give it the credit it deserves, such a bold use of divided narrative just about makes it worthwhile for the most part with the style of both sections always perfectly in character and the ever switching perspective from hunter to hunted driving the game along even when the on screen action becomes less enjoyable.

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Play Magazine

At any rate, call of Juarez is a solid, serious and pleasantly woven first-person action yarn with a lot of value on the disc. [July 2007, p.64]

Eurogamer

Like a lot of grumpy Eastwoods, Juarez treads the line just West of parody with Ray's juxtaposition of gravely scripture one minute, and then little red circles with lines through them hovering over whiskey bottles the next.

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X360 Magazine UK

Incredible atmosphere. [Issue #22, p.84]

1UP

The dual-protagonist storytelling manages to be both compelling and original, the multiplayer is a guns-blazing good time, and the entire aesthetic (not just the graphics, mind you, but the art direction, music, and sound) will have you ordering up a good sarsaparilla in no time.

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AtomicGamer

Considering there have been so few western action games over the last dozen years or so, anyone who's a fan of this style owes it to themselves to at least give Call of Juarez a shot.

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ZTGameDomain

Anyone looking for the next great western-themed game will no doubt adore Call of Juarez. The switch between characters adds depth and variety and the addition of multi-player gives the game legs outside of finishing the single-player adventure.

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MS Xbox World

Most importantly the game is FUN in a way that immerses you completely in its cheese ball single player adventure.

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Kombo

While not a purchase for everyone, it's still a solid if not groundbreaking game with just enough fresh ideas to make the game fun to play.

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DailyGame

The outright fun this game brings should result in a higher score, but the gameplay snafus on Billy's missions really weight it down. I still highly recommend this game to FPS and Old West fans, though.

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Games Master UK

Refreshing, and sure to delight all those men with no names out there. [Aug 2007, p.71]

Xbox World Australia

There's plenty of extra goodies to keep you busy if you like to eke out every scrap of play-time for your money, but multiplayer is a fairly token addition that is underwhelming and under-populated as a result.

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GamingExcellence

Take two doses of Clint Eastwood badassness, a great Old West story, a slight bit of cheese, and the occasional frustrating misstep in level design, add them all together and you have Call of Juarez in a nutshell.

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Xbox World 360 Magazine UK

When it's bad, it's not too bad. When it's good, it rules. A great Western with a few niggles.

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Gaming Target

Despite the flaws, Call of Juarez is a decent effort from Techland that is definitely worth a look.

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GameZone

Playing as Billy isn’t bad but you’ll start feeling like Reverend Ray should have been the real star of the game. In the end, the single-player game just doesn’t hold a candle to the enjoyable online multiplayer.

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IGN

A game not afraid to take chances and have fun with itself. The atmosphere is excellent, thanks to a great cinematic score and a great variety of gameplay including horses, dueling, stealth and flat-out action.

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GameSpot

Call of Juarez takes few risks with its setting or genre, but it does what it does well enough to be enjoyable.

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Game Informer

If Call of Juarez skipped its forgettable multiplayer and adopted a sandbox world more like Oblivion with fleshed out areas to explore and side missions, it could have been the gunslinger I’ve been waiting for all these years. As it stands, it’s a respectable if unambitious title that should tide over Western fans until the holy grail of six shooters rides into town.

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Games Radar (in-house)

Despite its frustrating enemy AI and the limitations of your arsenal, Call of Juarez has plenty of pistol packin’ heat for the average buckaroo, with a decent, profanity-laced storyline and a bevy of unique multiplayer modes.

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PALGN

Call of Juarez has a few flaws but is still a solid game that's recommended to those who want a shooter but are sick of killing Nazis.

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VideoGamer

Ray's action focussed levels are great fun and highlight how great the game could have been with a clearer focus. In the end though, the mix of gameplay styles doesn't really work.

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Thunderbolt

The frustration of the platforming and stealth in Billy's levels is too much to go unnoticed, but thankfully the villainous Uncle Ray saves the day with his rootin' tootin' shooting action.

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Gamer 2.0

So in the end, Call of Juarez isn’t a title worth much more than a rental.

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Team Xbox

It’s got a solid storyline and plenty of racy language (although not quite on the level of “Deadwood”), and while the action isn’t groundbreaking, it’s enjoyable. That said, there are a number of places where the game just doesn’t deliver the goods, and we can’t help feeling like this could have just as easily been a last-gen title.

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GameShark

There’s just not a lot of “wow” here and it feels like a Vectrex game: it’s the same gameplay as any other on-rails FPS, but you’ve just changed the overlay on the screen to a Western.

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GamePro

At its best, the game is a fun and interesting diversion, but it's rarely at its best. It's a good first effort and I personally hope it's a sign of more to come.

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GameTrailers

There is some fun to be had throughout Call of Juarez, but it’s despite the various bizarre and just plain bad design choices that litter the experience.

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Official Xbox Magazine

Call of Juarez could've been a uniquely hard-boiled journey through the late 1800s, but it kicks up too much distracting dust to be worth the trip. [July 2007, p.78]

GameDaily

Call of Juarez resembles an archaeological dig -- in order to locate treasure, players must dig through lots of crap.

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Worth Playing

Speaking of headaches, as the final poison icing on the cake, the game possesses what I none-too-kindly call "Dead Rising Text."

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Official Xbox Magazine UK

More old than wild wild west. [Aug 2007, p.98]

Gamestyle

Call of Juarez is an odd game that manages to mix two distinct gameplay styles, failing miserably in the process.

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Edge Magazine

Call Of Juarez has mined its source material well, collecting a wealth of imagery that it then squanders on lacklustre and dysfunctional gameplay. [Aug 2007, p.93]

GameSpy

There will be inevitable comparisons to Neversoft's GUN, but CoJ feels much more a next-gen version of the lackluster Dead Man's Hand than anything else. And it's about as worthwhile a purchase.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this game is 7.0 (out of 10) based on 19 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

dave e gave it a9:
Call of Juarez 2 Bound In Blood is one of the best western games made to date. The story is amazing, the graphics are really good, the online has more replay than most online games and the single player experience keeps you wanting more and more. CoJ BiB is the prequel to the first CoJ and it is soo much better. You dont have to play the first CoJ to get the story but if you do the story is soo much better the second time. In CoJ BiB you can play as either Reverand Ray [oops Ray dont wann give to much away] or Thomas, Rays brother in each level. They both have different abilities and each level can be done 2 times to get different gameplay experiences. The levels are well done and there are new duels in the game. The user must walk left to right and control the height and reach of the characters hand when trying to draw the gun in a duel. The online part of the game is even better than the first game as well as it feels like a western Call Of Duty. The online offers up to 12 different characters to choose and some are unlockable through in game points given on how well the user does. Each Character can also be upgraded 3 times but this only occurs in the current game playing. meaning that everytime you start online with a character you start at level 1 but can upgrade to 3 or legendary in game. Other game modes online include deathmatch, team deathmatch, Wanted, and Wild West Legends which includes real life battles that were faught, like Billy the Kid vs Pat Garret and company, The Dalton Brothers raiding banks and so on. If you like westerns and are into unique stories as well as a game that truly has a great replay value than Call of Juarez Bound in Blood is for you.

Chris S. gave it an8:
Not so bad considering the fact that the Western genre has never really bin exploited or fully fleshed out in video games. It's nice to see this as a solid if not flawed diversion from the Call of Duty's and Halo knock-offs lying aaround on store shelves. I'd recomend it for those who've worn out their copies of Halo and Call Of Duty 3.

Stevie B. gave it a9:
Buy this game! dont listen to the moron critics this game is ace! climbing up on top of a wild west bar and shooting everyone below you is immense! its so original too as you play as too characters who a both trying to kill each other! if that isnt great gaming then i dont know what is! techland should give them selves a pat on the back. they have well thought out the maps, story and everything else! the only thing missing is side missions. for instance at that little town in the first few missions (when i say town dont think that this is a free roaming game. it is a VERY little town) you should be able to run errands or something for people. i dont like to score out of ten so id give this game 88%. the best fps on 360! please god let there be a sequel. now yall go out and buy this now ya here me.

Chad H. gave it an8:
This game starts out slow but definitely develops into a fun experience. The levels vary, I didnt care much for the exploration levels but overall they help create an atmosphere for when the bullets start flying. The storyline is so lame that it's cool.

Craig K. gave it a3:
Beautiful looking landscapes and seemed to have a lot of promise. But the gameplay was lousy, the controls felt clunky and really, the opening level was horrid. Rent this first before you decide to own!

FPS Master gave it a5:
I don't really know if I should review this since I only played it for about 30 minutes, but that's all it took for me to see this game was crap. It had really nice lighting and graphics, the controls were OK if a little clunky, but the shooting just felt boring and the way the game is designed is you have to do very linear objectives or you die instantly. I started off moving around in the first level, I went through the training course and after about 10 minutes of just walking around looking for the objective because the game tells you nothing remotely close to where the supposed objective is. I finally figured this out and finished it, walked into a town, went up to see a hooker, had to jump out a window, then another objective told me to sneak out of town as I was being chased. After about another 10 minutes of trying to figure out how to sneak out of town with 4 people standing in my line of sight, I figured it out. As a sneaked out, those 4 guys started chasing me and I had triggered a terribly long chase scene along the edge of a cliff that seemed to have spots you had to just fall down. I died at least 5 times during this linear objective and said to Hell with it. A note to developers: if you're gonna make your game as linear as a PS1 game, you need to give the player some kind of freaking idea what they are supposed to do and not make the only single way you can go hidden from the player. The fact that such a linear game can keep you looking for the next place to go for 10 minutes is mindboggling. In the end, this was a nice looking game marred by terribly linear and unforgiving, boring gameplay. It's up there with Vampire Rain and Bomberman for worst games on 360.

S D. gave it an8:
Good game ! Enjoying each and every minutes of it ! Unique style, have control of two different characters. Graphics are really good...remind me of Oblivion. Beautiful landscapes and atmospherics effects. A great shooter with variety and substance.

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Call of Juarez

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