Call of Juarez
| Call of Juarez | |
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| Developer(s) | Techland |
| Publisher(s) | Ubisoft Focus Home Interactive Ascaron |
| Designer(s) | Pawel Selinger |
| Artist(s) | Pawel Selinger |
| Writer(s) | Haris Orkin Pawel Selinger |
| Composer(s) | Pawel Blaszczak |
| Series | Call of Juarez |
| Engine | Chrome Engine 3 Open Dynamics Engine (physics)[1] |
| Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows Xbox 360 |
| Release date(s) | Microsoft Windows EU September 15, 2006 AU October 14, 2006 NA June 12, 2007 Xbox 360 NA June 7, 2007 AU June 28, 2007 EU June 29, 2007 JP February 28, 2008 |
| Genre(s) | First-person shooter, Western |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, Multiplayer |
| Distribution | DVD, Steam, UbiShop download |
Call of Juarez (formerly The Lawman) is an action-adventure Western video game from the Polish developer Techland. First released for Windows in 2006, it was ported to the Xbox 360 in 2007.[2][3] The PC version is one of the first games to use Microsoft's DirectX 10. Its prequel Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood was released in 2009. A third game in the series, Call of Juarez: The Cartel was released in 2011. A fourth game Call of Juarez: Gunslinger was released on May 22nd 2013.
Contents |
Plot[edit]
Story[edit]
A narrator tells the legend of the Gold of Juarez, which was allegedly meant as a ransom for Moctezuma, held hostage by conquistadores. The treasure was lost long ago and never found. Nevertheless, many daring souls have set out to retrieve the lost riches of the Aztec Empire, even though the treasure is rumored to be cursed.
Billy is a young man who doesn't know who his father is, and has no real last name. Due to the town's racism against his Mexican ancestry, during his childhood he suffered racial prejudice from the local population. He especially hated his stepfather Thomas, who beat him daily, and he only loved his Mexican mother Marisa. Fed up, Billy left his hometown of Hope to go after the Gold of Juarez, but after two years of fruitless searching, he had found nothing, and eventually returns to Hope.
However, upon his arrival to the family's ranch, he finds his mother and Thomas dead, lying underneath the words "Call of Juarez" written in their blood. A man named Reverend Ray, a former outlaw and now a priest and Thomas's older brother, sees Billy standing over his family, and assumes that Billy is the murderer. Billy flees from Ray and escapes, but Ray decides that it is his duty as God's emissary to track down and kill Billy for the crime.
Outside town, Billy runs through a camp of bandits to escape Ray. After sneaking through their camp, Ray confronts Billy, but Billy escapes by leaping onto an oncoming train. Ray follows the train, only to find the bandits raiding it. He saves the train from the bandits, also learning in which direction Billy was headed, and continues his search for him.
Billy decides to go to the ranch of Molly Ferguson's father, where he used to work, as he believes she is the only one who will believe he is innocent. Ray tracks Billy to the ranch where he meets a group of Texas Rangers who tell him they are going to attack the farm because Mr. Ferguson is a rustler. Ray helps them, and then chases Billy into the fields. He shoots Billy, causing him to fall in a nearby river. Ray returns to the ranch to find that the Rangers were in fact bandits, under the command of a man named Juarez. He kills two of the bandits but the others escape. With his dying breath, Mr. Ferguson begs Ray to rescue Molly, who was taken by the bandits. Ray races to catch the bandits, but fails. Realizing that Billy wasn’t responsible for Marisa and Thomas' murder, he breaks down in tears, believing he has failed in his duty.
Meanwhile, Billy has survived his injuries and fall, and is nursed back to health by Calm Water, an Apache medicine man. Later, after running some errands for Calm Water, Billy returns to find him dead. The bandits who killed him then take Billy hostage. Meanwhile, Ray is pursuing the bandits in an attempt to redeem himself. He chases them on horseback, and shoots a bandit named Ty Stewart. As he dies, Stewart reveals the coach is headed for the town of Juarez on the Mexican border.
In Juarez, Billy is handed over to a man named Juarez, who reveals that he is Billy's true father. He demands Billy find the Gold of Juarez, otherwise he will kill Molly. Ray then arrives and fights off the bandits, saving Billy and telling him to run. Ray fights more bandits and wounds Juarez, who manages to escape, telling Ray he will kill Molly if he doesn't bring him the gold. Ray storms Juarez's alcázar, fighting his way to a cell, where he finds Molly. However, Juarez traps Ray and Molly inside the cell and sets fire to it. Billy puts out the fire, then confronts Juarez. He shoots Juarez and leaves him for dead. Billy then rescues Ray and Molly from the cell. Suddenly, Juarez walks in and guns down Ray, revealing that he was wearing armor. Juarez and Billy fist fight and Billy defeats him. As he lies dying, Ray realizes that the whole affair was his own fault, and prays that his actions will not cause Billy and Molly to die. He recovers just long enough to see Juarez spring a knife and attack Billy from behind. Ray kills Juarez, and then dies happily.
Later, Billy and Molly are standing in the Juarez cemetery over Ray's grave. Billy says he will take Calm Water's advice and no longer run from his destiny, returning to the town of Hope, along with Molly.
Characters[edit]
- William "Billy Candle" Mendoza (voiced by David E. Taylor): A young drifter of Mexican descent, and one of the story's two protagonists. Anti-social and flighty due to his upbringing and the constant prejudice he experiences from those around him, Billy has been on the run for most of his life. Upon returning home after searching for the legendary Gold of Juarez, he finds his mother and stepfather dead and flees, giving his step-uncle the idea that he was the one who killed them. Though he is on the run for most of the game, he eventually must face his enemies in order to protect those he cares about. It is assumed his last name is Mendoza, as his father's last name was also Mendoza.
- Reverend Ray McCall (Marc Alaimo): An old gunslinger turned preacher, and Billy's step-uncle. Mistakenly believing that Billy is responsible for the murder of his brother and his brother's wife (Billy's mother and stepfather), Ray takes up his guns again to hunt down Billy in the name of justice. Though he is Billy's antagonist for much of the game, he eventually realizes the truth and assists Billy in his quest.
- Juan "Juarez" Mendoza: The main antagonist of the story. A powerful bandit leader, known as "Juarez" after the town he is from. He is also Billy's biological father, and responsible for the deaths of Billy's mother and stepfather. Juarez wants the legendary lost treasure of Juarez, and is after Billy's amulet which holds the key to finding the treasure. His true name is Juan Mendoza, as revealed in Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood.
- Tom Manson, Ty Stewart, and the McClyde brothers: Juarez's main henchmen, the men responsible for killing Billy's parents. Pretending to be Texas Rangers, they deceive Reverend Ray into helping them launch an assault on Ferguson's ranch in search of Billy. Before the fistfight between Juarez and Billy, Juarez claims Billy's mother "served" them, possibly in retaliation for her running away with Thomas in Bound in Blood.
- Molly Ferguson (Lisa Ann Orkin): The daughter of a wealthy rancher, with whom Billy fell in love. Her father is killed by Juarez's men, and Juarez holds her captive in order to force Billy to locate the treasure of Juarez for him.
- Calm Water (Robert Greygrass): An old Indian medicine man who rescues Billy and nurses him back to health after he is shot by Reverend Ray and falls into a river. He is formerly known as "Running River", and a former Apache tribe leader (as presented in Bound in Blood).
- Clyde Forrester: The owner of the local Saloon in Billy's hometown of Hope. A racist, religion-hating, violent trouble-maker, and a long-time enemy of both Billy and Reverend Ray. Shot dead in a duel with Reverend Ray, who also burns his saloon.
- Suzy (Shannon McNally): A prostitute working in the Hope saloon, and a childhood friend of Billy's. It is unknown if Suzy also died in the fire that engulfed the Hope Saloon.
Reception[edit]
| Reception | |
|---|---|
| Aggregate scores | |
| Aggregator | Score |
| GameRankings | (PC) 75.44%[4] (X360) 71.74%[5] |
| Metacritic | (PC) 72/100[6] (X360) 71/100[7] |
| Review scores | |
| Publication | Score |
Call of Juarez received mostly mixed to positive reviews. Aggregating review websites GameRankings and Metacritic gave the PC version 75.44% and 72/100,[4][6] and the Xbox 360 version 71.74% and 71/100 respectively.[5][7]
Hyper's Maurice Branscombe commends the game for its "gun-slinging Western action done right". However, he criticises it due to the fact that "physics fail in some sections." He also criticised the loading times.[8]
Prequel and sequel[edit]
On January 13, 2009, Techland announced a prequel to Call of Juarez, Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood, for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC. Its story focuses on the exploits of Thomas and Ray McCall (Billy's stepfather and step-uncle) in their youth.[9] A third game in the series, Call of Juarez: The Cartel was released on July 19, 2011. This third game is set in the present day. Locations range from Los Angeles, California to Juarez, Mexico. The game is connected to the previous two games through the protagonist Ben McCall, an LAPD detective and Vietnam veteran who is a descendent of Billy Candle. Juarez' alcazar, and the ruins of Raytown (featured in Bound in Blood), return as locations. Also, Ben McCall was born in Hope, the same town as Billy.
A fourth game called Call of Juarez: Gunslinger was released on 22 May 2013.
References[edit]
- ^ ODE.org - Products That Use ODE
- ^ IGN: Call of Juarez 360 bound
- ^ GameSpot: 360 Call of Juarez sounding in summer
- ^ a b "Call of Juarez (PC) reviews at". GameRankings. 2011-07-22. Retrieved 2011-07-22.
- ^ a b "Call of Juarez (Xbox 360) reviews at". GameRankings. 2011-07-22. Retrieved 2011-07-22.
- ^ a b "Call of Juarez (PC) reviews at". Metacritic. 2011-07-22. Retrieved 2011-07-22.
- ^ a b "Call of Juarez (Xbox 360) reviews at". Metacritic. 2011-07-22. Retrieved 2011-07-22.
- ^ Branscombe, Maurice (August 2007). "Call of Juarez". Hyper (Next Media) (166): 66. ISSN 1320-7458.
- ^ Burnes, Andrew (2009-01-13). "Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood Announced". Voodoo Extreme. Retrieved 2009-01-13.
External links[edit]
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