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This game is so bad I am actually compelled to write my first review ever for Amazon. I should preface my review by saying that I've always enjoyed the Call of Juarez series, sure they were never great and they certainly never lived up to the critical acclaim that was lavished (deservedly) on Red Dead Redemption. That said, they were always easy to play and provided enough western-themed enjoyment to provide at least a guilty pleasure of sorts. This title on the other hand is a complete joke.
To start with I can see absolutely no connection to the previous games other than the fact that one of the characters resembles (presumably a relative) of the lead in the last Call of Juarez game. Other than that there are no western elements whatsoever. So be it, if the game is enjoyable I can see past a shameless cash-in of a franchise. Alas, the game blows not just a "wow this isn't much fun" blows, but a "I'm done", putting down the controller never to pick it up again blows. Enemies are near impossible to spot and seemingly pop out of the ground itself, visibility is almost near zero on the initial stage.
Levels are long-winded and repetitive, I was literally pleading aloud to reach the end at some points. Your sidekicks are a joke and insist on constantly spurting useless advice, no crap I need to shoot at people why don't you help me out with that. There are also an abundance of not particularly informative videos that seem to drag on forever. As mentioned by my fellow reviewer the driving of cars is laughable, slow, clunky and not really necessary in any way to further the game especially as you rely on your partners to protect you, or not as the case may be, while you drive down the road.
To be honest just thinking about the numerous ways that this game fails make me tired and I'm not ashamed to say awfully sad. There aren't many games I look forward to throughout the year but this was one, and I feel like I've been cheated out of what would have been a fun game even it was just it's usual average self but it's not it's sub-par trash. I didn't even buy the game, I rented it and I still feel ripped off. Save your money and just replay the older games or Red Dead instead.
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Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha! Are they serious with this game? Seriously, this is the final release; not a beta test, not shareware, not... anything besides a full game that retails at near $60? No? This is it?...hahahaha...
Sorry.
There's no end to what one can complain about with this nonsense, so I'll hit the highlights.
The story is promising at first: fighting off Mexican drug cartels as cooperating law enforcement agents in and out of American soil is timely, appropriate, and made me think that the writers and designers had something to say. ...Then the characters start speaking. I have not heard such stilted, lifeless, RIDICULOUS dialogue since the days when games were translated from Japanese in the eleventh hour by undergrad students with a tattered dictionary. And there's so much of it! Yes, you're given a very clear option to skip the NUMEROUS cut-scenes (they exceed gameplay in length in the early levels) but I get the feeling that's because someone on the design team was aware of what crap they were and was giving you a mercy-out. Okay, so, we've got our three lead characters: there's Offensive Mexican Stereotype, Not-Halle-Berry Skinny Black Chick with Action Sass, and OH MY GOD WHO THE HELL IS THAT GUY!? Seriously, who is he? He looks and sounds like Jack Nicholson and John Wayne had some kind of awful digital baby. That put on a ridiculous cowboy hat. And then failed out of acting school. I assume he's a throwback to when these games were set in the old west but OH MY GOD, ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! His voice acting is atrocious (worse than the others even) and his design is painfully out of place...
It's easy to shift gears from voice-acting to sound design failures, so I'll do just that. Remember how I complained about the character voices? Well that's because I had to listen to their three or four ambient cues over and over and over. Fighting bad-guys? "Left! Right! Behind! Looks clear! Left! Right! Behind!" over and over. Stop to reload? The INSTANTLY complain about what a crappy job you're doing. Gun down a few guys? They INSTANTLY complain about you taking all the action. The bad-guys are no better; maybe two or three voice actors cranked out half a dozen insults and swears and then a dozen more in Spanish, and you get to hear that over and over and over. And sounds aren't blended, so when someone's talking the gunshots and other ambient sounds all but disappear. And they're always talking at exactly the same volume no matter how far away they are from you or from what direction they're coming from. It's weak design and it takes you right out of the game. Real, real bush-league stuff.
But gameplay trumps all, right? Well, unless it sucks. This son of a gun somehow has all the faults of a modern FPS (where am i facing, where are the bad-guys, all I see is brown and muzzle flash!) and modern 3rd person shooters (I'm stuck on a rock, I'm hitting jump and I'm stuck WHY AM I STUCK!) even though you are never in 3rd person, so WHY those problems exists baffles me to no end. But all that could be saved, even all that, if any moment of it was FUN. Character animations are lifeless and dull and... awkward (seriously, watch how people walk, they look like they all have one fake leg) and shooting and killing is just unsatisfying. Level designs are blocky and boring and oh-so brief. And you know what's hard to do in an FPS? Drive an SUV with no peripheral vision and big old blindspots. Guess what you'll be doing a lot... Go on, I'll give you a second... If you guessed driving into the same three rocks you can't see over and over again YOU WIN! There are attempts to shake things up with duck and cover mini-games and moments of door breaching and blowing things up big, but I honestly can't think of a wholly satisfying moment.
You know what it gets that second star for? Some of the visuals are INCREDIBLE. The forests are stunning and textured and finely covered in mist. The cities are massive (looking) and detailed with graffiti and shifts in neighborhood and awesome views into the horizon. The visuals are soooo good that I'm tempted to say they were from some other game that got scrapped halfway through. How else could they be part of THIS game that takes sooo many steps backward in every other way? Level design, character design (what's up with that guy, seriously?), functionality, gameplay, sound design; literally everything except the locations feels like a PS one release. It totally ignores the strides and improvements that have been made in the past generation and a half in favor of... well, nothing. I understand the desire to produce something different and, in their defense, that desire is palpable here, but please, please, PLEASE make sure you have a leg to stand on first!
And it's a shame because there are some "almost" ideas sprinkled throughout: you switch characters at will and they are actively hiding parts of the story from one another; cool idea! The setting and tone and story outline are all unique and, you know, NOT Call of Duty; which is brave. I'd be dying to give it high marks for those attempts and ideas if it were fun even in the slightest.
But it's not. It's... just not. Rent or borrow for a good laugh, maybe, but don't buy.
HA! DID YOU HEAR HIS VOICE! HAHAHAHA! ...ugh.
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Most of the bad reviews of this game stem from the fact that it doesn't chronologically take place after the first two installments. Therefore, the story line of this game will have nothing whatsoever to do with those of the other two, either. One wonders if those who purchased or rented it even read the back cover and found out this takes place in the "modern Wild West".Granted, I wonder if this game could have been better off with a different title that the CoJ purists wouldn't be so frazzled about. Fortunately, I haven't played the other titles in the series so my judgement wasn't clouded from the start. I think that once they realized that this wasn't the usual CoJ, they immediately decided the rest of the game was a train-wreck and let the clouded judgement guide them the rest of the way.
In the interest of fairness, I will break up my review into three separate categories: the good, the bad, and the ugly (yeah, wild west pun intended). This game is not perfect by any means but, it isn't even close to being as bad as the other reviewers have made it out to be. I hope this review will give others a chance at an honest view of what I have found to be a very fun and engaging game.
The good: First off, the graphics are worthy of the next-gen consoles. Strangely enough, the scenes in the wooded areas are reminiscent of Black Ops. The scenes in the city and the cut-scenes are very much like Homefront: not the greatest in the world but very good indeed.
Secondly, the sound is very well done here. There is a scene inside a nightclub and you can hear the music thumping dully as you near the main dance floor from the hallway. However, when you actually enter the dance floor the sound stage opens up and the music surrounds you and you can hear voices all around you which completely immerses the player in the moment. There are other examples but, this is one that I found particularly interesting.
One complaint was that the enemies were far away and hard to see. Well, if this was real, that would be the case in most instances. Even AI don't want to get shot and will run and hide from you. Any way, they aren't always far away; in some instances you actually will have face-to-face confrontations with the gangsters.
Also, unlike in Homefront, your AI partners actually do shoot and help you take down baddies. They won't take out everyone for you...if they did, where would be the fun in playing? The fun thing about this game is all three characters have a story and an ulterior motive. The replay value in this game comes from having to play through three times if you really want to know each character's story.
Lastly, the controls are very similar to Modern Warfare. I found it very easy and intuitive since I have already played Black Ops. If you've played the MW games then you'll have no problem here.
The bad: Well, the voice-acting is ok at best here. McCall is completely over-the-top while Evans and Guerra are nominally better. However, I found this to actually lend a B-movie feel to the game.
The plot, while well done and plays out like a modern B-film, tends to get a little complicated and can actually get confusing at times. You need to pay close attention to what is going on or you may get a little lost. Then again, nothing is ever easy because if it was, there would be no reason to play.
The ugly: There isn't much ugly here, honestly. Your partners will constantly repeat the same lines over and over again, which can get a little annoying ("You ever practice with that piece?" repeat repeat). It doesn't deter from the game play but, like I said, it will get annoying after a while.
The driving controls can feel a little murky at times and you will crash a lot. I think I am about half-way done with the game and am finally getting the hang of it. This is really not the best driving control scheme out there...they could've done better.
So, if you want a decent shooter with a movie quality plot line pick up Call of Juarez: The Cartel. Instead of going after gold, these modern-day cowboys and cowgirls are going after modern gold...drug, sex, and weapons traffiking. I hope this review helps.
Honest reviews on Call Of Juarez: The Cartel - Xbox 360
My son requested this. I think he thought it was a two player game. While he enjoys it, and has beaten it, he wishes that two people could play.Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Call Of Juarez: The Cartel - Xbox 360
This game didn't meet the great game play standards as previous two. Story is short and not very in depth. I found it hard to consistently play, let alone finish.
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