The game play in this installment of the series seems gimmicky with a few basic RPG elements, a turn base battle system; and instead of leveling up your characters through the crystrarium to enhance them similar to Final Fantasy X, and you can also upgrade weapons and equipment similar to Final Fantasy VIII. The battles are no longer random enemy encounters happen when you come into the view of the enemy.Summonings are still in the game and can be commanded to attack similar to Final Fantasy VIII but now can transform into vehicles and assist in battle.  After playing 20 plus hours of beautiful movie quality cut scenes the game does start to get interesting, but starts to lose its shine due to  linear progressing before breaking to watch a beautiful story sequence.

The story takes place in Cocoon a utopian sky city that has had a long period of peace and prosperity due to its benevolent protectors the fal’Ce. With the discovery of a hostile fal’Ce from Pulse the lower world is awaken from it’s slumber, peace on Cocoon comes to an end. The fal’Ce curses humans making them l’Ce giving them magical abilities but forced to carry out their focus or be turned into crystals, a fate far worse than death. Players control a misfit group of I’Ce out to save a world that fears them and out to change their destiny. Unlike previous games this Final Fantasy focuses more on the character’s humanity than the esoteric creating a story you can grow feelings for the characters.

Battles in Final Fantasy XIII are about picking actions from the menu like previous versions but in this installment you only have control of one character while the computer controls the rest of your party. The new features do slightly raise the complexity, reducing an enemy’s hit points isn’t enough to defeat them; you have to fill up a separate gauge to “stagger” your enemy making them vulnerable to stronger attacks. Your also able to assign certain roles to characters, medic lets you heal, ravager lets you use attack based magic, and synergist lets you strengthen your party with support based magic, your also able to switch roles in battle using the paradigm shift to change your strategy during battles

While the new changes made to the series are always expected I was kind of disappointed in the execution with the linear game play, aside from the compelling story, beautiful CG movies , and entrapping story it feels like this experiment in the  series was a failure in delivering the ground breaking game play we have come to expect of the series.

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Like most action games combat is a key factor and if you ever played God of War you will do fine in Dante’s Inferno, your primary weapon is a scythe you also wield a cross for your ranged attacks to keep a good distance from you and your foes. Many elements similar to God of War are found throughout the game like the timed attacks and collection of souls, also your finishing moves give you the option of judging enemies by either punishing them or absolving their sins. Collecting souls gives you the opportunity to customize Dante and relics let you receive additional boost as well give bonuses such as increased damage, regenerative health and magic.

This game is targeted towards a mature audience with the levels based around the sins in the divine comedy. Dante’s Inferno pushes the mature rating to the envelope with plenty of nudity and shock value. All of the nine circle of hell are very nicely textured and graphic mixed in with beautiful CG movies for dramatic plot points and animated sequences. As well as pretty solid down loadable content with the dark forest and the trails of St.Lucia with new enemies and online co-op online play .

Overall the story and level designs are impressive me and the game play is very easy to get use to, it’s a great game once you get past over the God of war similarities Dante’s Inferno is a good game and the down loadable content  gives the game a very high replay value. And with the down loadable content with the prequel level the dark forest you get new relics , enemies , and puzzles, while the trails of St. Lucia offers co-op playing letting you play with a friend and create and edit levels you can play or let others play and rate. While not all that much original in game play Dante’s Inferno does stand on it’s own with the down loadable content and replay value.

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This game was developed by Quantic Dream, who developed ‘Indigo Prophecy’ (or ‘Fahrenheit’ in other regions). It follows four characters, than seemingly unrelated, converge into one story. Without spoiling the story, the game centers on ‘The Origami Killer’, a psychopath who has a penchant for drowning 10 year old boys in rain water and leaving their bodies posed with an origami figure. Each character is seeking this deranged maniac for different reasons, but it is clear from the get go that it will take great personal sacrifice. Normally in a game like this, it would not bother me to take any path to see what the outcome will be, but Heavy adds a level of intensity by clearly stating that any of the main characters can make a decision that will affect the outcome, but there are no do-overs. If you die or make the wrong decision, that’s it but the game will continue.

This is probably of the focal points that makes this game a must for adventure fans. The story is completely streamlined, and very engrossing. It takes elements from mystery and horror films like Saw, Seven (these being the most obvious of inspirations), the Cell, and even Blade Runner. Then it blends them into a interactive hard boiled thriller with a hint of science fiction, introduced with the ARI glasses that one of the characters uses. This is definitely the strong point of the game, which is rare for a videogame. Each main character is determined to seek their answers, but also damaged; The father who isn’t sure of his mental health, the reporter with insomnia, the FBI agent with a drug addiction, or a private investigator desperately trying to patch it all together. Each story is engrossing in it’s own way and ultimately no two players will reach the same outcome or experience the same unless they do every thing identical to the other. That’s how much time and effort were put into the story.

Still, with the great story and character development aside, the game does have it faults. The controls are developed to try bind a physical connection to the visual, to draw the player in more. While sometimes controls are purposely awkward to convey the nature of the game, they are also very wonky when they are not supposed to be. Sometimes they are perfect though, so it’s very hit and miss. They game itself is mostly comprised of Quick Time Events, but definitely more involved than some other games on the market. Also, Heavy Rain can be a beautifully detailed game at times, then it can be downright ugly. The facial modeling and animating at times can be downright scarily realistic, but then the voice actors can be downright wooden and unconvincing. Still, with all these faults, it doesn’t detract too much from the overall experience.

That’s what this game is, an experience. It will draw emotions from you, some of them uncomfortable and tense. My own wife tried to play this game but, once the story took off, she found it unbearable to play. Well, that and the control scheme.

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If you are a fan of any of the extensive Marvel comic book series, you know the story arc of Civil War. Mark Millar supplied an incredible allegory to the American PATRIOT Act via a comic book rendition. The popular Marvel crossover had a promotional tagline that read “Whose side are you on?” and it is my pleasure to announce—with Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2—you are able to pick either one. Each side, registration or anti-registration offers about 6 to 8 hours of gameplay, which is pretty short considering the first Marvel Ultimate Alliance ran for…what seemed like forever! So 12 hours in story mode and any extras worth noting? Frankly, no. Let me break it down.

The story is fantastic, but that’s honestly the game’s strongest point. Even then, since it is based on the comic book crossover, you know who to give the credit to. The idea of being able to choose a side enhances the length of the game but not much else. It is true that the characters you are able to choose are limited, but that’s not true for the entire game so I can assure you it’s no big deal. The gameplay is still the same enjoyable repetitive action from the first, excluding the originality and charm. If anyone else remembers Ultimate Alliance as well as me, then you recall the entire act that took place in the carnival. In my opinion, that act was absolutely superior to everything in this entire game. Yes, the graphics are superb and there is a new Fusion element (which is nothing more than two of your characters attempting a lame move), but where are the fun mini-games that the supervillain Arcade offered? And since they are absent, would it be feasible to assume that something else would replace those elements? Why is it not included here? I don’t know, that’s something I’ll have to take up with Activision to find out.

The other game mode is on LIVE or PSN, which is not another game mode in reality. You go through the campaign with up to 4 people online and, as awesome as that may sound, it gets old. Perhaps some future updates or downloadable content may fix this, but I’m probably going to take the pessimistic approach and say the idea is futile. Now, if you’re wondering about the extras MUA2 provides then I’ll alleviate your worries by telling you that they’re there and plentiful. I was never a fan of the “Simulator” to begin with, but it’s nice to have it around again. In addition, you have your power-ups and only one alternate costume for your hero. That SUCKS! Even in MUA we had 4 alternate ones, but I suppose it is what it is.

In conclusion, the average gamer should give this a rental but a hardcore Marvel fan should buy it because that’s what we do, right? I’ll let you decide that one but I’ll encourage a rent for anyone even remotely interested. Grab a friend, some caffeinated beverages, and enjoy the co-op until you get bored!

Gameplay: 3/5, this would’ve been a 4 but I just can’t get over the fact that it’s essentially the exact same thing, which can get boring pretty quickly.

Graphics: 4/5, great graphics and nice colors, wherever they’re available. All the locations are creatively imagined and well done.

Sound: 3.5/5, my main qualm with the sound was the lack thereof. Cutscenes are basically your lifeless character exchanging in a discussion with a character that has voiceover, which ruins the feeling of being in the game. On a side note, however, you get to decide your responses to certain questions by being either aggressive, diplomatic, or defensive.

Presentation: 3/5 Horrible camera, ‘nuff said. Other parts of presentation were polished.

Overall: 3/5, Arkham Asylum set too high of a bar for any comic book game, but MUA2 makes a nice attempt and reminds us of its excellent predecessor. In the end, they promised more than they delivered.

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The first part of the DLC is entitled “Totally Insane” and it is a combat challenge similar to the ones you fight in the non-stealth oriented fights in the regular Challenge Mode with two twists: one, for the first time they’ve included the psychopaths (or lunatics? I think that’s what they’re called, you know which ones I’m talking about it, the ones that scream and scratch and bite you) that mix up the battle a bit, and two, it goes on FOREVER. No rounds, just a nonstop barrage of baddies for you to beat up until you can’t take it anymore. I assume the goal is a high score. I don’t how often I’d play this (though I suppose once you’ve mastered the other battles this is pretty much all there is left), but I DID finally get my 40 combo “combat freeflow” achievement that just a week ago seemed like an impossible task.

The other half of the DLC is, as you might have guessed, a predator challenge called “Nocturnal Hunter,” and it has you taking out 8 armed to the teeth baddies in a map outside of Arkham proper. I can play these maps all day, and I had a fun time experimenting with the very specific medals they ask of you. Nothing more to really add, other than is a very well done little map for a predator challenge – lots of hiding spots, escape paths, wall to explode, and of course, gargoyles.

So that’s about it – is it worth FREE? What do you think?!?! It’s more Batman! And I’ll also say this: its way better than Dem Bones, the useless DLC I got for pre-ordering at GameStop, which made me regret pre-ordering with GameStop (they put STICKERS on my NEW GAME!) Anyways, if you own the game, go and download this right now!

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After a night-long adventure on tour around the world, I’m back and ready to report on this rock and roll experience. Rock Band: The Beatles is similar to recent Guitar Hero titles that feature Aerosmith, Metallica, and (soon) Van Halen. However, unlike Activision’s titles, this swingin’ 60s spinoff features only the main event. You will spend the entire game as John, Paul, George and Ringo, moving through their career and their music from Liverpool until the end of Abbey Road.

The game features 45 of the group’s top songs, from “I Wanna Hold Your Hand,” to “Octopus’s Garden.” All of the tracks sound wonderful, as all were digitally remastered specifically for this game. Every guitar note, every sitar pluck is crystal clear. The auditory experience is then enhanced further by the hordes of screaming teenage girls that flail and faint during just about every track, and the chatter of the band members that can be heard in between. These little touches really give the game a personal feel.

Visually, the Liverpool lads are also given star treatment. In most music game titles it is very hard to watch the characters on screen while you’re in the heat of things, but in this game you’ll be fighting to keep your eyes on your fretboard. The story mode goes through the band’s career. From their early performances across the Atlantic, to their debut on the Ed Sullivan Show, all the way to their final rooftop performance in 1969, you’ll see flawlessly recreated venues. That’s not to mention the band members themselves, who undergo a transformation from well-dressed Brits to long-haired hippies before you can say, “Day Tripper.” Even the fretboards themselves look like magical rainbows out of an acid trip.

The developers really took great care to make sure everything in this game was faithful to the Beatles name. Paul, Ringo, and Yoko Ono were even involved in production, and helped with a lot of the creative choices. You can’t get closer first-hand advice than that.

The tracks themselves are surprisingly difficult for what basically amount to 3-chord songs. The developers blended together several guitar parts, and even allow for the player to finger notes made by different instruments. All this is a staple in the Rock Band franchise, and was done in the name of making the game more challenging. They definitely succeeded. The game’s story mode is not sorted by difficulty, and you’ll be running into a nice mix of easy tracks and hard licks for the duration. Several of the songs left me with cramped hands, and though none of them were exactly “Free Bird,” there is plenty here to keep your fingers dancing the tango.

Now, let’s talk bonus material. You can unlock a bonus photograph of the band in story mode by completing each song with 3 stars,  another for 5 stars, and you get another for completing each venue. As you accumulate photographs, you’ll also unlock other bonus materials, including historic videos of the actual band. The need to get all of this bonus material will keep you coming back to the game and shooting for those five stars, so yay for replay value.

As far as innovation goes, I’m sorry to say there isn’t much. However, that’s what Guitar Hero 5 is out for. I don’t think you’re picking up Rock Band: The Beatles expecting a brand new revolutionized music game experience.  You’re probably getting this for, very simply, the Beatles, and seeing as you will get just that in every feasible sense, I cannot dock points for lack of innovation.

Rock Band: The Beatles delivers on almost every front. It recreates the feel of having been on tour with the group in the 60s, gives you a challenging gameplay experience, and rewards you with prizes that are actually worth shooting for. With the promise of more downloadable material to come, I have to say that this game will hold a very high place on my shelf until Rock Band: Led Zeppelin comes out sometime late next century.

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A few months ago I got wind that Turtles in Time was being  remade with updated  graphics, due to be released on Xbox Live. An irrational excitement came over me. I got flashbacks of sitting in front of my SNES, playing through the game, and then popping in my VHS copy of some episodes to get pumped up  enough to go for another round. Ok, I know I’m not alone on this. Hopefully.

Skip  forward to August 5th, 2009. After the game has downloaded, and I’ve made a few phone calls to make sure my friends have downloaded it as well, I start the time machine up and jumped into this revamped classic. The game starts out great with a stylized  2D animatic explaining the story. Sadly, from here on in the disappointment begins.

At the main menu, instead of being greeted by the cheesy (but great) Turtles theme, we get a watered down rock soundtrack. Forgivable, but sad nonetheless. After you’ve picked your turtle, you jump into the game. It looks fantastic, retaining the classic cartoon look with the updated 3d renderings and visuals. The animations never looked better, and the controls are solid. You really can’t fail a simple “beat ‘em up” control system.

The game is fluid, easy to play, and fun to beat. Now, you’re probably wondering about that disappointment I was talking about. All the things that make this remake a great remake are also its downfalls. If I’m not mistaken, this was a combination of both the arcade and SNES versions. At least it seems that way, but the game is extremely short. Many levels from the SNES version have been removed, in addition to enemies and bosses. The game time runs about 35 to 45 minutes on single player and less on multi. Now, this may not have been such a big problem if it weren’t for the high price point.

For the price of the game I would expect a couple of things. Yeah, its great that they held true to the original, but they could have put an effort into implementing a combo system with counters to add more depth to the game play. With so many “beat ‘em up” games that have come and gone you would think that adding an option for a bit more flair would come to mind. Possibly something similar to Street Fighter  with optional style types. Updated or original?  The game modes are broken into three types. Story, survival and the unnecessary quick play. Why make a short game shorter?  Survival mode is fun, especially with a group, but nonetheless has very little replay value. The second thing I would have loved to have seen is inclusion of the original arcade version. That would have added the much needed replay value to justify the price.

Looking back on the game, they did a great job for what it is and I’m happy that Ubisoft was able to take the time to bring this to the fans. My lasting impression of the game though, is that it’s just not worth the price of the download, unless you’re a hard core fan of the series, but even then prepare for some disappointment.

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That being said: I love UFC Undisputed 2009. The game is a godsend. Undisputed is arguably (pay close attention that word!), the best fighting game out there right now. Not only did this game shatter my perception of all fighting games, but it tore through my sleep and work schedule as I spent countless hours fighting and getting my ass handed to me. Eventually though, with the proper training and work, I built fighters in the incredibly entertaining although repetitive “Career” mode and upped my game literally piece by piece. Having done so, I will analyze it in the same vain.

One thing is certain: the game’s tutorial is not a joke, it is information that all players, especially newcomers, need to understand in order to get the full effect of the game. Do not, under any circumstances, make the mistake of automatically signing on to Xbox Live without comprehending the game sufficiently first. I made the mistake, and I scored about 12 losses because of, as Joe Rogan always exclaims in the game, “vicious ground and pound!” before I finally decided “I hate this game” and set it aside. Not to worry though, I picked it back up in less than 5 minutes and ran through the tutorial; I finally understood that it is not only the standing strikes that matter but also the clinch, grappling, and ground system are an intricate part of this game and need to be mastered in order to achieve the desired results.

Now, on to Career mode. Ultimately, it is similar to any other game in which you create a character and build their stats from the ground up. You have a choice of investing a week’s training in either strength, speed, or cardio. Instead, you can also use that week’s time to spar with a CPU partner to gain valuable skill points that are distributed into the character’s different abilities, e.g. standing kicks, ground striking, takedown offense, submission defense, and so on. Growth serves an important part in the game as you are given a certain amount of time before you are forced to go head to head with, usually, a real UFC fighter from the division (heavyweight, light heavyweight, middleweight, welterweight and lightweight) you have chosen. It is your choice as to whom you wish to fight with typically 3 fighters to choose from. Meanwhile, you are inclined to participate in activities such as autograph signings to increase your credibility as well as “camp invites” which are opportunities for you to learn new moves and up your striking and grappling techniques. The career mode, however, only lets your fighter go up to almost 8 years before you are forced to retire. Did I mention that throughout this entire thing you get e-mails? Oh yeah, you get tons of e-mails. Trash-talking, Dana’s thoughts on your fight, sometimes even messages from the fighters you’re going up against. With that being said, creating a fighter and finishing Career mode helps make this game incredibly fun.

In addition to Career mode, you have the Classic Fights, Exhibition, and XBOX Live modes which are all relatively self-explanatory. But hey, I’m such a nice guy I’ll give you some insight anyway! The Classic Fights mode lets you do just that: fight classic fights such as Griffin vs. Bonnar from season one of The Ultimate Fighter. Exhibition mode lets you duke it out with your favorite UFC fighters, even allowing you to use your CAF (create-a-fighter character, the same one used in Career mode).

The XBOX Live feature is excellent, also allowing you to use your CAFs (an aside: you can have 100 CAF fighters) in either a player match or a ranked match. However, the system is severely flawed. Though the update released several days ago fixed issues such as gamers leaving at the end of a fight to avoid having a loss in their ranked stats, lag is still a huge issue that could potentially decide the winner and loser of a fight and often times makes gameplay extremely frustrating. Another enormous complaint that I have is that the game does not let you search for fights with those who are in your level range, but instead can pit anyone against you. This means if you are at level  1, your first fight could be against someone that is at level 100, and although they don’t have too much to gain, when you get higher up the rank you have more at stake. But overall, the XBOX Live feature is a welcome addition to a game already full of addicting play.

For all of the game’s faults, THQ has done a relatively adept job at recreating the MMA experience and has given me a larger-than-life hope for UFC Undisputed 2010. Certainly it will be interesting in the future to see whether EA can rival THQ’s addicting, yet severely flawed, game. My prediction is that regardless of the UFC/EA feud, the releases from both parties will provide for endless hours of fun for the rest of us.

Gameplay: 5/5, hands down the funnest fighting game I have ever played. Hasn’t been out of my XBOX in weeks.

Graphics: 4/5, although the graphics are done well as it is THQ’s legacy, some improvements need to be made in order to get a more realistic feel.

Sound: 3/5, same repetitive music and announcements which are great at first but get annoying later on as you play the game over and over again.

Presentation: 3.5/5, the presentation isn’t bad by any means, but there are far too many load screens.

Overall: 4/5, what it really comes down to is that a game is as fun as its gameplay, and take it from me: Undisputed provides a ton!

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On July 23, 8 months after HD blew us all away, Studio Liverpool brought us its first (and hopefully not last) expansion pack – Wipeout HD Fury.   Fury contained eight new tracks, four of which are available in reverse as well; three new game modes; six new music tracks; and boosted stats, new models and three new skins for each of its ships.  If you need to re-read all that, I’ll wait.

Okay, let’s get back to business.  The most important part of Fury is obviously the new menu skin, which has a black background and zillions of little yellow and red particles that swarm and disintegrate to look like the ships from the game, not to mention some real badass menu music that reminds me of Moby’s opening theme for John Waters’ Cecil B Demented.  I guess I can talk about that other stuff too, though.

The new tracks are split into two groups:  the racing tracks (Talon’s Junction, The Amphiseum, Tech de Ra and Modesto Heights) and the Zone tracks (Pro Tozo, Mallavol, Corridon 12 and Syncopia).  Some uphill curves and sudden drops can seem jarring at first, but before you know it you’ll be pulling barrel rolls by the time the tail end of your ship is barely off the ground.  Appearance-wise, all is still beautiful.  Tech de Ra specifically brings some much-needed natural ambiance to the game and seems even more environmental than Sebenca Climb’s snow-covered mountain caps at times.  Syncopia offers a staircase-style series of cliffs on a straightaway that you’ll find yourself jumping down two at a time by Subsonic speed on Zone mode.

Oh, and Talon’s Junction has two speed pads planted on a frickin’ loop-de-loop.  Yeah, like a Sonic the Hedgehog loop-de-loop.

It may be called Fury because all three new game modes are pure aggression.  Eliminator is the first Wipeout game mode to set infinite laps and award points for damage and eliminations done to opponents, with all racers working towards a common points target.  A quick press of L1 spins your ship around so you can fight the baddies head-on.  FINALLY, we won’t waste a Quake when we’re in first place.  Detonator mixes Zone with target shooting.  There’s no independent aiming, so you shoot where your ship’s nose points.  This can be awkward and frustrating, but then again so can Wipeout.  Zone Battle challenges all racers in a Zone mode to race for the top speed unit.  Running over speed pads builds up your boost ability or shield usage.  Boosting makes you permanently go faster and plants a hexagonal wall on the track in hopes of forcing other racers into it, Wile E Coyote style.  Using your shield will let you break through these walls unharmed.

Fury isn’t found in gameplay alone; the music is angrier as well.  Noisia’s “Machine Gun,” the song from the downloadable trailer, sounded cute and bland to me in that 60-second clip, but the song shapeshifts twice to become a rampaging behemoth and a four-on-the-floor march. Crystal Method’s “Acetone” never outstays its welcome, and its grinding synth bassline feels steady and mean throughout, like the first half of Josh Wink’s classic “Higher State of Consciousness.” Overall, cross the new Prodigy album with the first Urbal Beatscompilation and you’ve got it.  Great tunes to add to an aging soundtrack.

HD’s online mode has evolved greatly since its inception, from fixing bugs to adding ranks and badges a la Call of Duty 4 (minus perks and upgrades).   Up to 8 players, customizable game modes, 12-race tournaments and more await you.  It continues to get better and better and I can’t wait to see what they add next – but if Studio Liverpool can hear me, I’m shouting clans and team-based game modes.

All in all, it’s fun, it’s fast, it’s beautiful, it almost doubles the Wipeout HD experience and at $9.99 it’s a steal at twice the price.  Wipeout HD Fury isn’t my favorite racing game of this generation – it’s the only one.

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However, in this overdone world of tanks, dogfights and gattling guns, there are some theaters of war that have been overlooked. The American Civil War, for example, has never gotten much attention in video game media, and for good reason. An exclusively American conflict is not likely to get much attention outside of the States. But, Ubisoft has managed to use that conflict to set a grander scene, that of the wild western frontier. A world of lawlessness and chaos, of heroes and vigilantes and, dare I say it, gunslingers. Cowboys and Indians, Confederates and Yankees. God, I could go on forever. This is exactly what Ubisoft has put forward in their new multi-platform release, Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood.

The original Call of Juarez managed to slip under the radar for most gamers, and that’s okay. It was plagued by design flaws and a very scattered storyline. However, this new prequel has outdone itself to redeem the series and to create a western game that outshines Outlaws and the Red Dead series.

Players take on the role of two brothers, Ray and Thomas McCall, who become Confederate Army deserters very early into the game. Taking their little brother William on the run with them, they flee the war scene, and after the Confederate surrender at Appomattox (remember your history, boys and girls), they find themselves fugitives on the western frontier. Life on the lam quickly becomes a search for gold and riches, which becomes riddled with betrayal and bloodlust.

The story is beautifully woven. You watch the evolution of your two main characters, mostly through William’s eyes as he narrates, making your way through the Wild West. Along the way, you confront Indians, renegade Confederates, and even banditos, all out to either get you for their own personal reasons, or to beat you to the legendary cursed treasure of Juarez. You really get to see the Wild West in a real way that many of us have not experienced since Clint Eastwood retired from the scene. …or at least not since Back to the Future Part 3.

Gameplay is fluid and fun. The game is a first person shooter, adhering to the standards of the genre, but allowing you to alternate between two different characters for different experiences and replay value. Ray, armed with duel revolvers and dynamite and the occasional gattling gun, seems to prefer brute force. Thomas is more about finesse, brandishing a rifle, a lasso and bow. Most chapters allow you to take your pick between the two brothers, catering to your individual style of play, and you can always go back and try each chapter again with the other brother. The two often behave cooperatively which is a nice touch, but it makes me wonder why Ubisoft did not include an option to play the game cooperatively with a second player. It seems almost built for that, and the lack of such an option when the game does include multiplayer just comes off as lazy.

The “concentration modes” are also a nice touch. Concentration modes are either player-executed or event-executed slow motion sequences that allow you to pick off multiple enemies very quickly and easily before you take too much damage. On paper, this sounds like a Max Payne ripoff, but it most certainly is not. This is done differently and when it is finished (and a pile of corpses is on the ground before you), you wish you had a real revolver to spin on your finger. Think of how cool you could look in your living room doing that!

Gameplay is also quite diverse, mixing up the traditional first-person experience with little mini-games as well. You’ll find yourself shooting from horseback and defending a stagecoach from the inside at different points. Most notably, there are occasional gun-duels as well. You’ll have to drop a given opponent quick-draw style before that opponent drops you. I think that this experience is the very essence of the desperado gunslinger, and its inclusion in the game scores major points on its own.

I have to talk about the graphics and sound in this game together because they are so intertwined. First of all, let’s get the bad out of the way. On the PC version, I did encounter some graphic glitches, clashes and flaws. I do not know if this holds on the console versions as well, but while these glitches were irritating, they did not detract to much from what is otherwise a piece of art. That’s really all I have to say on that.

Visually, Bound in Blood is beautiful. The PC version has a good set of graphic settings to cater to a range of machines, and the console versions adhere to current-gen standards. You do feel like you’re in the old west, from the dusty gales to the batwing doors the graphics hold true to the experience. The characters are drawn well and the animation style is very realistic. As far as the action goes, shooting someone has never felt as gratifying as it does in this game. You pull the trigger, the gun goes off with a nice, solid crash, the smoke spits out the back and your opponent crumples while your character thumbs back the hammer for another shot. You can almost smell the gunpowder.

The music also blends nicely with the scenery. Epic getaway tunes play as you’re trying to outrun the law or a gang of bandits, and the rest of the score is very subtle but fitting.

I’m just going to speak briefly about the multiplayer aspect of the game. You are not going to see anything here you have not seem before. Like I mentioned, there is no cooperative aspect of the game. You will find a number of options of team based shoot-em-ups, and several different classes and customizations you may select to play as. It’s all solidly done, more so than you might expect from a game like this, but there is nothing original. The play is very similar to Call of Duty, despite the different setting, and multiplayer is still plagued by several technical and connectivity issues that have left many fans clamoring for a quick patch.

Over all, the game is a good play. There are a lot of things it does well, it adds to a genre that is underpopulated and it is innovative. Despite slight problems with visual and multiplayer modes, Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood is definitely recommended to first-person shooter fans who are looking for a new angle. Try out a different conflict, and take an escape from today’s norm in war games. Yee haw, cowboy. …sorry, I couldn’t help it.

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