Call of Juarez: Gunslinger was made for me. In the tradition of my favorite arcade-styled rail shooters, Gunslinger creates a score-chasing, repeatable FPS framework feels great and offers a chaining system that nudges you in the direction of getting hooked on improvement. I've only beaten the game once so far, but I expect that it'll be the first of many clears.
But interestingly, it's really Call of Juarez' narrative which makes it so special. Told through the frame narrative of Silus Greaves recounting his past exploits over drinks at the bar, Gunslinger expertly harmonizes its storytelling with its gunplay.
As Greaves recounts his adventures you play through them, the environment and enemies responding in real-time to his near-continuous narration across the 3-4 hour campaign. He'll lie, misremember, or change his story on the fly, and the scenario will change around you. Targets will be subbed out for new ones, seasons will change in front of your eyes, paths will open and close. You'll be thrown forwards in time, backwards in it, sometimes you'll redo whole sections from new perspectives as Greaves' barmates argue the legitimacy of his stories and offer different accounts.
This is the sort of narrative that best exemplifies the storytelling possibilities in the medium of games. The experience of the gameplay context changing seamlessly in accordance with the adequately hammy dialog is a brilliant, game-specific design approach.
An absolutely essential single-player FPS.
But interestingly, it's really Call of Juarez' narrative which makes it so special. Told through the frame narrative of Silus Greaves recounting his past exploits over drinks at the bar, Gunslinger expertly harmonizes its storytelling with its gunplay.
As Greaves recounts his adventures you play through them, the environment and enemies responding in real-time to his near-continuous narration across the 3-4 hour campaign. He'll lie, misremember, or change his story on the fly, and the scenario will change around you. Targets will be subbed out for new ones, seasons will change in front of your eyes, paths will open and close. You'll be thrown forwards in time, backwards in it, sometimes you'll redo whole sections from new perspectives as Greaves' barmates argue the legitimacy of his stories and offer different accounts.
This is the sort of narrative that best exemplifies the storytelling possibilities in the medium of games. The experience of the gameplay context changing seamlessly in accordance with the adequately hammy dialog is a brilliant, game-specific design approach.
An absolutely essential single-player FPS.