So, like I've done with Cargo Commander and Mirror's Edge, when I think games are worth playing, I try to put my money where my mouth is and encourage other people to play them as a small way of increasing publicity for the game.
This time around it's Call of Juarez Gunslinger. $15 on Steam, and it's already had a patch to allow FOV configuration, fix some stuttering, and add some other options/bugfixes (though I did not run into a single bug in my first playthrough, as far as I know).
Disclaimer: As always, I am not affiliated with anyone who made the game, and am merely encouraging support for it because I enjoyed it. I have only purchased 5 games on Steam in 2013 (and 10 in 2012, maybe?) and this is the only one of those games I've finished in that two year period, unless I'm missing something. On normal difficulty, it took me probably 5-6 hours to play through taking my time. I'd roughly guess I got about half of the unlockables nuggets of truth, little informational cards about the old west hidden throughout the game. With new game+ you start with whatever skills you unlocked, so later playthroughs may go down to 2-3 hours.
So what is Gunslinger? Most people may have heard of the first two Call of Juarez games, and the terribly-received modern Cartel version. Gunslinger is a return to the old west style of the Juarez games, and a shorter, more focused experience. It is similar to an arcade shooting gallery with a lot of fast-paced action, but FPS-style movement and linear level design. There is no third-person cover view. If you duck to hide, you can't see. The gunplay is very satisfying, with sawed off shotguns, rifle headshots, and so forth. There are lots of little items of polish that make the game as a whole better than the sum of the parts, but it would probably take too long to go into all of those. Just to provide a brief example, when there are QTE's in the game, they are done "right" in a sense -- they make sense in the game, and even if you fail them they do not make you die. You can then get a chance to dodge Matrix-style, and/or take enemies out the normal fashion. It's more of an occasional reflex thing where you might take out an enemy sneaking up behind you.
Overall, everything forms a pretty cohesive whole, with art style, unlockable skills, shooting, voice acting, soundtrack, plot, and hidden wild west info cards blending together. The game works with M/KB, controller, or apparently both at the same time in case you want to do the occasional duels with the 360 controller. The duels were probably one of my least favorite parts, but the Steam patch already provided an extra mouse sensitivity option specifically for duels, and apparently they are also easier on controllers.
Some of the best and most unique/unexpected parts of the game are the soundtrack, which is good and has occasional Morricone style bits thrown in, the voice acting, which is classic old west narration, and how the narration and gameplay work together. I prefer not to give too many moments away since it is great when they are unexpected, but the basic idea is that a crazy old guy is drinking in a bar and telling his story in narration form as you play out his history. However, in parts someone may object and say "but I totally read in this dime novel that it was actually HIGH NOON and you were on the ROOF and did THUS AND SO", and things will suddenly rewind, the level will abruptly pause or change, and you will play through the same situation from a different perspective. It works great and is sometimes pretty funny.
I think the game is good. Not the best game ever or anything, but very good for $15. Having gushed enough, here are some quick video links.
To give you an idea of the voice acting and soundtrack:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2EzlQBRzJA
To give you an idea of the gunplay (though the video inexplicably features surf guitar which you can probably disregard
):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cROtGsZNVwk
Review by a GAF person from the official thread:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbyixFFd2Hw
Official thread:
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=562777
Finally, the giveaways. I'm buying four copies on Steam for the first four people who meet the following rules (I'm trusting you on the first two), so read carefully.
- You must like the wild west cowboy aesthetic, spaghetti western style, etc.
- You must be interested in playing the game and willing to download and try it, not just collect it.
- You must send me a PM with the following text copied and pasted: "I promise to play the game for at least 1 hour and post some feedback in either the Steam thread or the Gunslinger thread."
I will edit this post once 4 people have PM'd me with the above text. Good luck! I'll start getting Steam info via PM for the winners.
