No One Lives Forever

Zany 1960s spy aesthetic, hilariously clever writing, unique mission objectives and an endearing protagonist. What more could you want? No One Lives Forever was also releasing in a post-Half-Life era where stronger story-telling was valued in first person shooters. Alas, its success wasn’t to be. Despite rave reviews from critics, NOLF would release in November 2000 and only sell 36,501 copies by the end of the year. Even worse is the fact that current-generation players can’t experience it due to muddled IP rights. Nevertheless, whatever the future may hold, Cate Archer will forever be in our hearts.

It’s an unlikely return, but it seems that Call of Juarez: Gunslinger is making a come back at the end of the year. The western styled game may not be like your fancy Red Dead Redemption, but it sure is quite a barrel of fun for you to take on the go.

The announcement trailer is below, which you can check out. The game was originally launched on the PS3, 360 and PC in 2013, and is a first person arcade style shooter where you must take on some of the worst of the worst legends of the wild west. The Switch version will contain all the content of the original release as well as add motion controls and HD rumble.

Call of Juarez: Gunslinger will release on December 10th for the Nintendo Switch. If you’re curious about the game, you can read our review of the original release to give you an idea of what to expect.

Ubisoft’s Call of Juarez has been resurrected thanks to Techland which recently acquired the publishing rights for the franchise. The company has had a hand in developing Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood and The Cartel along with Dead Island and the ever-popular Dying Light.

Along with re-releasing Call of Juarez: Gunslinger, which had been delisted from Steam, it’s offering the game for a 33 percent discount. Techland Publishing CPO Adam Lason, “The Call of Juarez series received a great reception and support from a huge community of players.

“As Techland Publishing moves forward as a leading publisher, we are delighted to welcome Call of Juarez: Gunslinger to our publishing division…We would like to thank Ubisoft for its incredible work publishing the Call of Juarez games. We’ll continue the great efforts of Ubisoft and support the fans of the Call of Juarez universe in the same dutiful and passionate way.”

With Techland holding the rights, it seems possible that more games could be released in the future. Given how experienced Techland is with the franchise, it would be a natural fit. It’s not like the popularity of Wild West games is wearing off any time soon with the imminent release of Wild West Online and Red Dead Redemption 2 receiving a new trailer this Thursday while releasing in October 2018.

Will we see other Call of Juarez games be re-released? That remains to be seen but the franchise has a future now.

Red Dead Redemption 

Of course no list of games where you can be a gunslinger would be complete without Rockstar’s western epic, Red Dead Redemption. The tale of John Marston takes the best elements of the open worlds that Rockstar is so good at making, and gave it one of the classic Clint Eastwood style stories of revenge and well…redemption, and that glorious combination is what makes the game so beloved. It’s only here on the list because of just how obvious it is.

Guillemot also revealed that he was “very happy” with the sales performance of Call of Juarez: Gunslinger, another digital download title developed by Techland that sees a return to the Wild West approach that the series became well known for.

Does this mean that we’ll see other digital downloadable titles from Ubisoft, most notably spin-offs or compact gameplay experiences based on popular franchises? Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon did rather well with critics while Call of Juarez: Gunslinger was a rather average entry by critical standards.

Game Overview:

Call of Juarez: Gunslinger  is a first person shooter game. It is published by Ubisoft.

Call of Juarez: Gunslinger will once again follow a western themed storyline and gameplay. The game will feature three unique game modes and will follow the plot of a  bounty hunter called Silas Greaves.

Check out the video walkthrough of Call of Juarez: Gunslinger below and let us know if you have any questions in the comments section below.

For video game guides, tips and wikis, check out our gaming portal here.

The game is scheduled to be released on May 25th 2013 via Steam, Playstation Network and Xbox Live Arcade.

• 1. Development
• 2. Story
• 3. Gameplay

Development

While Call of Juarez: The Cartel tried to make a cowboy game in a modern setting, Gunslinger returns to the wild west with cowboys, saloons and open terrain.

Techland’s approach to Call of Juarez: Gunslinger was to include some of the elements from Bound in Blood.

Story

Silas Greaves is a man who regales a few people at a saloon with stories of his past adventures. As an ex-bounty hunter, Silas encounters many legends such as Billy the Kid, Pat Garrett, Jesse James, Curly Bill, the Dalton Gang, Johnny Ringo, Curly Bill, Butch Cassidy, the Sundance Kid, Wyatt Earp, Henry Plummer and John Wesley Hardin. Silas encounters and must also hunt down the outlaws to claim their bounty.

Techland also revealed a musical trailer for the game, titled “The Ballad of Silas Greaves”, which describes the bounty hunter  as the “four holstered Reaper”.

Gameplay

The developers have largely improved the gameplay. Players will have access to new areas like an abandoned steamboat, sawmills, a gold mine and much more, each with their fair share of dangers. Different missions include train robberies, shoot-outs at the abandoned steamboat and plenty of hunting for bounties.

The game in terms of shooting is now more stylish and frenzied. The more kills you get, the more XP points are awarded with which you can purchase a set of skill upgrades. These help improve the one’s gun-slinging tactics and feature throwbacks to previous games wherein players could gun down multiple enemies in the blink of an eye. The last ability was seen in previous games as the Concentration Mode, which makes a return here. It can also be upgraded using experience points. Other abilities include Sense of Death which allows you to dodge a lethal bullet. [reference]

Such abilities include slowing down time, faster reloading times and more. Call of Juarez: Gunslinger will reportedly feature various types of guns and explosives, including the classic rifle, dynamite, gatling gun, quick shooter, Ranger, sawed off shotgun, sawed off rifle shotgun, and six shooter.

The game will feature different modes such as Arcade Mode of which the player can visit a previous level and try and get a high score. There is also a Story Mode and Duel Mode for playing.

In terms of collectibles, there are Nuggets of Truth, which contain information on the different characters in the game, along with providing factual information on the different events as they played out in history and locations.

Call of Juarez returns against the odds though, this time going back to the old west with Gunslinger. The action is altered to present a more arcade experience, but it is one that makes Gunslinger the most satisfying Call of Juarez yet.

The gunplay is simplified over previous titles. The ambitious cover system of Bound in Blood is scaled back to a more pure shooting experience, one that is mimicked by the weapons on offer. Between pistols, shotguns and a rifle here and there, the selection of guns is minimal. It plays well into the refined nature of the gunplay and, though the limited selection can become monotonous, the sound design and weighty feel of the weapons keeps things satisfying.

It’s not all about clearing rooms though, with a score system rating your gunslinging performance. There aren’t quite as many special kills as in titles like Bulletstorm or The Club, but the focus on combos gives the game a real sense of momentum and flow. Chaining kills together and timing your reloads to keep the combo going proves to be a surprisingly deep and addictive gameplay experience. Slow motion concentration powers add to the basic mechanics, and the choice of three upgrade paths as you level up adds a further layer of strategy to complement your score hunting.

The story mode is the best place to start, offering gentle tutorials where required. It follows bounty hunter Silas Greaves as he recounts his greatest tales to a group in a saloon. The frame narrative provides some clever shifts to the story as Greaves misremembers and embellishes on elements of his tale. It also allows for a veritable greatest hits of Western moments, as Silas recalls his encounters with famous outlaws and sherrifs like Billy the Kid and Pat Garrett. It isn’t always the most tightest of scripts, but it’s witty and self aware enough to raise a smile more often than not.

Peppered amongst the usual gunplay in story mode are a mixed bag of embellishments. Duels return from the older Juarez titles, and are as as tense as ever. They require that fine mix of concentration and pure reaction, arguably capturing the thrill of pistols at dawn better than any other Western-themed game.

There is also a totally separate duel challenge mode that sees you surviving multiple encounters and, as interesting an addition as it is, it gets old very quickly. On the worse end of the set piece scale are gattling gun-wielding boss encounters that equate to little more than spamming explosives their way. It’s never more enjoyable than that, and it adds to some already stagnant level designs. It doesn’t ruin the story experience, but the campaign is not totally consistent in quality as a result.

The real meat of the game is likely to be found in Gunslinger’s arcade mode. Distilling the game to its core score attack element results in a focused and thrilling gameplay experience, one that is likely to keep you chasing higher leaderboard score for months. Rather than sporting the persistent skill trees and unlocks seen in the story mode, Arcade sees you selecting different pre-set loadouts, adding yet another reason to go back to a given level. It’s a satisfying and streamlined mode, and one that plays into the mechanics’ inherent strengths.

The Wild West shenanigans are wrapped up in a pseudo-cartoon graphical style that, whilst great to look at, is not the most relevant of aesthetic choices. It adds a brightness to the usually murky graphics of the Call of Juarez series, marking a definite improvement, but it doesn’t always reflect the gritty themes of the Wild West. Still, it does look smooth and, for a cheap and cheerful Xbox Live Arcade title, there are no complaints about the visual fidelity in Call of Juarez: Gunslinger.

It’s ironic that Gunslinger manages to pack more into a £11 DLC game than the previous Juarez titles managed in a full retail package. The story isn’t the longest, but it offers a decent amount of content that is infinitely bolstered by the arcade and duel challenge modes. There’s also a new game plus option in the story mode for the truly dedicated gunslingers out there.

Overall we have a package that consistently seems more aware of its goals than any Juarez game before it. By focusing on stylish and satisfying arcade shooting, the series has spawned its best title yet, and the cheaper downloadable price tag makes the offering all the sweeter. For the asking price, Gunslinger is an easy buy for any fans of Spaghetti Westerns or arcade FPS games.

This game was reviewed on Xbox 360.

Call of Juarez Gunslinger lets players will live the epic journey of Silas Greaves, a ruthless bounty hunter who spent his life on the trail of the West’s most notorious outlaws.  Now it is Silas’ time to tell his story, which is linked to the history of the Wild West era: a mix of myths and historical facts.

The game is due on May 22nd for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC.

What do you think of the launch trailer above? Will you be picking up the game?

Let us know in the comments section below.

Stay tuned to GamingBolt for more news and updates.

But Greaves himself is no slouch – he’s infact described as “the four holstered reaper” in a new Ballad for Silas Greaves trailer released by Ubisoft for their upcoming action shooter Call of Juarez: Gunslinger

Developed by Techland, Gunslinger will see a return to the old Western style of gameplay that defined the franchise (after the disastrous Call of Juarez: The Cartel). The game will reportedly feature three modes with Story, Arcade and Duel, and release on May 25th for Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network and Steam.

Ubisoft has also released a bunch of new screenshots for the game, showing off the sumptuous art style and environments. Have a look below and tell us what you think in the comments.