 Call of Jaurez : Fun FPS, just not AMAZING 18 of 19 people found this review helpful.
Graphics
When the game started I was very impressed with the graphics. Had me thinking of Oblivion, but not quite as good. Then I noticed time of day does not pass. Each episode has its own time of day. If the episode takes place during the day or night, you can stand there forever and it will always remain either day or night.
Very good lighting effects. Hiding at night only to be spotted when lightning strikes was very cool.
Great kill animations, lots of blood and dead body physics.
Quickly though you reach interiors, and I am not talking about inside buildings. I am talking about caves and such. The textures in these underground areas are very plain and practically all the same. Floors blend in with walls and ceilings.
Gameplay
Standard FPS stuff, done it all before so I will only list the problems I encountered.
Jumping is weird. Jumping on a box or a ledge parallel to you is fine. Jumping up to climb a ledge is not very smooth. Sometimes it took me like 3 or 4 tries to do it. And trying to do it during a gun fight, not recommended.
Picking up stuff is also not that smooth. Some stuff you have to get so close to and other stuff you can pick up without standing right on top of it. You can pick up boxes and crates and barrels, even some sort of wicker baskets can be interacted with. The only time this has ever come into practice for me is when your progress is halted and you MUST build some sort of stepping apparatus to continue on. Otherwise, no need to ever pick up these types of items, though they are all over the place.
Using your whip as a swinging device fells very generic. It is almost like a point and click adventure game trying to find the exact spot to whip your whip. Hmmm...
Enemy A.I is ok. They take cover, which fps game these days do they not do that. Sometimes though they will stand right in front of you while they load their weapon. Right out in the open. Not too smart.
The hardest time I had was that in certain areas it is very difficult to find exactly where your enemy is (talking about SP, not MP). They are shooting at you but its hard to pick up the direction of the bullets. And you will spin the camera around everywhere trying to find who it is. Now this does make the game challenging and I am all for that but I would have liked a little more information to help me find them. Such as being able to decipher bullet direction via what you see. And listening intently on my 5.1 audio for the sound direction of fire. Even though someone is shooting behind you, I never just heard it on my rear speakers, instead I heard it on all of them.
It is also kinda strange that you control 2 characters yet they do not share their "special" abilities. Which basically means 1 character can climb up ledges and the other can not. 1 character can use a bow, but the other can not. 1 can hold their breath underwater and the other, you know. I just made that last one up... Seeing if the people who played the game to this point have read this far.
Save points: sStrategically placed and not a problem.
Overall
The game is not bad. Yet it is not great. I do agree with scores anywhere from 7.0 to 8.5 on any review website which is to say some people will shift to the 7.0 side; thinking it is just 1 step up from a mediocre game. And people close to the 8.5 will think it is just 1 step down from a great, wish this becomes a new franchise, awesome game.
Fun game, but just a 7/10 though for me.
Review ID: 10000000003791956  Thank you for voting. If your vote meets our guidelines, it will be posted within 24 hours. You cannot vote on the helpfulness of a review you wrote. Your request cannot be processed at this time. Please try again later.  YOUNG GAMERS...BEWARE!!!! COOL GAME...OLD FARTS!!!! Review created: 06/08/07(updated 06/09/07) 9 of 10 people found this review helpful.
FIRST OF ALL, THIS IS A '[{MATURE}]' GAME!!!!! YOU YOUNG GAMERS WILL NOT EVEN LIKE IT!! YOU OLD GAMERS WHO ARE INTERESTED IN STORYLINES (AND IS IT A GOOD STORY!!!) WILL LIKE IT.
IT'S KINDA WEIRD AT FIRST, BECAUSE YOU PLAY AS 1ST PERSON, (i.e. THE INVISIBLE HANDS, YOU CAN ONLY SEE YOUR FEET AND SHADOW) BUT IT IS EXTREMELY EFFECTIVE TO DRAW YOU INTO THE STORY. YOU WILL BE ON THE EDGE OF YOUR SEAT AND YOU WILL DIE......ALOT.....(AT THE BEGINNING.) YOU START OUT THE GAME AS REV. RAY, AND A GATTLIN' GUN SHOOTIN' MEXICANS (SEE? MY E-BAY NAME SAYS IT ALL). THEN, YOU GO TO BILLY, A SCRAWNY KID WHO MIXES UP W/ REV. RAY, AT THE HOME OF HIS MOM AND STEP-DAD, WHO, COINCIDENTALLY ARE FOUND MURDERED..... IT TAKES A LITTLE WHILE TO GET USED TO THE CONTROLS/ACTIONS OF THE TWO OF THEM, BUT AS I SAID EARLIER; IT ALL STARTS TO PAY OFF AFTER A LITTLE WHILE. THE STORY IS REALLY COOL. IT IS NOT LIKE "GUN" AS EVERYONE LOVES TO SAY!!!
IT IS A SOMEWHAT DARK GAME, BOTH LITERALLY AND METAPHORICALLY. THE GRAPHICS ARE VERY, VERY BEAUTIFUL, BUT I HAVE THE BRIGHTNESS AND PICTURE ALL THE WAY UP, AND IT STILL SEEMS A LITTLE DARK TO ME. I SUPPOSE THAT IS TO MATCH THE STORY LINE. IN THE TOWNS, THIS IS ANNOYING, ESPECIALLY DURING A GUN-FIGHT, BUT DOES NOT DETRACT FROM THE GAMEPLAY.
I CAN NOT SAY THIS ENOUGH! IF YOU HAVEN'T DONE YOUR HOMEWORK WITH THIS ONE, SEEN WHAT THE STORY IS ALL ABOUT, ETC...YOU PROBABLY WON'T LIKE IT. MARK MY WORDS, THIS IS A FIRST PERSON SHOOTER, ALRIGHT; BUT THERE IS A LOT TO IT. MOVING BOXES, ESCAPING & HIDING IS PRETTY MUCH KEY TO THIS FPS. YOUR HEALTH IS SIMILAR TO CALL OF DUTY 2, WHEN YOU SEE RED....HIDE! THE STORY MOVES KINDA SLOW AT FIRST, BUT THEN IS VERY ENGROSSING AND IS HARD TO PUT DOWN. AND....YOU DON'T SPEND AN ETERNITY PLAYING ONE OR THE OTHER. OBVIOUSLY, REV. RAY IS THE BEST TO PLAY, BUT BILLY HAS A WHIP...HEH-HEH-HEH!!!
ALL TRUTH BE TOLD.....FOR AS COOL AS THE STORY LINE IS, FOR ALL THE GORGEOUS GRAPHICS THERE ARE, THIS IS DEFINATELY A RENTAL GAME. TRY IT FIRST, THEN IF YOU LIKE IT, BUY IT. HOWEVER, THE REPLAY VALUE IS VERY LOW. THERE IS REALLY NO CHARACTER INTERACTION OR "REAL-OPEN-GAMEPLAY" WITH THIS, SO SOMETIMES YOU'LL FEEL AS IF YOU'RE BEING 'TUNNELED' INTO GAMEPLAY.
YOU'LL PROBABLY PLAY THIS ONE ONCE OR TWICE......AFTER THAT, IT'LL BE A "LOW-GRADE" TRADE-IN.
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