With improvements in almost every section. Bound in Blood is a great follow up.
Graphics: The Graphics have seen an update, but they are nothing amazing. First the good: The voice acting and dialogue is top notch, the draw distances are pretty good, the sound effects for guns, explosions, etc are pretty well done. Like the first game the best part of the graphics are environments which look great with some lush forests, running water, and gold mines. The Western atmosphere is great and gives you that authentic feel. The only real negative is that a lot of the character models and designs for a lot of the enemies look rather generic and they kind of look the same after a while. That and the raw power isn't the greatest so don't except to see triple A graphics. and there are minor problems such as glitches and some animation issues. All in all the game looks pretty good for the most part and that atmosphere will more than likely make up for its short comings.
Gameplay: The gameplay sees an improvement over the first, but like I said before, it is still a shooter at heart. The shooting feels a lot tighter and easier to pull off this time around and they got rid of those really annoying first person platforming and stealth sections from the first game. Like the first game you play as two different characters Ray and Thomas. Ray is more focused on strength and can take more of a hit, he can duel wield pistols and use dynamite, he is much better for a more "in your face" kind of method. Thomas is more focused on agility and is better at farther range, he also has a lasso which he can use to get to hard to reach areas. What I like in this game is that there are actually some set pieces here and there, such as fighting in the Civil War, which is pretty epic in its own right, or a Native American village being attacked by unknown forces. Now like I said before, the game is a shooter and it is not going to rewrite the books on gameplay. So if you are sick of shooters in general then this is not going to change your mind. And I will say that after a while the game can get a little repetitive especially toward the end. However if you like Westerns and you are not sick of shooters, then I say check it out, it won't rewrite the books, but what it does right, it does damn good.
Multiplayer: There is multplayer and extra missions, but I didn't get to it enough, and I am really sorry for not reviewing the entire package as a whole. It is not fair to you or me, so I will make it a goal to get the entire package down from here on out.
Over all:
Story: 9 A very personal and a great Western story full of many great aspects that is helped by great pacing, dialogue and characters.
Graphics: 8 Nothing amazing, but they will get the job done, and the atmosphere will more than likely keep you engaged.
Gameplay: 7.5 An improvement over the first game, but it is still a shooter, no more, no less.
Multiplayer: N/A
Enjoyment: 7.5 Had a pretty good time here and I only hope that Techland will open their eyes for future games in this series (westerns!!!, not crappy modern day shooters!!!! The Cartel review will be up soon!!).
Final Score: 8