Call of Juarez Gunslinger is 10 years old by this point, but the graphics hold up due to the cartoony style. The bright, colourful style makes people draw comparisons to Borderlands. I haven’t played the other games in the series but it seems the previous game; The Cartel was much maligned.
You play as bounty hunter Silas Greaves bounty hunter who arrives at the Saloon in Abilene. There he tells his stories to a curious crowd.
As you play the levels, the dialogue overlays the action, and you end up in situations where his audience questions a detail, and Silas corrects himself which then changes in the scene e.g. the types or number of enemies. He even describes venturing into the mines which doesn't end well, so he then corrects himself and says it was a stupid idea, so he went an alternate route, then you see planks of wood falling into place to make a bridge. I do wonder if they took influence from Bastion with the narration and the way the levels can form around you.
Along the way he meets, or battles the likes of Billy the Kid, Jesse James, Johnny Ringo, and Butch Cassidy. Often these battles are questioned when his audience claim they are still alive, or died in a different battle. Silas sometimes adds the addition that the bullet wound wasn't fatal.
Aside from the presentation though, it's really just a fairly standard first-person shooter. You will be using revolvers, shotguns, rifles, while dynamite acts as a grenade. An unlockable ability allows you to dual wield weapons. There's some bullet-time moments where Silas can "concentrate" to slow time and highlight enemies. He can have a chance to dodge a fatal bullet, which is on a cooldown timer. Silas can take a fair few hits, and has regenerating health when staying out of the firing line. You are constantly looking for cover, hiding behind objects like rocks or buildings, then popping out for a few hits.
You are scored on your performance. I think it was a basic 50 XP for a standard kill but you'd get more for a headshot like 150 then further bonuses for combo kills and if it was a long-range kill. You can sometimes take advantage of explosive barrels for multiple kills.
When you level up, there's 3 categories that you can assign your point to: Gunslinger, Ranger, Trapper which are geared towards the gun types.
The boss battles come down to a standoff where you eye up your enemy and wait until they are about to draw their weapon. You can draw first which is classed as a dishonourable kill. You move your hand to hover over the gun, and move the target reticule over your opponent who slowly paces side to side. When he begins to draw, you click to draw, then click again to shoot, possibly adjusting the reticule to aim. There's a few variations on this mechanic, like one where you just have to dodge all his bullets, and the final battle which is a 3-way Mexican standoff, so you have to toggle between the targets.
5.5 hours might be a little short for some, but that's pretty standard for FPS games. Better players could finish it a bit quicker than I did; since I did replay sections of the final levels which featured a difficulty spike. There's a new game plus mode and "arcade mode" which is pretty much just the campaign chapters with a leaderboard system.
The Western theme works well with the FPS genre, and the presentation gives it a lot of charm and makes it stand out.