Call of Juarez: The Cartel Review (360)

Does the modern day do this game any good?

Having played the last two Call of Juarez games, I can say I have had my fair share of western fun, but will Call of Juarez: The Cartel prove to be better than its predecessors?

I wish I could say it was.

In the last games you play through the old west time period which essentially made the game unique, seeing as there are not many western games out there today. However, The Cartel plays through as a modern day western shooter, it’s not a bad idea but I prefer the old theme.

it has a co-op campaign

You can play through the campaign using one of three available, each having a slightly different take on the story. Sadly, the story doesn’t change dramatically but you will notice a few different directions here and there. I just wish I could bring myself to like the three characters in this game. Having unlikeable characters that do not seem to even like each other when working as a team doesn’t cut it and you end up not caring what’s in store for them as the game progresses.

Call of Juarez: The Cartel is running on the newest version of the Chrome 2 engine. This should mean that it looks nice and polished but it doesn’t. It looks more like a game that was made five years ago, very out-dated. Apart from the dodgy visuals, the shooting in The Cartel is actually pretty good, all the guns pack a punch and you feel like a bad ass when firing them, using the heavy weapons is especially fun!

Call of Juarez: The CartelPlaying through the game I found that it was all too repetitive and eventually I got annoyed with having to do the same thing to many times, a little variation in the objectives can go a long way for a gamer.
There are slow-motion moments in the game that tell you to use them a little often and sometimes you have no choice. These are not executed as well as they should be and feel kind of awkward. On top of that, every time you activate the slow-mo your character says the same thing over and over, “I will bathe in the blood of my enemies…Blah blah”. It was seriously grinding my gears!

There was one decent set piece that I thought was pretty awesome, you’re getting fired at by a helicopter whilst taking cover in a cliff side cabin, all of a sudden half of the cabin falls off! It gives a good shock, makes you say “WHOOA” out load! Sadly, That was one of the only “Whooa” moments to be had.

The use of vehicles in the game was actually pretty good. They drive well and some of the more action filled driving sequences can get pretty intense. However, again there just were not enough of these moments.

I came across a plethora of glitches throughout the entire game; textures pop all the time, the other guys you are blazing through the levels with constantly glitch towards their cover as if they can teleport, enemy AI has even caused me frustrating problems such as taking bullets and not even flinching. Some people may be able to see past these glitches, it happens way too much for me not to say.

Call of Juarez: The CartelI totally respect the fact that this game allows you to play through the entire campaign with a friend online, that’s a fantastic step up to any game in my opinion and it’s what a lot of games have been doing lately, so I was at least glad to see a co-op component to this game. I actually enjoyed playing The Cartel with a friend a lot more, it was more of challenge as if you both die, that’s it. Plus it was hilarious when the game glitched out, seeing a guy’s head poking through a tree whilst wobbling back and forth was too funny!

Multiplayer in The Cartel is bland, there isn’t anything to it. You don’t get a choice of modes like most other shooters out there and you certainly won’t enjoy the multiplayer which is disappointing as the last Juarez game had a pretty fun multiplayer mode thrown in it.

Through it all, Call of Juarez: The Cartel is not the kind of shooter I want to play, it has a poor story, poor visuals and poor online components. Okay, it has a co-op campaign! But, that’s not nearly enough to make this game worthy. Bringing the series to modern day was a bad move, something decent has sadly been left behind.

The Good: Good shooting, Heavy weapons are fun, Co-op campaign
The Bad: Bad visuals, Bad story, Bad multiplayer


Call of Juarez: The Cartel Call of Juarez: The Cartel 


2 2 / 5

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