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Hear the Call of Juarez on the cheap at GameStop
For those who've had trouble hearing the Call of Juarez over the much louder Call of Saving Money, we've got some good news: GameStop has lowered the price of the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC versions of Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood to a paltry $30. For those keeping score, that's $20 off the PC version and a full $30 shot off the PS3 and 360 versions. Not bad for a game hailed by critics as a "gritty, completely entertaining experience." [Thanks, CJ]
XBLM, PSN hear the Call of Juarez (demo)
Howdy, pardner. If you've got a hankerin' for some Wild West, first-person shootin' action, you'd best mosey on over to the nearest internet saloon and download the Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood demo for Xbox Live and PSN. Y'all should know the demo ain't available on the US PSN just yet, but don't get yer panties in a twist, because it's already up on that fancy European PSN, so it oughta head west after the update later today.As for what's in the demo, there ain't much info to go on. Alls we know is that there's bound to be some shootin', fightin' and Wild West stereotypin'. From what we've heard, it should be a helluva time.
Call of Juarez DLC saddles up on August 6
Mosey along for more screens, cowpoke Looking to extend Thomas and Ray's adventure in Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood? Tough luck, because the "Old West Map Pack" DLC from Ubisoft is for those banditos who enjoy gunning down their fellow man. The DLC adds four new multiplayer maps, each with some historical significance. If you ever wanted to see where General Custer made his last stand at Little Big Horn in the comfort of your own living room, perhaps covered in a light dusting of Cheetos, then you'll want to keep an eye out later this week. The new maps will set you back 800 ($9.99).%Gallery-69317%
Warhound being 'reevaluated' by Techland, not officially canceled
In 19 days, it'll be two years since we last heard anything about Call of Juarez developer Techland's "open ended FPS," Warhound. So, when we heard last week that the developer was still working on its zombie-infused Dead Island, we shot Techland an email and asked about the game once intended to rival Crysis' graphics. Blazej Krakowiak, the company's international brand manager, told us, "We reached a certain development stage and had to postpone it because of Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood." He continued, "A release of an ambitious and well-received title is always a good moment to unwind a little bit and reevaluate all the options," speaking to the recent release of Bound in Blood. "It wouldn't be a good idea for us to discuss them right now." Though Krakowiak doesn't exactly confirm our suspicions on the fate of Warhound, his caginess on the game's fate speaks volumes. %Gallery-5211%
Review: Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood (single player)
After finishing and loving Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood, I was so smitten that I went back and dug out the original, which I had never played. After a couple of hours, I switched it off, fueled by a gross combination of frustration and boredom. It's then that it occurred to me that BiB, while not perfect, is a great example of how best to make a sequel to a flawed product. 1. Ditch what doesn't work: In Bound in Blood -- a prequel to the original cowboy FPS -- what's most notable is perhaps what hasn't made the journey from the original game. There's no more crummy fisticuffs, no more holstering your irons to do a special move, no using a whip for frustrating platforming and no weapons that fall apart after use. Developer Techland has, as William Faulkner suggested, killed their little darlings, and the Juarez followup is so much the better for it. If something you treasure was left by the wayside, I apologize. I can, however, assure that it was, in fact, terrible, and you were wrong to like it. Wrong. %Gallery-49652%
Techland's Dead Island still shambling about
You know Techland, right? No no, not that weird Discovery Zone ripoff your Dad used to take you to when you were a little kid -- the Polish developer! You know, the comany that makes Call of Juarez and ... ummm ... not much else. Anyway, while speaking recently with G4TV, the company's international brand manager, Blazej Krakowiak, confirmed a second title from the developer, albeit one announced way back in 2007, named Dead Island. Unfortunately, the game's website tells us little to nothing about the game's current status. So, we emailed Techland this afternoon and Krakowiak told us, "As far as Dead Island goes, nothing has changed regarding our media silence .... the game's worldwide publisher is still waiting for their best moment to strike and reveal the awesome stuff we're preparing for zombie fans and gamers." He also confirmed to us the game's still in-development status, saying, "The game's still alive (or better yet, still Dead) and doing great." As G4TV rightly points out, when the game was shown last it was without a publisher, so if anything, this means good things for Techland's zombie game. After all, we're still wondering what happened to the company's open-world FPS game, Warhound ...
Answer the 'Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood' in June 2009
The McCall boys will mount up and ride out this June, an Ubisoft update confirms, and are looking for a steady hand to guide them into the unavoidable sunset. Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood is trotting toward its date with destiny as it's been marked for "June 2009" by its publisher. The new, more specific date replaces "Summer 2009" in an otherwise unchanged press release (first issued in February) for the game, as posted by WorthPlaying.Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood is in development for PS3, Xbox 360 and PC. The Wild West prequel made waves last month when it was revealed to feature historically accurate canoeing "situations."%Gallery-45859%... Yeehaw!
New pics, details from Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood
From the Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood release we just received: "Never Before Seen Western Experience – Experience the iconic settings full of outlaws – the West before it was tamed. The McCall brothers face a renegade Apache Chief, a greedy Mexican bandit, a vindictive Colonel, and others, all driven by greed with moral disregard. Enjoy a wide variety of situations, using horses, canoes and wagons to explore the vast natural landscapes of the fabled Wild West and its legendary period." Dear Game Publishers: When you list features to entice people to buy your game, and you include characters "driven by greed with moral disregard" and then, deciding that's not quite enough, list that it also has canoes, your features list has probably just gone one paragraph too long.The release did have its purposes, though, as it taught us that the game was due in the "Summer of 2009" rather than just "later this year." Check out the full list of features (including canoes) right after the break.%Gallery-45859%
Ubisoft announces Call of Juarez prequel
Ubisoft has announced they will publish a new title in the Call of Juarez series later this year. Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood will take place before the events of the original title bringing players from a post-Civil War Georgia all the way to the Aztec Temples of Mexico. Returning to the Western themed first-person shooter is Polish developer Techland, who first introduced gamers to the franchise on the PC in 2006. According to the announcement release, Ubisoft has not cemented a firm release date but expects the title sometime in 2009 for current HD-consoles and PC.
Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood to depict 'the wildest West ever'
Though we pray it doesn't foreshadow the appearance of giant mechanical spiders or Will Smith, Ubisoft describes its newly announced shooter, Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood, as featuring "the wildest West ever depicted." Judging by our previous exposure to Wests of varying wildness -- like in 2007's Call of Juarez -- we'd estimate that this particular West would have to be astonishingly lawless and violent for it to be considered the wildest ever.Regardless, Tony Key, senior vice president of sales and marketing at Ubisoft, feels confident that another collaboration with developer Techland is entirely called for. "We're confident this new collaboration with Techland will bring an even bigger and better adventure to fans of shooters and the lawless Wild West," he said. Of course, true fans of the lawless Wild West will probably just be downloading this from Juarez sites.Look for the wildest-West-ever prequel on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC later this year.
Call of Juarez demo finally finds its way to Live
Maybe this is just us, but we get a little nervous when a demo is released nearly three months after the game it's supposed to be promoting. "Call of Juarez? You want to try that?" Ubisoft seems to be saying. "You mean the western thing where you're a preacher or whatever? Yeah, that's probably lying around here somewhere, let me check in the back." As an aside, we find it interesting that the Call of Juarez demo gets to Xbox Live on the same day that the Call of Duty 4 public beta begins in earnest. Honestly, if we were at home on a Friday night and had to answer one of the calls, we'd be flummoxed. Duty always wants you to go fight for your country or something but Juarez is usually planning to read bible verses to people and then shoot them. Ah well, at least they're better than Cthulhu. You may just want to block his number.
Warhound: open-ended FPS headed to Xbox 360, PC in 2008
While we're not sure if the luscious Crysis is making its way to new-gen consoles, Techland is pretty sure their upcoming FPS, Warhound, is. Announced several months back, and previewed at IGN, Warhound is another FPS with a list of innovations as long as our arm (which is quite long, actually).The new fact sheet, released today, promises buzzwords features like freedom of choice (take that determinists!), unique cover systems, a realistic economy, dynamic battlefields, and destructible environments. All that, and pretty graphics that rival Crysis? The team at Techland – you may know them from such games as Call of Juarez – certainly think so. Warhound is heading to the Xbox 360 and PC (XP and Vista, thank you) sometime in 2008. Until then, check out the screenshots and some video after the break.%Gallery-5211%
Mega64 lassos Call of Juarez
Typically, the Mega64 guys lampoon games that are already on the market, but their latest two videos take on the currently unreleased Call of Juarez for Xbox 360. So, we guess these offerings serve as official confirmation that the Western game will require you to lasso strangers and involve them in pseudo-erotic situations while you recreate viral video phenomenons. Man, the transition from PC was rough. Of course, maybe they just had the outfits and decided to run with it. We'll let you decide for yourself. Exhibit B is right after the break.
