After the failure of The Cartel, the authors of the series Call of Juarez We decided to finish experiments with the change of setting and returned to the origins – to the American outback of the second half of the 19th century. True, now this is a completely different Wild West: here you can’t find the heroes of past parts – the McCall brothers;The gameplay is noticeably different from what we saw earlier;And the graphics engine Chrome Engine 5 uses the technology of Sal-shearing technology. Actually, this is all that was known about the new project Techland Until recently, – apparently, the publishers decided that the project would be closely monitoring without too much PR. Release Call of Juarez: Gunslinger took place unnoticed, becoming an event only for fans of a series who did not lose hope to see the game at the level of the first two parts.
When the grass was greener
1910. Wild West is no longer as wild as it was only a quarter of a century ago. Battles with the Indians, heavy development of new lands, bandits of all stripes and legalists, shootings, loud robberies of trains and banks, shoots from prisons – all this in the past. The heroes of the old days have long become characters of cheap books and theatrical productions, and not understand where the truth is, and where is the fiction in stories about their exploits.
A quiet, unremarkable evening in one of the cabins of the town of Abilin, Kansas, a middle-aged man went-rest after a long road, skip a glass or two and chat with random acquaintances. Those were only happy with an uninvited guest – a young man named Dwight immediately recognized him as a hero of his beloved westerns, a bonder of the heads of Silas Grivz, and did not fail to take the opportunity to hear the story of his life from the first. Yes, and the Harves himself was not against a leisurely conversation – he had something to tell about, and the few visitors to the saloon turned out to be attentive listeners ..
Plot GUNSLINGER represents the memories of the former bustle hunter who, for his rich life, met with almost all the classic heroes of the Wild West – from Billy Kid And Pata Garrett to Butcha Cassidi and his wild gang. He was friends with someone, with someone-he was at enmity, and some even fell by the hands of the hryvnia. However, even Dwight does not fully believe this, who loves Westerns and by heart knows the adventures of his beloved hero.
Each level is a small story, in the Madslots Casino center of which one of the legends of that time is usually another criminal or gang. At first, the history of the hryvnia is not at all impressive-the missions are practically not related to each other, and their characters are shown in passing and do not have time to open in all its glory in order to at least somehow interest the player. But then you begin to notice a non -standard presentation of the plot and understand that Techland I tried great.
The longer the story is, the stronger the Silas will hop, and its story becomes more confusing and is more and more like the drunken fables of the old man, who himself does not understand where the reality is, and where is the fiction. Sometimes he is interrupted by listeners who notice completely rude inaccuracies, or the hryvz itself, recovering, is corrected. Depending on the story, the game also changes – the locations are rebuilt right before our eyes, the opponents disappear or appear, sometimes you even have to go back in time and go over a half level to show an important point missed by Sylas. This is done so skillfully that the typical, in fact, the shooter looks just like the hoppy bikes of a skilled talker. You do not take these tales seriously, the interlocutors of the protagonist are also skeptical of them, but not at all a cheerful ending makes you look differently at the story of a former bustle hunter.
Shoot the first
If in terms of the plot (more precisely, its presentation) the developers managed to show originality, then with gameplay everything is not so rosy. Unfortunately, it is worth recognizing that as a shooter GUNSLINGER It is its worst variety – the same as a shoot that was in abundance long before the appearance of open spaces, smart opponents, a variety of weapons and other components of a good action. Enemies here act in the role of targets, whose only purpose is at the right time to appear from around the corner and start firing without a break towards the player. Their brains are enough only to do not use shelters in the best way to make short dashes without caring for their own life. But there are many enemies – by the end of his story, Grivz will send as many people to the next world as they did not kill, perhaps, all the bandits of the Wild West, taken together.
But if you do not build unnecessary illusions and from the very beginning belong to GUNSLINGER as to a tie, even from a monotonous process of shooting hordes of bandits and Indians, you can squeeze a bit of pleasure. Shootings do not suffer from excessive hardcore, but they look pretty cheerful, and the Sal-shaped graphics with deliberately caricatured blood fountains from successful hits only enhances the dynamics of what is happening on the screen. True, after a couple of missions, the variety in weapons begins to miss: the main character is fighting with pistols, a rifle and a shotgun, occasionally using dynamite checkers. But there is nothing to do – the setting leaves no particular choice.
Developers try to get out the addition of Slow-Mo and pumping to the game. The concentration mode slows down and highlights the enemies, allowing him to get out of the water dry in the most hopeless situations. The development sistema offers three specializations: the ranger loves long -range weapons, the star can receive additional armor and virtually treats the cutter, and the shooter prefers shootouts using two revolvers at once. Those who want to study the skill that attracted as soon as possible will have to sweat – not so much experience falls up for ordinary murders, but getting into the head, successful use of dynamic checkers, a well -aimed shooting for moving targets and other manifestations of shooting skills bring noticeably more “expls”. But they do not have any strong influence on the gameplay;With proper efforts, the whole campaign can run with one gun.
Almost every chapter completes the duel with the next hero of the Wild West. There are its own rules and features – for example, you can grab a weapon earlier than the set time, but this technique is worthy only of a coward and brings much less points. If you shoot honestly, then the player will get additional experience-in case of victory, of course. For those who have loved one -on -one confrontations, the authors provided a separate duel regime, for which it is necessary to win in fifteen contractions, having only five “lives” in stock. Another regime, Arkada, offers to go through familiar locations to score as many points as possible for killing opponents.
The artists who worked on the project deserve special praise. Drawn screensavers between missions, “business cards” of “bosses” in a comic style – everything is done at a high level. The language does not turn to say that the creators decided to save on rollers, on the contrary, it is far from a fact that with their help it would be possible to achieve the same sensations that cause these drawings. Decorations are also made with love for details. But the design of the levels disappeared – most of them are a corridor without branches, which can be run from end to end, distracting only to search for secrets that open cards with a small illustrated certificate of celebrity or important event of that time.
In fact, winning in duels is quite simple if you shoot the first. But to get an honest victory, you have to sweat.
GUNSLINGER, Despite the return to the scope of the usual setting series, it turned out much less similar to the first two parts than The Cartel. They decided to completely abandon the multiplayer, and the epic history of the McCall brothers replaced the short (a campaign can be passed in a few hours) The story of a former bustle hunter, scraps telling about famous people of the American frontier era.
It is they who – bandits and killers, sheriffs and legalists – the main characters of the game. Those who have a desire to get acquainted with the history of the Wild West, GUNSLINGER You should definitely not miss. We also advise you to pay attention to the longtime fans of Westerns – games in such a setting do not appear as often as we would like. Yes, and, in the end, where it will still be the opportunity to try his luck in a duel with the most famous arrows of America?
Pros: unusual presentation of the plot, fully conveying the atmosphere of the Wild West;Cute graphic design.
Cons: stupid opponents;shootings resemble a shooting range;Corridor level design.