Written by: Alex

 

 

 

You would be forgiven for giving "Call of Juarez: The Cartel" a double take. It is the third instalment in the Call of Juarez series of FPS games, but it marks a huge departure from Techland’s previous titles.

 

The focus shifts from old ‘Wild West’ to a modern LA and Mexico in the midst of a drug war. It is a strange move that robs the title of its more distinctive features, yet some how manages to retain enough cowboy flavour to stay interesting. The move has also opened up a new world of story telling possibilities for the Polish developer, which they have leapt to embrace, though perhaps at the expense of other elements.

 

 

Call of Juarez: The Cartel threw me immediately into the action, leaning out of a car window shooting at pursuing cars. I had no idea what was going on, but it was exhilarating. Suddenly the action cuts to three weeks earlier, explaining the events that lead to this high-octane moment. It is an opening that though unnecessary (it would have made no difference to the plot if it wasn't present) does speak to the care and imagination that has been give to the story in what is otherwise a barely competent shooter.

 

 

Soon after the opening The Cartel’s more creative aspects are quickly thrown in to foreground as the three main characters’ back stories and side-plots begin to open up. The first hint of this is directly after the first cut scene, the character selection menu is accompanied by a video for each member and their dossier. A revenge obsessed LAPD officer (with a penchant for hookers), an FBI agent who wants to protect her gangbanger brother and a DEA agent who is up to his eyeballs in debt and suspected of betraying an investigation it to the eponymous Cartel. These disparate personalities are all thrown together to form a task force, and seeds of mistrust are instantly sown.

 

With each character involved in their own dubious past, and law enforcement group’s private agenda, the relationship between all of them quickly becomes complicated, and intriguing. Early levels are all lead by each members past in some way, and don’t just follow the kill-everything formula the first level would suggest. Subtly infiltrating a gang hide out and leaving evidence to incriminate another gang is a nice plot device and change of pace (even if the level does end with a shoot out).

 

 

In honesty Call of Juarez: The Cartel, frequently struggles technically, but it did succeed in mixing up the action and game play enough to keep me interested as to what will come next. With its slow motions mechanics, fistfights, driving and some mixed objective types, and divergent objectives for different members within missions, I was always promised something to keep me hooked.

 

 

As I previously alluded to, while I am fond of Call of Juarez: The Cartel there is a lot not to like. While it does some interesting things with pacing and story there is still a very heavy reliance on the poor gunplay. I found myself in constant battles with enemies that were near impossible against the washed out colour palettes, aiming where the last attack had come from and hoping the generous auto-targeting would do the rest, and it usually did. The end result very little sense of skill or accomplishment for wading through these long, dull sections of the game.