Dyre Straits

I just picked this game up a few days ago for $20 at the local Micro Center. It appeared to be the last one they had on the shelf.

The main reason for getting it was I got downright tired of seeing my son and d-i-l playing Red Dead Redemption on their respective 360's. I, too, wanted a good to decent Western game to play after seeing how much fun they were having. So, I got this one without any real presumptions other than it is a Western game for the PC.

Although this title came out after the earlier, Call of Juarez, it's actually a prequel to the original game.

Upon installation, I had the CD-KEY at ready but was never prompted for it. In fact, I can play the game without the disc in the drive at all. COOL!!!

Also, upon first installation, I was hoping to play it on my recently configured 3x1 Eyefinity setup. But, after trying to do so, the game just is not coded properly and any menus and cut scenes are too zoomed in to be of any use. So, I tried disabling Eyefinity and picking up where I left off. Apparently, the saved games lock the camera view to its previous setting and, after uninstalling and reinstalling the game, I had to eventually just start from a new profile and from the very beginning again.

Ahhh....the very beginning!

One of the first things to really catch my attention was that the story of this game begins during the American Civil War. The location is Atlanta, GA with the Union's Gen. Sherman marching toward Atlanta and burning everything in his path. Locations are mentioned in the area that I'm familiar with after having lived in the area since 1983. The Chattahoochee River, and the town of Jonesboro are mentioned.

The main characters are two brothers, Ray and Thomas. A third brother, William -- a not quite fully confirmed Catholic Priest -- is also in the game and is the narrator as well.

While trying to defend Atlanta, word comes that their own plantation is being attacked and the two brothers become deserters of the Confederacy. Upon finally reaching their home, they find the place overrun with Union solders and smoke billowing from the roof. After taking control of the premises, one brother, Ray, mentions hearing about Gold in Mexico and entices the other two brothers to join him in a quest to recover this gold so that, eventually, they can return to Atlanta and rebuild their homestead. Thus, the origin of the title, "Call of Juarez."

The graphics of the game are quite acceptable and performance on my system is very, very pleasing with all features capped out to max.

I'll be posting some screenshots very soon.

But, before I do, I just want to say that, so far, I'm quite enjoying the way the story develops and the option of choosing either of the two brothers to play. The non-selected brother is your partner in crime and, so far, always present to help get through the missions....although the player has no conrtol over the other's actions.

Now....back to Mexico to continue.....



EDIT: ABOUT SCREEN SHOTS

I have dozens of them that I've taken over the last couple of sessions. BUT....I'd hate to post these because, for some reason, they look very dark and drab compared to what I'm actually seeing in the game. The colors, in game, are clear and vibrant. But, the screen shots come up dark...like the sky is always overcast. I know I can correct this with my image editor. But, what I'd really like to do is see if I can get the screen shots to come out more like what I'm seeing on screen in live gaming.

Suggestions, please!

BTW, I'm using the lastest full version of FRAPS.


After some tweaking with the color and monitor settings, let's see how these images appear to you guys.

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mkk

I enjoyed that game too for a while, though I'm not sure how far into it I got. The unusually zoomed in fov killed the fun for me. Now that I remember that I'll finally uninstall it.

Dyre Straits

Once I started over with a new profile, the FPV is quite acceptable to me now. In fact, I've had three Quick Draw gunfights and have handled them nicely. Not necessarily on the first try, but, not frustratingly difficult, either.

It is a FP game after all. But, I do like 3rd person games, too.

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Dyre Straits

I finished the game before I went to bed last night/early this morning.

For me, this is one of the best story-driven games I've ever played! The writers did an excellent job on content, plot twists, etc.

I also played almost exclusively through as Thomas. Having done that and completed the game now, if I had it to do over again, I'd likely opt to play each brother in tandem as I progressed through the game. By that, I mean, for example, I would play first as Thomas, then, after completing that mission, replay the SAME mission as Ray. But, doing it as I did, the story was quite fluid and the developments very interesting.

I'm now looking for Call of Juarez to see how the story continues. And, it looks like I'll have to get it digitally as it is NOT on any of the game shelves I've checked locally.

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BlueMak

How long was the game?

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The people who are regarded as moral luminaries are those who forego ordinary pleasures themselves and find compensation in interfering with the pleasures of others(Bertrand Russell)"You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn't wear a veil,You know, guys like that ain't got no manhood left anyway. So it's a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them." - Lt. Gen. James N. Mattis
This is slavery, not to speak one's thought. [Euripides-The Phoenician Women (c.411-409 B.C.)] http://www.macedonia.info/FALLACIESANDFACTS.htm Sic semper tyrannis.

Dyre Straits

I can only estimate at this time. I bought the game a week ago tonight. Played every night for 7 nights for anywhere between 1 1/2 to 2 hours usually.

But, keep in mind, I only played "half" the game since I played only as one of the two brothers. I also missed out on some earlier side missions. Once I realized I'd missed them, I just proceeded without backing up. The side missions are very interesting, too.

Oh..and BTW, I'm presently downloading CoJ from Steam. Man, the servers must be completely full!!! I usually get 1.5 MB/s from Steam and am getting 263-332 KB/sec at present. And, I missed a good sale on this by a few days. Ending June 23rd, the game was available for $9.99.

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BlueMak

I hope you are prepared for what you are to play. Here you have to change character, it depends on the level, and I don't know how the BiB is, but you have plenty of times where shooting is just not a solution.

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The people who are regarded as moral luminaries are those who forego ordinary pleasures themselves and find compensation in interfering with the pleasures of others(Bertrand Russell)"You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn't wear a veil,You know, guys like that ain't got no manhood left anyway. So it's a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them." - Lt. Gen. James N. Mattis
This is slavery, not to speak one's thought. [Euripides-The Phoenician Women (c.411-409 B.C.)] http://www.macedonia.info/FALLACIESANDFACTS.htm Sic semper tyrannis.

Dyre Straits

Well, I've started CoJ and am playing as Billy Candle right now. And, I did read a bit of the manual, as well. It does say that Billy's sneaking ability is totally necessary in order to complete some of the missions.

It definitely DOES play differently from BiB! There's no support whatsoever for a gamepad. Although I'm not totally opposed to playing KB/M, I'm getting to the point that I really do like the gamepad. It allows me to sit back in a more comfortable position rather than hunkered over my desk.

So, we'll see how it goes. I'm playing it in the DirectX 10 format and it's playing nicely in that regard.

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