The Rise and Fall of Call of Juarez

[Music] video games have replicated myriad historical periods recreating the likes of ancient military conflicts and strategy games and both world wars in third and first person shooters world war ii in particular has long remained a favorite backdrop for first-person military shooters and by the mid-aughts such titles dominated the genre in nearly every conceivable way battlefield call of duty and medal of honor enjoyed great success on this front effectively laying the foundation for all manner of copycats but polish developer techland adopted a different approach when devising plans for its second stab at an fps property for call of juarez the studio turned to the wild west a period in american history whose romanticization spawned the western film genre that inspired several generations of popular culture this iconic and resonating era surprisingly received little love within the realm of gaming however which further stimulated teclan's interest in pursuing a serious western adventure while call of juarez never garnered much in the way of high praise the franchise's first two outings possessed a certain charm that many would argue dissipated as the series trotted on the third entry the dismally reviewed call of juarez the cartel drew the shortest straw of them all upon failing to justify its drastic shift to a modern day setting and though gunslinger the fourth and final installment delivered a thrilling arcade-like romp it not unlike the ip as a whole faded into obscurity once the initial excitement surrounding its release wore off techland has since moved on to greener pastures its talents reinvigorating first-person action in an entirely different genre but those who long for old west set exploits may finally remember the days gone by when call of juarez held more promise than the gold rush this is the rise and fall of call of juarez [Music] don't [Music] established by pavel marchevka as a software distribution company in 1991 techland cut its teeth on everything from sim racers to strategy titles the development house found its bread and butter with 2003's chrome the futuristic first-person shooter whose game systems took inspiration from system shock 2 and deus ex a prequel entitled chrome spec force launched a couple of years thereafter but a proper sequel turned to vaporware while techland refocused its efforts and resources on endeavors such as 2011's dead island between its release of chrome and dead island the polish company produced a trio of call of juarez games techland unveiled the first of such titles at e3 2004 under the name of lawman having conceived the project as a fast-paced shooter with a distinct arcade feel even e3 leaflets for lawman pushed the arcade angle courtesy of a tagline touting fast and accurate shooting mechanics when the game resurfaced in early 2005 however techland had scrapped what development director pavel zavodny described as simple arcade gameplay to instead pursue a deep shooter boasting a stronger emphasis on plot the genre dominated by world war ii and sci-fi shooters seemed ripe for a realistic old west setting zavodny noted as much in an ign interview telling the publication that western tropes lent themselves well to gameplay elements given the prevalence of chases duels and dynamic gunfights at its core the studio hoped call of juarez would become a notable player in the fps market despite its wild west motif which up until that point had yet to receive serious representation in the interactive medium rather than follow past trends with superficial characters in an arcade-style experience techland developers set their sights on crafting a narrative-driven adventure bolstered by complex characters gritfield western films and comics were thus good frames of reference harris orkin the screenwriter who penned the call of juarez script credited lead artist and co-designer pavel sullinger with the creation of the main story and characters speaking with cheat code central sullinger explained that techland's marketing department gave birth to the wild west shooter idea brainstorming characters that befit the western convention led to the creative team deciding call of juarez should start two playable protagonists reverend ray mccall and billy candle derived from cinema-based archetypes the gunslinger turned reverence character traits manifested out of a tapestry woven by influences ranging from clint eastwood's will money and unforgiven and pilgrim in garth ennis's limited comic run just a pilgrim the preacher's series merciless killing machines saint of killers played a role in the creation of ray mccall as well each of these pop culture figures informed the reverend's mad minister routine which saw him enacting vengeance in the name of god billy's characterization on the other hand proved more lifelike his persona informed by rebellious idols and outsiders depicted in american films in addition to fueling the overarching narrative the different traits of rey and billy also exemplified their varied playstyles the fire and brimstone of the pulpit nourished the minister's pursuit of justice for example yielding instances of the character reciting bible passages while mowing down enemies meanwhile stealth and guile constituted the cornerstones of billy's approach to avoiding confrontation hey billy we won't hurt you we just want to talk needing far more than intriguing leading men to convey the essence of the american old west developers worked to imbue call of juarez with a true sense of skill and authenticity such efforts were made possible thanks to chrome engine 3 an advanced version of the proprietary technology that powered chrome and numerous other teclan developed games notably chrome engine 3's myriad strengths opened the door for vast areas of terrain and fairly realistic looking visuals the updated game engine further supplied call of juarez with wind effects dynamic daytime cycles and ragdoll physics alongside numerous animation-related intricacies techland additionally emphasized duals and gunfighting developing a system that demanded much from player reflexes this attention to detail extended to the arsenal of weapons including six shooters shotguns gatling guns bows and rifles all modeled after arms contemporary to the wild west yet despite the crew's focus on crafting a normal fps title sans ancillary extras along the lines of rpg elements call of juarez's design didn't exclusively revolve around shooting taking pointers from the widely acclaimed physics-based gameplay in half-life 2 teclan positions simulated rigid body and ragdoll physics as a selling point the same held true for physical phenomena such as gases and liquids tech land's first foray into the western genre thus incorporated novel types of gameplay that allowed players to control the spread of fire based on wind direction a maneuver used for scaring foes out of hiding with well-directed smoke half-life 2 motivated mechanics cropped up elsewhere as well interestingly developers considered affixing a lasso to call of war as a selection of tools it was determined however that a whip offered the best solution given its ability to hit environmental objects and enemies the whip also proved beneficial for climbing buildings and structures that were just out of reach teclan went the extra mile by physically simulating the whip placing it in a role akin to the gravity gun in valve's half-life sequel while the polish studio's efforts earned a fair bit of praise call of juarez's release on pc in 2006 failed to nail the critical highs teclan set out to achieve a subsequent version managed to enhance the game's core foundation yet it too received middling critic and player reviews upon landing on store shelves for the xbox 360 in 2007 publishers focused on interactive and are in development shipped call of juarez on pc in 2006 for european and australian markets respectively the mixed critical response lauded the reverend race starring chapters yet lamented that billy candles sections while fascinating on paper demanded better execution this particular criticism pervaded the discourse call of juarez looked stunning but suffered from the occasional graphical and performance glitch its gameplay felt responsive but too often veered into the realm of unbalanced and even the reverence segments lost their luster courtesy of ill-advised platforming puzzles some critics wrote far more scathing assessments for instance one acknowledged techlan's unforgiven aspirations before castigating its attempt for falling short of bonanza the studio accepted the good and the bad in stride then set out to work on improving its previously laid foundation set efforts manifested in an xbox 360 release which techland produced after the console went to market pavel zavodny told gamespot the 360's ability to compete with pc in terms of graphical fidelity and performance prompted the decision as did the gameplay amplifying new controller call of juarez on the then next generation xbox boasted upgraded visuals complete with high dynamic range lighting relief mapping across objects and subsurface scattering techland also rebuilt this animation system to ensure the console's memory limitations inhibited call of ours as little as possible the implementation of mocaps served as another xbox specific alteration that boosted the visuals similarly the beginning of the game received an overhaul in the form of an opening segment rebuild designed to alter first impressions and because the billy chapters suffered a bulk of the criticism on pc developers subjected those particular levels to several gameplay changes notably players could finally choose whether to utilize stealth or combat tactics with billy better still the character gained the ability to pick up weapons from fallen foes the 360 build additionally featured achievements an xbox live ranking system three supplemental levels and a dual challenge mode for battling bosses beyond the main story xbox users earned exclusive multiplayer content and the famous events mode too the latter anchored to activities inspired by historical events such as the 1881 gunfight at the okay corral suffice it to say the 360 port allowed techland to explore ideas that previously landed on the cutting room floor because of time constraints these alterations no matter how big or small seem to matter little in the grand scheme of things though when call of juarez's simultaneous 360 a north american pc launch arrived in 2007 it garnered the same mixed response that beset the pc version's european and australian rollout opinions across the board vacillated between describing the title as a fun shooter and dismissing it as a bland adventure unworthy of a rental either way the nascent western series boasted unrealized potential that many were eager to see tech land deliver on in future entries call of juarez offered an escape from the monotony of first-person shooters with villains that typically came in the guise of aliens nazis zombies or on occasion not see zombie hybrids yet the market's interest in the old west set romp seemed limited evidenced by data from the npd group that showed the title sold a paltry 137 000 units in the united states regardless soft sales and unremarkable reception held little to no bearing on ubisoft's decision to further invest in the franchise beyond his publishing duties on the xbox version statements issued by ubisoft upon the january 2009 announcement of call of juarez bound in blood denoted its satisfaction with the original's performance the publisher senior vice president of sales and marketing tony key claimed the first entry was well received by gamers and critics and forming confidence in the prequel's ability to provide an even bigger and better adventure but instead of moving forward in time techland took the adventure to an even earlier period of the american frontier set in the 1880s call of juarez followed billy candle as he returned home after failing to unearth the lost gold of juarez whose rumored curse supposedly inflicted madness on those who sought it out hence the title as opposed to being greeted by his loving mother marissa and abusive stepfather thomas billy found them murdered in their home thomas's brother reverend ray mccall came across the scene as well and upon seeing billy standing over his deceased loved ones assume the worst thus began the antagonistic cat and mouse game wherein rey ruthlessly hunted down the younger man the prequel attempted to elevate the tension between the hunter and the hunted centralizing a colonel's pursuit of two confederate army deserters ray and thomas mccall speaking with gamespot techland's lead product manager pavel kapinski divulged that backtracking to the civil war era was not part of the plan from the beginning not until examining the timeline in reference to billy's age did the team realized that a prequel starring the mccollum brothers would necessitate a trek through one of the most volatile periods in american history such a revelation at first seemed a mixed blessing yet quickly morphed into a boon for the bound in blood plot since wartime often acts as a catalyst for demonstrations of the worst human behavior bearing that in mind developers considered the civil war an excuse for the mccall brothers story initiating a chain of events culminating in the duo traveling cross country on a quest for riches a contingent of fans took umbrage with the premise specifically the idea of casting players in the roles of two former confederate soldiers harris orkin who returned to right bound in blood acknowledged the controversy that had begun to brew online arguing that too many people misconstrued all confederate militiamen as inherently evil the mccall's loyalty to and ultimate defection from the confederacy played only a small part in their characterization however or can turn to the actual outlaws of the day while crafting the tail looking to the likes of ex-confederate guerrilla fighters like jesse james the youngers and archie clement for inspiration in tackling the topic as a whole orkan attempted to walk the line of objectivity while also cautioning himself against sympathizing with the south other sensitive historical issues broached and bound in blood included the oppression of native americans slavery and the treatment of mexicans in the american west techland could have skated around these hot button topics but orkin believed that pretending they didn't exist would have represented nothing short of the disservice in addition the writer thought the prevalence of violence in video games demanded perspective a step forward he wanted to take by introducing call of juarez faithful to a third mccall sibling william a man of the cloth william embodied the moral conscience of the story someone who preached the word of god in hopes of steering his brothers away from the cycle of violence they so enjoyed according to orkan the second perspective provided by william's presence contextualized violence in a way that other games at the time neglected to explore takland also inserted some levity into the prequel to counterbalance the heaviness mostly bringing humor to the fore through banter between the mccall brothers bound and blood borrowed more from spaghetti westerns in this regard although organs said deadwood unforgiven and other serious dramas similarly motivated their writing but when it came time to develop gameplay systems that supported the narrative techland had to look inward ray because of the immersive story the creative team aspired to tell through the lens of two characters the original call of juarez played linearly chapter by chapter akin to a book pavel kapinski offered more insight during a 2007 cheat code central interview sharing the studio's belief that delivering call of juarez's plot in an open world game would have proven impossible bound in blood followed the same structure and bore much in common with its predecessor most notably the two-character dynamic returned with a twist trading in the antagonism between billy and ray for the brotherly bond of rey and thomas this dramatic shift opened the door for a more collaborative feel wherein players chose which of the two protagonists they wanted to control at the start of nearly every mission with the other tagging along as an ai controlled companion the choice centered on a user's preferred play style ray specialized in close quarters combat courtesy of his brutality and dual-wielded revolvers meanwhile thomas skills as a long-range marksman made him perfect for those who favored picking off enemies from afar these adjustments and others marked techlan's attempt at addressing call of juarez's minor flaws kapinski told ign enhancing the shooting experience sat at the forefront of changes made especially since being responsible for the only wild west centric fps title on the market amplified the polish studio's passion for expanding the depth of its gun mechanics as a result the developers built a visceral shooting system based predominantly on skills and judgment to convey the feeling of a gunslinger facing difficult odds the rev race specific concentration mode from the first installment returned to even the odds presenting unique versions of the time-slowing gameplay mechanic for both bound and blood protagonists concentration modes design work such that killing enemies filled a gauge which when activated unleashed the lightning-quick gun fighting abilities that the deadliest gunslingers possessed in the old west tekland steered its focus towards more than merely evolving call of juarez's gameplay and storytelling the prequel also benefited from vast improvements on the technical front namely in the form of an upgraded game engine that guaranteed a much larger audience would have a chance at exploring the american frontier chrome engine's fourth iteration powered bound in blood the technology's biggest changes in gendering a deferred rending pipeline which in turn fostered advanced lighting and post-processing effects but the studio primarily constructed the engine's design around larger environments with immersive scenery such that vegetation and trees covered outdoor landscapes while narrow city streets played host to deadly shootouts chrome engine 4's greatest advantage manifested in its ability to handle multi-platform support for the first time the crew bore the responsibility of simultaneously producing a game for pc playstation and xbox hardware techland followed a cross-platform development model to keep the differences between each version to a minimum as a result platform parity extended to the bulk of assets though the shader code received a few tweaks across all three iterations techland later learned this undertaking wasn't for naught only a brief period elapsed between bound and blood's january 2009 reveal and summer release consequently the public didn't see much of the prequel in action before it hit store shelves once critics and players did have a chance to take a closer look at the experience call of juarez once more found itself on the receiving end of mixed opinions to some the storytelling had improved marginally and while the removal of quirky innovations such as reverend ray's scripture quoting antics allowed the gameplay to shine brighter bound in blood still wore the stink of a paint by numbers shooter on the other hand stale characters lackluster enemy ai and the simplistic exploration of greed and moral corruption left a bad taste in the mouths of those who viewed call of juarez's sophomore effort as less than compelling at the very least most seem to agree that multiplayer proved far more engaging the second time around providing a fun alternative to the player campaign middling reception had become the standard for the then nascent franchise the push and pull of positive and negative discourse providing the development house with plenty to mull over between projects but techland's next western theme venture would truly put the brand's staying power to the test [Music] we are outnumbered and outgunned and i won't be there to cover your ass between the 2009 and 2011 releases of call of juarez's second and third entries westerns had waded through a renaissance in mainstream entertainment rockstar games award-winning red dead redemption redefined open world adventures upon its 2010 launch the oscar nominated true grit hit theaters that same year proving emblematic of the glory days of old west cinema strangely amid this rebirth the game series that once sat at the center of cowboy era fiction relocated to modern times much to the consternation of western enthusiasts ubisoft lifted the lid on call of juarez the cartel in february 2011 promising to transplant the best elements of the wild west to the 21st century as suggested by marketing speak abandoning the frontier represented an opportunity for techland to prove what it had long believed that westerns were universal and not at all trapped in a specific period brand manager blaise krakoviak elaborated further in his sit down with gamespot divulging the studio's interests and appeasing call of duarez fans while expanding the franchise's commercial reach changing the settings seemed the best course of action to accomplish as much along with the injection of advanced weaponry into the series a so-called gritty and relevant plot strengthened these aspirations casting players as one of three characters who held an interdepartmental task force between the lapd fbi and dea vietnam war veteran and lapd detective ben mccall symbolized the sole link connecting the original games and the cartel notably his penchant for simultaneously medding out justice and quoting bible verses matched that of his ancestor ray mccall up-and-coming fbi agent kim evans played the rookie role to an extent her relative and experience in the real world engendering a contentious relationship with ben dea operative eddie gara brought a different energy to the table thanks in large part to gambling-related death that often incited his inclination towards bending the rules if it meant relief from financial ruin this unholy trinity of playable characters existed to address the long-running fan requests for proper cooperative gameplay options as such teclan implemented three-player co-op into the cartel building the project around the new multiplayer feature to ensure no character felt like a sidekick players could still embark on the hellish road trip by their lonesome with ai companions filling in yet the days of switching between characters ahead of every mission had screeched to a halt because each lead possessed a unique story perspective developers that decided picking one character at the start and seeing their point of view through to completion marked the ideal way to experience the cartel of course this particular design choice also encouraged multiple playthroughs as techland insisted some events would boast another layer of depth once seen via the lens of another character but no matter how the studio and his publishing partner dressed up in tensions a contingent of gamers and non-gamers couldn't shake their skepticism about call of juarez's uncharacteristic pivot to modern day and my sword shall devour flesh and i will bathe in the blood of my mother [ __ ] enemies you know you don't have to do this all by yourself without its distinctive old west backdrop players and industry pundits believed call of juarez would reveal itself as yet another vapid first-person shooter the counter-argument from developers and ubisoft spokespersons proposed the key ingredients of the era continued to linger throughout modernity evident in the lawlessness that reigns supreme in certain parts of north america in an attempt to convey this notion in the cartel techland cast its gaze towards drug-related violence along the u.s mexico border the cartel's overarching story revolved around an attack on a us government building that agencies tracked back to a mexican drug cartel a joint task force charged with traveling south and dismantling the gang's operations served as the linchpin that brought call of juarez's cowboy arrow conceit full circle however topical storytelling about real world crimes had suddenly turned some people's favorite guilty pleasure series into an all too serious exercise in exploring social issues that hit too close to home lawmakers in the mexican state of chihuahua called for a government ban on the cartel within two weeks of its unveiling legislators feared youth would become further desensitized to violence upon seeing the lawlessness of their state recreated in video game form and the denizens of ciudad juarez a chihuahuan city on the rio grande that counted among the cartel's playable locales knew all too well the effects of drug crimes approximately one-third of the 7 000 plus murders committed during mexico's drug war in 2009 were concentrated in the northern state in denouncing the techland developed fps title congress leader enrique serrano told the ap that such media only exacerbated the matter by normalizing blood and death which in turn facilitated young people's involvement with criminal activities government officials on the other side of the border similarly decried the project's release gomicindo lopez from the el paso county sheriff's office gave a statement to reuters voicing concerns that call of juarez would glorify cartel leaders as heroes comparing the shooter to norco queridos gangsta rap's mexican equivalent that grossly misrepresented the country's drug culture a ubisoft spokesperson acknowledged the unease but maintained the cartel's purely fictional narrative existed solely for entertainment purposes the representative added that despite touching on subjects derivative of current events in ciudad juarez the sequel did so in a matter that would immerse players in an action movie experience rather than a real life situation few were pleased with the publisher's response and while the controversy regarding the cartel's handling of social issues would later resurface the game itself had little going forward in terms of offering a quality product are you ready to meet your maker in the weeks leading up to the cartels july 2011 rolled out on ps3 and xbox 360 outlets like ign began questioning its readiness the publication said the shooter needed several more months of polish specifically criticizing its shoddy visuals imprecise controls and irredeemable multiplayer suite these shortcomings weighed heavily on the final build so much so that it became the franchise's lowest rated game bland dull generic broken and deeply flawed counted among the descriptors critics used to define teclan's attempt at bringing call of juarez to the modern age by most accounts few redeemable characteristics were to be found by those who joined ben kim and eddie on their trip south of the border many observed how the cartel's execution lacked tastefulness in some respects too for example the gangbang mission constituted the sole level wherein players fought a criminal organization comprised exclusively of african-american members this same mission also served as the only one with an achievement or trophy that tasked users with killing a specific number of enemies in a designated level content creators such as youtube channel extra credits additionally lambasted the game's distorted depiction of sex trafficking which exemplified but one example of the misinformation propagated throughout the roughly seven hour story mode unbeknownst to the public at the time the cartel's catastrophic technical issues were another product of the studio's ill-preparedness techland's ceo pavel marchevka admitted in a 2015 eurogamer interview that the third call of ores installment was not finished when it shipped for game informer's report about the effects of crunch in 2018 multiplayer programming lead christophe nosick disclosed how unlucky business negotiations with call of juarez co-owner ubisoft resulted in the crew not receiving enough time to complete the cartel techland consequently resorted to adopting crunch practices in the final six-month stretch a former employee speaking under the condition of anonymity claims staffers worked an average of 10 hours per weekday during this period weekend stints included eight-hour saturdays and sunday shifts that helped tie up loose ends ahead of the following week though developers couldn't recall a specific order to crunch nosek noted these extra efforts which even applied to those who had completed their assigned work were driven by communal peer pressure but the so-called passion that fueled the call of oris crew still crumbled beneath the weight of time constraints and ultimately exhaustion began careless mistakes that gave rise to many of the cartel's technical woes that's one way to make an entrance the cartel's dismal critical performance did not do it any favors commercially the shooter launched in the then lowest month for retail games in the us since october 2006 yet failed to crack the top 10 on the sales charts in july 2011. its pc release the following september similarly lacked the power to draw in audiences simply put carl juarez was in trouble a fact recognized by ubisoft liaisons nicholas joy an associate producer and game design expert xavier penning neither the publisher nor tech land had any intention of hanging up the beleaguered franchise's boots and spurs however both entities knew based on fan feedback that call of juarez needed to revisit its roots in the american frontier but retreading old ground by crafting a bound in blood style of adventure was out of the question thus ubisoft's growing investment in digital-only endeavors seemed a business-savvy way of giving the wild west themed ip another chance to shine the digital structure of what would become call of juarez gunslinger informed every facet of the experience including the budget art design and narrative framing in a write-up on game developer pennant recalled ubisoft and techland quickly agreeing upon mandatory features chief among them being the old west setting arcade shooter gameplay additional game modes for replayability and skill progression ubisoft pushed for simplicity at every turn angling for a single player campaign whose bite-sized chapters could be placed in any order in case budget concerns called for an exercising of content gunslinger's comic book art style spawned from a similar line of thinking pennant deemed a slight cel-shaded approach a cost-conscious strategy initially meant to appear as short efficient animatics that would bookend each chapter techland however had far grander ambitions in mind despite the smaller scale outlook fortunately the publisher granted the polish studio more creative freedom techland used the extra runway to craft a story unlike any other in franchise history employing plot devices derived from classic western cinema and critically acclaimed indie darling bastion hold on were you attacked by apaches what happened to the cowboys did i say they were apaches once the wild west re-entered the picture discussions during pre-production were geared towards pinpointing the most enduring aspects of the era tech land and its ubisoft partners determined the special ingredients rested in legends that boasted a mixture of truth and myth producer christoph nosick and co-writer of fall w orkin led the charge on storytelling though some developers remained unconvinced of an arcade game's need for a conventional story early on nosek and rafal knew only of their desire to incorporate western legends into gunslinger's campaign the writer behind the first three call of juarez installments harris orkin rejoined the crew to plot out the premise sending along helpful resources like dime novels from the autry museum of the american west in los angeles its vast repository of historical materials proved an integral stepping stone no such admiration for bastion also solidified the framework of gunslinger particularly in that nosick and rafale wanted the arcade shooters narration to emulate that of the award-winning downloadable title the marriage of wild west legends with bastian-esque narration worked perfectly mirroring how western history became so mythologized first in the embellished tales relayed through dime novels and later in hollywood ultimately the collision of truth and myth provided the central motif when it came time to craft a protagonist capable of embodying such a theme techland's writers looked no further than clint eastwood's performance in the dollars trilogy for visual inspiration real-life lawman and cowboy frank pistol pete eaton's penchant for regaling crowns with stories of his exploits constituted a second frame of reference tech land opted to forgo continuing the mccall bloodline instead creating an all-new protagonist bearing no connection to the brand's existing lore the protagonist silas greaves originally possessed no more responsibility than that of the narrator but the first-person shooter sensibilities demanded a gunslinger preferably a time-worn bounty hunter who'd crossed paths with notorious outlaws with all of their ducks in a row gunslinger's creative team had its core premise anchoring a 10-hour experience to the weathered gunslinger in a saloon recounting his run-ins with historical figures billy the kid john wesley harden pat garrett and more greaves's skill as a raconteur came to life via playable flashbacks sequences that changed on the fly thanks to the narrative framing because happenings in the old west were historically embellished tech land thought it wise to position greaves as an unreliable narrator someone the saloon crowd would question if his version of events didn't align with what they'd heard in these instances a patron interrupted the narration and disputed the bounty hunter's claim forcing him to correct the record the playable section would change in real time shifting scenery or the behavior of npcs accordingly while such efforts set the bar high for techland's storytelling chops it went above and beyond what ubisoft had asked of the developer the publisher believed in the less is more approach advocating for a decrease in voice over lines and an increased number of shootouts pennant wrote that ubisoft's push to reduce the volume of text caused friction between the two companies but resulted in a higher quality game either way post launch reception to gunslinger suggested ubisoft and techland found the winning formula remembering the misdirection that beset the cartel call of juarez faithful were wary of further changes throughout gunslinger's marketing cycle techland insisted new features existed to amplify what so many already loved about the property for instance skill progression prompted users to build greaves however they saw fit by spending xp on upgrades across close quarter combat sharpshooting and dual-wielding ability trees the leveling system along with leaderboards and the arcade and dual modes added a significant amount of replay value even in the absence of cooperative options which tech lands sidelined because of the extensive production work and dearth of regularly active users reviewers and the public widely approved lotting the fresh take on call of juarez as a serious highlight the shift in tone from tryhard grimness to lighthearted humor struck a chord as well and the appreciation of this new step forward reflected in sales data though the digital market was wading through a wild west of its own at the time considering the npd didn't yet track digital sales gunslinger still enjoyed a noteworthy launch it debuted at number three in the us and european territories on playstation network plus alongside far cry 3 blood dragon gunslinger helped boost ubisoft's digital business by an impressive 27 for the first quarter of fiscal year 2014. evidently these gains were insufficient ubisoft never published a fifth outing for call of juarez and by early 2018 publishing rights for the cartel and gunslinger had reverted to techland leaving the polish studio in full custody of the ip's future since then techland has only used its publishing rights to resell gunslinger on digital storefronts after its de-listing and port the title to nintendo switch in 2019. developers have expressed an interest in revisiting the brand yet teclan's hands seemed too full with a fantastical for it to dip its toes back into the murky waters of wild west realism for one the studio plans to support its zombie sequel dying light too with years of free and paid post release content drops the team has also entered production on a new fantasy rpg another sign that call of juarez will continue wading among the tumbleweeds for the foreseeable future but while the property endured its share of peaks and valleys fans can at least appreciate that the once lone western shooter rode off into the sunset after enjoying a successful albeit brief redemption arc [Music] thank you for watching we'd like to take this time to thank by name the generous patrons who have pledged to our hall of fame rewards year alex moretti and those currently subscribed to our producer rewards here brock pb roto dario zone get rekt dot com kira may landy k hayes mario herrera milkshake if you enjoy our content please consider subscribing to our channel and backing us on patreon [Music] you

Channel: GVMERS

Views: 179,265

Keywords: Call of Juarez, Bound in Blood, The Cartel, Gunslinger, Controversy, Controversial, Rise and Fall, History, Evolution, Documentary, 4K, Gameplay, Dead Island, Dying Light, Techland, Dead Island 2, Red Dead

Id: kBA3E42bOlc

Length: 37min 39sec (2259 seconds)

Published: Thu Aug 18 2022