| Call of Juarez: Gunslinger | |
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| Developer(s) | Techland |
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| Series | Call of Juarez |
| Engine | Chrome Engine 5 |
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| Release | PS3, Windows, Xbox 360Nintendo Switch |
| Genre(s) | First-person shooter |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Call of Juarez: Gunslinger is a 2013 first-person shooter for PlayStation 3, Windows, Xbox 360, and Nintendo Switch. Developed by Techland and originally published by Ubisoft, it was released in May 2013 for PlayStation 3, Windows and Xbox 360. The Switch port was released in December 2019. It is the fourth game in the Call of Juarez series, although narratively, it is unrelated to the three previous titles (Call of Juarez, Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood, and Call of Juarez: The Cartel).
The game tells the story of Silas Greaves, a bounty hunter in the American West during the second half of the 19th century. Telling his story to a group of saloon patrons in 1910, Silas's increasingly grandiose and difficult to believe tales find him hunting Roscoe "Rustling Bob" Bryant, as he either teams up with or squares off against Wild West legends such as Billy the Kid, Pat Garrett, Newman Haynes Clanton, Johnny Ringo, Curly Bill Brocius, Henry Plummer, John Wesley Hardin, a Chiricahua war party, the Dalton Gang, George Curry, Kid Curry, Butch Cassidy, the Sundance Kid, Jesse James, and Frank James.
After The Cartel changed the series' setting from the Wild West to the modern-day, Gunslinger returned the series to a western milieu. In making the game, the designers were very much trying to redeem the reputation of the Call of Juarez brand after the critically reviled and commercially unsuccessful The Cartel. In returning to the Wild West setting of the first two games in the series, the designers decided to focus on the importance of storytelling in myth-making. Basing the narrative structure on Bastion, they aimed to use the game's unreliable narrator to examine the fine line between fact and fiction in establishing the legends of some of the West's best-known figures.
Gunslinger received generally positive reviews, with critics praising the storytelling, the fast-paced arcade-style shooting mechanics, the graphics, the voice acting, and the humor. Many also felt that the game was good enough to erase the memories of The Cartel. Criticisms focused on a predictable ending and shallow boss battles. The Switch port also received generally positive reviews and was praised for its fidelity to the original, although some critics took issue with the controls. The game was a commercial success, becoming Ubisoft's second best selling digital-only title of 2013, after Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon.
- ^ Higton, Ian (April 22, 2013). Call of Juarez: Gunslinger Exclusive Interview. Eurogamer. Archived from the original on July 3, 2021. Retrieved July 3, 2021 – via YouTube.
- ^ Makuch, Eddie (April 22, 2013). "Call of Juarez: Gunslinger out May 22". GameSpot. Archived from the original on July 2, 2021. Retrieved July 2, 2021.
- ^ Call of Juarez [@coj_gunslinger] (October 24, 2019). "Coming to Nintendo Switch" (Tweet). Archived from the original on June 22, 2021. Retrieved June 22, 2021 – via Twitter.
- ^ Doolan, Liam (October 25, 2019). "Call Of Juarez: Gunslinger Is Riding Onto The Nintendo Switch This December". Nintendo Life. Archived from the original on July 3, 2021. Retrieved July 3, 2021.