Call of Juarez: The Gunslinger was the fourth and last game in the Call of Juarez series and it’s a shame, because it’s probably the best out of all of them. To Techland’s credit, they tried something new with each iteration, unfortunately it took them four tries to get it right.

This is probably going to be a pretty short write-up, because honestly there’s not a whole lot to say. It’s a shame the graphical quality of the game is as choppy as it is, because I think with the proper scaling and AA, the style would hold up nicely. To be fair, I played the old Xbox 360 version of the game, and it’s locked in time no matter what. There is a PC version that no doubt scales and holds up better, so if you are reading this and have the option, play it on PC.

I really liked the setup for The Gunslinger, following an old ex-gunslinger and bounty hunter as he recounts tales of his adventures to a group of saloon patrons. In typical old-man fashion, the story he’s telling can change from one moment to the next, as he corrects himself or goes off on a tangent, and the great thing is that the game desing and level will change as he remembers a detail that he didn’t before. For example, the player may be facing an impassable obstacle in the game, when Silas remembers there was a ladder off to the side. Suddenly a ladder will fall from the heavens and you’ll be able to proceed. This presents itself in other ways, even in an instance when death is inevitable, (because obviously he didn’t die, he’s telling the story). Someone listening to the story might ask, “How did you ever get out of that?” and he’ll say something like “Well just at the last minute, such and such came to my rescue.”

I say something like that, I don’t remember exactly, but I do remember getting a chuckle out of it. It’s a creative way to tell a story, and it’s a shame it was utilized in an otherwise forgettable game.

Not that Gunslinger didn’t get its kudos when it came out. I remember hearing about the game, unfortunately at the time I couldn’t be bothered to spend the money on it, especially when the previous games in the series came and went in a puff of smoke.

Techland went on to do bigger and better things, with Dead Island, Dying Light and the upcoming Dying Light 2 being pretty highly anticipated, but with the talent and the experience they have now, it’s almost a shame that we don’t get smaller, tighter and more highly focused games from them. I would love to see what they could do with a game like the Gunslinger nowadays.

As it stands, The Gunslinger is the last in a series that is all but dead now. Maybe one day we’ll see it again, but I doubt it.