Call of Juarez: The Cartel has three player co-op, but according to this trailer there is also plenty of competition to go around if you want there to be.
As a Western movie buff, I'm still not over the fact that they took one of the few decent Western game franchises into the modern era. X-COM? Loved it. XCOM? I'm close to being over that game having that name. It's a game about shooting aliens, harvesting and researching alien tech to use against them, and managing a team. So far, at least some of those elements seem to be in XCOM. So fine, whatever, let's see what they make of it. It might be a good game even though it's not X-COM.
The Cartel though? I don't see any traces of the Western setting that made the Call of Juarez games stand out in the crowd. Those who played the past two games might see some familiar FPS gameplay going on, and some of the "enemies running between trees in a tree-infested hilltop area" stuff that wasn't quite the highlight of Bound in Blood.
It's weird, but I just feel almost nothing for The Cartel. No rage, no disappointment, no giddy anticipation. It just seems to be "there," and if anything, I feel more confused about why it is called Call of Juarez and what it's supposed to be. Maybe time will tell when it's released on July 19th, 2011.
Maurice Tan Maurice Tan does his Associate Editing from The Netherlands in a reality-shattering time zone. After working as a university lecturer in Psychology and Communications teaching game studies and the merits of Keyboard Cat, he now spends most of his time posting news, previews, reviews, and features about industry stuff or all things PC and strategy. He is also a connoisseur of licensed games, as long as they have achievements. Likes Deus Ex, Colonization, Mass Effect, TIE Fighter, and his iPod Touch.
Meet the rest of the team
He's wearing a cowboy hat, seems to be the only real connection, and that he looks like Ray. This seems...weird, but I'm all for some co-op. Wonder if the MP will be anything like the last one, or if they're just going all co-op. Lost a lot of online hours to the last game.
Destructoid is an open discussion community. You don't need to "audition" to post a comment - just speak your mind. We respect differing opinions on the site, so have at it. Be smart, funny, insightful, clueless, or cute -- but back it up with substance. Keep your cool, keep it fun. We only ask that you act respectfully and above all: don't be a troll and ruin it for everyone else. Don't bring down gamers or we'll, you know, gently shoot you in the face and stuff you into a flaming mailbox. Each comment is your opportuntity to make this community awesomer. Is that even a word?
Avoiding the banhammer only requires common sense: spamming, trolling, racism, NSFW stuff, and other forms of sucking will not be tolerated. If anyone is griefing please report abuse. Be good. Don't suck!
Contest:
11:30 PM on 06.16.2011 | 
L4D did it better.
I rest my case.