Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood is, rather unsurprisingly, the prequel to 2006's Call of Juarez. You can choose to play as 'Reverend' Ray from the original game, or his brother Thomas. Ray is the brash, slow but strong brother, where as Thomas is the quicker, more agile of the two.

The game is an FPS set in America's Wild West, and its story follows the the two brothers (and their other brother William) on their quest for a lost treasure, and takes them from the end of the Confederacy, through to Mexico and Native America. The story is mildly engaging, but doesn't really pick up until about halfway through the game, and involves the aforementioned treasure, betrayal and of course, a woman.

The game is well paced, if short, and is well broken up by things like vehicle sections, very loose stealth sections, duels, and decent cinematics. 'Concentration mode' is the game's 'Matrix' style time slowing feature, which is a good addition if you're in a pinch, and lets either brother take out a multitude of enemies in no time. Weapons are well spaced out through the game, and you can increase your arsenal by buying more weapons as the game progresses, although to be honest I didn't really notice that much difference between the weapon classes.

The boss fights in the game are old west style gunslinging duels, which I found very difficult to get on with. You circle your opponent until you hear a bell, and then BAM! Go for your gun and shoot. Except about nine times out of ten it was me on the receiving end. You control your hand with RS and when you hear the bell are required to grab your gun in a fraction of a second, which I found nigh on impossible. The hand movement was clunky and not well suited to the split second reaction required to win the duel. Also, as you circle your opponent, your carefully posistioned hand moves further and further out of position, making life even more difficult. It's not anything super-frustrating, I just found my small victories down more to luck than any skill on my part.

Still, while it lasts, which isn't long, Call of Juarez, is an exciting and unique shooter that I would recommend to any fan of shooters.