love this game

After successfully elevating the Call of Juarez name with 2009's Bound in Blood, the developers at Techland have taken a hard left turn, swapping stagecoaches for SUVs and a present-day drug war.

The first two Call of Juarez games focused on the McCall brothers and their connection to a lost Mayan treasure buried beneath the Mexican town of Juarez. Set in the 1800s around the period of the American Civil War they were games that focused on the Wild West and were in general decent games.

I was interested in this next step for the Call of Juarez series, and I really think it could have worked; but good ideas can only do so much, solid execution must also prevail, and that just didn't happen with The Cartel.

Up to this point, Call of Juarez has managed to distinguish itself as a flawed but likable series, one that's brought some interesting ...

Heroes' hidden agendas are a nice touch; Competitive elements make co-op more fun; Gets a little better in its final chapters

Looks unpolished to the point of hideousness; Mediocre voice acting and terrible combat banter; Wastes great ideas on a mediocre-at-best shooter

Call of Juarez: The Cartel moves in on cowboy turf in this video review with Kevin VanOrd.

Secret agendas smartly link the gameplay with the story; Challenges give co-op play a competitive edge; Many levels are atmospheric and offer room to maneuver

You miss out on the good stuff when you play on your own; Unlikable characters that say and do unlikable things; Lots of bugs and glitches; Frequent pauses and frame-rate inconsistencies

Call of Juarez started out by saddling some great ideas onto a pretty mediocre first title. It wasn't until Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood that everything fell into place, and Techland managed to deliver a decent Western experience with varied gameplay, nice graphics and some epic gunfights.

Trading its horses and lever-action revolvers for SUVs and Desert Eagles, Call of Juarez embraces the modern world of drug trafficking in "The Cartel."

Character development helps flush out the narrative; Delivers a few "cool" moments; If you can dig it; multiple characters offer up replayability; Co-op gameplay is available

Load times are a lengthy; Lots of graphical glitches; not to mention its overall poor quality; Gameplay isn't satisfying; we've been here before; FPS extras like driving and fighting simply don't work; Audio is underachieving with its own set of glitches; Online was give some thought; but you've...

Call of Juarez is one of those peculiar mid-range series that have somehow survived an industry climate that is supposed to have finished off everything between tiny indies and blockbuster juggernauts.

Very good game