"Call of Juarez: The Cartel" brings the wild west to the modern day
"The Cartel" brings change to the "Call of Juarez" series by moving the story of the Wild West into the present day. Complete with degenerate gangs peddling drugs and main cast of shady enforcers of the law with their own motivations and secrets, the comparisons that are drawn to the old west are easy to see.
In addition to this interesting twist to the game's setting, "Cartel" brings a sense of competition and deceit to its cooperative experience. Each of the three playable characters have their own objectives. Each level has collectible items that can only be activated by the character they are meant for. However, collecting these items is at odds with your partners' objectives and must be done in secret. Players can earn points by collecting these objects while out of view, or by catching their partners in the act.
These secret objectives lend a degree of mistrust amidst the cooperative play. Players will also receive phone calls and text messages throughout the game informing them of these objectives. Other players can only hear their teammate's side of the conversation and are left in the dark as to their partner's secret motive.
These elements of the cooperative experience are easily the most innovative aspect of "The Cartel."
Unfortunately they, and the rest of the game, are subject to many, many glitches and bugs. Objects will sometimes not appear where they are meant to be, and phone calls often occur at inopportune times - in the middle of a firefight for example. Also, these elements are grossly underrepresented in the single player campaign.
The game's combat is standard enough and environments are typically open allowing for cooperative play and flanking. Despite the all to frequent graphical hiccups and frame rate issues, combat is the best-handled element of the game.
The story's cut-scenes are boring and not free of their own technical issues, often lacking sound effects. Environments are bland and lack texture. Visually, "The Cartel" would be right at home on original Xbox or Playstation 2.
"Call of Juarez: The Cartel" has many great ideas, but it suffers from such an apparent lack of polish that it's difficult to enjoy. Even the innovative cooperative play, as interesting as it may be in theory, never lives up to its potential and isn't enough to keep this game interesting.
"Call of Juarez: The Cartel" is available now for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC. It is rated M for Mature by the ESRB.