Most (if not all) cowboy games garble the ultra-pure western themes: revenge, greed, honor. Call of Juarez aims to stalk into Gamesville armed with these and g😼un down all p☂retenders.

This shooter is an homage to the spaghetti western, crammed with duels, wagons, Stetsons, sheriffs, quick-palmed reloads, saloons, women in peril, women in bonnets... almost every detail has a big, echoey twang of authenticity. Juarez already has a powerful sense of place.

A frequently attractive proprietary engine an🅷d decent physics - kick out railings, shoot out windows, throw oil-burning lanterns - help too, whether you're scaling a huge mountain as Billy (the hunted) or gunning down townsfolk as the loony fire-and-brimstone pr✅eacher Ray (the hunter).

Sounding like one of Johnny Cash's darker records, Ray blames Billy for his brother's death, but fr🐬om his Bible-wielding intro onwards it's clear he doesn't need too much encouragement to kill.

Each character has a style all his own. Billy is saved by a Wise Old Indian and learns to use a bow, a whip and a horse, while Ranting Ray is all about the guns and God. Playing both sides of the story is still an excitingly fresh prospect. It was pulled off in the new-school adventure gameIndigo Prophecy, and that had a Wise(ish) Old Indian in it, too.