Call of Juarez: The Cartel

Did You Know?

• Community leaders in El Paso and Juarez criticized the game for glorifying cartel violence and exploiting real suffering before any major plot details or gameplay images were revealed.
• In 2015, the game's lead designer admitted The Cartel wasn't ready when released, calling the game "a mistake."

Gameplay

Call of Juarez: The Cartel is a first-person shooter where the player controls one of three protagonists: LAPD detective Ben McCall, FBI agent Kim Evans, or DEA agent Eddie Guerra. The two characters not chosen are controlled by AI or by human players in drop-in/drop-out co-op mode. Unlike earlier series entries, the player picks a character before the first level and is confined to that character for the entire campaign unless starting a new game. Each level plays through the same way regardless of character, but different cutscenes and dialogue occur depending on the chosen protagonist; for instance, in the first level each character receives a unique phone call audible only when playing as that character, requiring three playthroughs to hear all calls. All characters can wield handguns, rifles, heavy and light machine guns, shotguns, and grenades, interact with objects, drive vehicles, and use "Team Cover" at predetermined points to move between cover spots while companions provide covering fire. The characters differ in weaponry and abilities: McCall gains a damage bonus with handguns and heavy machine guns, has rapid handgun reloading, is stronger and slower, and takes more damage; Evans gets a damage bonus with rifles and sniper rifles, has enhanced focus and breath-holding when zoomed, is weaker and faster, and can run while zoomed; Guerra receives a damage bonus with light machine guns and shotguns, can dual-wield SMGs, and has intermediate strength and speed.

Plot

The Mendoza Cartel bombs the DEA's Los Angeles offices, killing seven agents. Deputy Attorney General Joseph Reynolds orders Assistant Attorney General Shane Dickson to form an interagency task force comprising LAPD detective Ben McCall, FBI agent Kim Evans, and DEA agent Eddie Guerra. Dickson informs the team that FBI agent Patrick Stone, killed in the bombing, had been investigating military-grade weapon sales to the cartel. Stone's daughter Jessica contacts McCall, saying her father was threatened days earlier by Antonio Alvarez, who served with McCall and Stone in Vietnam. After disrupting the cartel's street operations, the team learns Alvarez is to receive a large cash delivery. En route, Guerra's bookie tells him his $70,000 debt has been paid off. During the chase, Evans is ordered by FBI Assistant Director Allen Waters not to arrest Alvarez, who is an FBI informant, but the team secures the money. Guerra is later told by his anonymous benefactor to move Jessica to a less secure location; they are attacked but escape. Jessica calls former FBI agent Kevin Donleavy, who says Stone sent him evidence of a conspiracy "that goes all the way to the top." Jessica arranges to meet Donleavy at a rooftop bar. Guerra's creditors say they no longer need Jessica, only Donleavy's evidence. Evans is ordered to shoot Donleavy, prompting Jessica to flee, pursued by Alvarez.

Development

Ubisoft announced The Cartel in February 2011, with Techland returning as developer. Marketing director Adam Novickas stated the game would bring Wild West elements into modern times with a gritty, relevant plot. The modern-day setting was met with skepticism; IGN's Martin Robinson wrote that the series had lost its distinction, and GameSpot's Jane Douglas compared the change to a disco-era Prince of Persia reboot. Ubisoft producer Samuel Jacques said the team wanted to offer something fresh and give more variety, as the classical Wild West setting was limiting. Techland's project coordinator Błażej Krakowiak explained that Wild West values are universal and the team wanted to attract a new audience while keeping fans happy, adding "you should trust us. This is a great western game." Ubisoft noted they responded to fan feedback from Bound in Blood, which overwhelmingly requested co-op mode and criticized the single-player campaign as too short. The designers addressed the length issue by encouraging multiple playthroughs with different characters, as each character offers a different point of view on the same storyline.

Reception

Call of Juarez: The Cartel received generally unfavourable reviews across all platforms. GameSpot's Kevin VanOrd scored the PC and PlayStation 3 versions 6.5 out of 10 and the Xbox 360 version 6 out of 10, praising the secret agendas but criticizing shooting mechanics, character development, dialogue, voice acting, cutscene animation, glitches, and technical polish, noting characters speaking over one another and mismatched subtitles. Eurogamer's Dan Whitehead scored the Xbox 360 version 6 out of 10, praising the storyline, secret agenda mechanic, and basic shooting, but criticizing sloppy production values including subtitle mismatches and overlapping dialogue. Game Informer's Dan Ryckert scored the PlayStation 3 version 4.5 out of 10, calling it generic and glitchy, citing abrupt loads, inconsistent frame rates, enemies appearing out of thin air, floating characters, NPCs stuck in animation loops, and poor subtitle grammar. IGN's Anthony Gallegos scored all versions 4.5 out of 10, calling the game rushed, unpolished, and repetitive, with graphical glitches, poor texture mapping, pop-in, empty environments, clipping, and disappearing NPCs, and described multiplayer as mundane.