Conclusion

Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood is a worthy sequel to the first part, but unlike the latter doesn’t wolf down resources like crazy: even with maximum graphics quality settings the game sets pretty modest requirements to the graphics subsystem, so a Radeon HD 4770 or GeForce GTS 250 type graphics card will be sufficient for it in most cases. Since you can count Western games with the fingers of one hand, Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood becomes even more valuable, also due to the fact that it follows closely all the genre rules and recreates the Wild West atmosphere in great detail. Among the obvious drawbacks, we could probably name extremely complex controls during gun duels that may cause some nerve cells to inexperienced and sensitive players, but eventually you can master it, too.

In terms of graphics quality, the game is flawless: the level of detail is high enough, the lighting model is excellent, and high-quality power-processing effects make a great addition to the picture hiding small visual defects. Edge-detect antialiasing replaces regular MSAA and does it so well that we have never felt like we lacked classical multisampling support.

As for performance, as we have already said, you won’t need to invest all you’ve got into a high-end graphics accelerator if you decide to enjoy the beauties of the Wild West: modest mainstream solution with around a $100 price tag will do just fine here. Even if you are going to play in 2560x1600 resolution, you won’t need dual-processor ATI or Nvidia monsters, just got for flagship single-GPU Radeon HD 4890 or GeForce GTX 285. Moreover, the game doesn’t require a super-powerful and super-expensive CPU: as we have just seen, the performance of two platforms - one on a relatively inexpensive Intel Core i7-920 and another on a pretty pricy Intel Core i7-965 Extreme Edition – is almost identical. So, you won’t need a flagship CPU either. Although, Core i7-920 is actually powerful enough for the majority of other games out there.

Summing things up, we would like to say that Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood is a very high-quality and at the same time undemanding game that most Western fans will love. It doesn’t require an unscheduled upgrade of your gaming platform unless your system is equipped with some really old components. Those who have limited budget should go for a Radeon HD 4770, and if you have a little more to spend, then you should consider GeForce GTX 275/285, as they provide higher minimal performance than the Advanced Micro Devices solutions of the same class.