Call of Juarez: The Cartel
Encyclopedia
Call of Juarez: The Cartel is a first-person shooter
video game developed by Techland
. The game is part of the Call of Juarez
western-themed video games, but is set in modern-day Los Angeles
and Mexico
as up to three players take the role of law enforcement agents. Call of Juarez: The Cartel was demonstrated at Penny Arcade Expo
East 2011 and was released on July 19, 2011 for the PlayStation 3
and Xbox 360
and Microsoft Windows
on September 13, 2011.
The trio proceeds to strike at the Cartel through their distributors—domestic street gangs, such as Araña and the Rolling 50’s, and clash in skirmishes with Araña's rivals, the Vatos Locos. The team burn cannabis fields, raid a gang house, disrupt a sex trafficking ring (which also was housing shipments of cannabis), and intercept a large shipment of cash following an extensive car chase and gunfight.
At Eddie's behest, the team decides to move Jessica to a different safe house across the city in a car driven by one Sergeant Dempsey. Almost immediately, they are intercepted by Araña gangsters and chased along the freeway until their car is hit by a semi truck. Dempsey is killed, but the rest manage to escape in stolen transportation. Realizing that someone let slip their plans, they resolve to trust no one—not even each other—until their mission is complete.
Afterwards, they find a number for Stone's retired acquaintance, Kevin Donleavy, who received a package upon his death. They arrange a meeting at the Panorama nightclub, but upon arrival Ben notices Alvarez among the crowd. After approaching her at the bar and handing her a key, Donleavy is killed by a sniper, uttering only the words "Eagle Pass" before dying. Jessica flees the scene in terror, with Alvarez in pursuit; despite their best efforts, the three are unable to find her afterwards.
Eddie and Kim learn that Jesús Mendoza, son of Cartel boss Juan Mendoza, is headed to Los Angeles in response to the stolen money delivery. Realizing that abducting Jesús would lead them to the Cartel's arms dealer and grant them a powerful bargaining chip, Eddie asks his street dealer, Hector, to tell Araña to mark anyone asking about the stolen cash, then convinces another dealer, Flaco, to contact Araña about the exact topic. Armed thugs promptly arrive and execute Flaco, and retreat to the El Dorado nightclub to inform their guest, unaware they are being followed; there, the agents fight through Araña gang members and chase down Jesús, stowing him into the trunk of their van.
Ben interrogates Jesús about the Cartel, learning that Alvarez has indeed captured Jessica, and that Jesús was to meet with Michael Duke, CEO of the bankrupt PMC Peacekeepers International, and the Cartel's contact for high-end weaponry; satisfied, they lock Jesús inside a development building.
The next day, the trio rendezvous with Duke at a ghost town (The same town where Ray and Thomas fought a group of Pinkertons in Bound in Blood) in Jesús' stead, Eddie dressed as Jesús, Kim as his escort and Ben as "Harris", a weapons expert. However, Duke reveals Alvarez has arrived, as well; Alvarez recognizes them immediately, but sardonically plays along with their disguises. After a weapons demonstration and unexpectedly dangerous live-fire exercise, Duke rejects the Cartel's payment, and states his new price—Monteczuma's legendary treasure, The Gold of Juarez, long since unearthed and relocated to the National Museum in Juarez, Mexico.
That night, gangsters attack the team at their motel, demolishing the walls with a wrecking ball. Despite his multiple attempts at escape, the agents retrieve Jesús and bring him to the Mexican border in exchange for Jessica. However, as the two hostages pass, Alvarez shoots them both with a sniper rifle, killing Jesús and wounding Jessica. The team manages to rescue her, but she soon dies. After an argument in which Ben reveals that Kim shot Donleavy, Eddie then reveals to the rest of the team that Donleavy gave him a key to "Eagle Pass" earlier.
The team use the key to open a locker at a bus station, inside is the package that Donleavy mentioned, which turns out to be a cd that Patrick Stone recorded, on the cd, Patrick says that Shane Dickson is corrupt and was the one who introduced Michael Duke to the Mendoza Cartel, he expresses regret at not testifying against Alvarez back in Vietnam (where Alvarez was tried for raping and murdering a Vietnamese civilian in Saigon back in 1972, but was deemed innocent) and reveals that Ben is the only person he trusted to look after Jess.
Soon after, the team head to a farmhouse and after fighting through some thugs, find a secret underground smuggling passage, the tunnel leads them under the border to an old fort (Juarez' Alcazar) where Mendoza and Duke's men are loading up the Gold of Juarez into trucks, the team manage to kill all the men and then decide to plot Duke and Mendoza against one another by taking the Gold and pinning it on Duke via text message and sending Duke a letter about Mendoza deciding to take the weapons and the Gold all for himself.
The next day, the team plans to capture Mendoza at Jesús's funeral, but Duke's men arrive and the team chase after Mendoza, fighting both men's armies until they corner him in a church. Duke then tries to kill Mendoza himself in an attack chopper, which the team manages to destroy, killing Duke in the process. They then chase after Mendoza, only for Alvarez to show up and rescue him.
The team then storms Mendoza's Hacienda, killing more of his men and finally manage to corner Mendoza, who promptly surrenders. Ben tries to strong-arm him into testifying, only for Mendoza to be killed by an unmanned aircraft drone, which fires upon the rest of the team, who realize that Dickson must've sent the drone after them in order to cover up her tracks. Ben says that Alvarez is the only one left who can testify to Dickson's involvement. The team chase him into a cellar, where they split into three paths. Kim and Eddie are contacted by their superiors who encourage them to kill off their teammates, while Dickson orders Ben to walk away, or "things will go badly" for him. The team manages to corner Alvarez, who reveals that Eddie's debts have been paid off in exchange for his agency to hold him responsible for his illegal actions, Kim reveals that Alvarez is a federal informant and was their link to the Cartel. Ben wants to kill Alavarez in retaliation for his crimes, Kim wants Alvarez alive so Dickson and Waters (Head of the FBI) can go to prison and Eddie wants to split the drug money three ways where they can start with a clean slate.
The team engage in a Mexican stand-off and the player is presented with a choice to either kill his/her teammates or decide not to fight, choosing to kill your teammates results in Alvarez detonating a grenade and escaping, after which you kill your teammates and get different fates for each character, Ben goes to prison while the US prepares to go to war with Mexico, Kim slaps Dickson after being awarded a medal, and is apprehended, and Eddie gets killed (presumably by the person who was blackmailing him). If you choose not to fight, the team lets Alvarez live.
Later on, Alvarez testifies against Dickson's involvement, resulting in her arrest. Eddie and Kim both end up in jail for their actions and Ben is shown placing flowers on Patrick and Jessica's grave, and pulling out a Bible.
gave the PC version 50.33% and 47/100, the Xbox 360
version 48.98% and 47/100 and the PlayStation 3
version 45.94% and 45/100.
The game has also been accused of racism and insensitivity toward real life events, addressing issues such as human trafficking and the current drug wars in Mexico with flippant inaccuracy. Extra Credits
stating "This might be the most racist game [they've] ever played by a major publisher."
Edge
scored the game 4/10 and criticised many aspects of the game, saying "FPS games, like action movies, can be sublime or ridiculous. This is aiming for the former, and often proves to be the latter."
First-person shooter
First-person shooter is a video game genre that centers the gameplay on gun and projectile weapon-based combat through first-person perspective; i.e., the player experiences the action through the eyes of a protagonist. Generally speaking, the first-person shooter shares common traits with other...
video game developed by Techland
Techland
Techland is a Polish video game developer, founded in 1991 by Paweł Marchewka. They are most famous for developing Call of Juarez, a Western-themed first-person shooter, released for Microsoft Windows in 2006, and later ported to Xbox 360 in June 2007...
. The game is part of the Call of Juarez
Call of Juarez
Call of Juarez is a Western-themed first-person shooter from the Polish developer Techland. First released for Windows in E3 2005, it was ported to the Xbox 360 in 2007. The PC version is one of the first games to use Microsoft's DirectX 10...
western-themed video games, but is set in modern-day Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
and Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
as up to three players take the role of law enforcement agents. Call of Juarez: The Cartel was demonstrated at Penny Arcade Expo
Penny Arcade Expo
The Penny Arcade Expo is a semi-annual gamer festival held in Seattle and Boston. PAX was created by Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik, the authors of the Penny Arcade webcomic, because they wanted to attend a show that gave equal attention to console gamers, computer gamers, and tabletop...
East 2011 and was released on July 19, 2011 for the PlayStation 3
PlayStation 3
The is the third home video game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment and the successor to the PlayStation 2 as part of the PlayStation series. The PlayStation 3 competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
and Xbox 360
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
and Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
on September 13, 2011.
Plot
On July 4, 2011, the offices of the Drug Enforcement Administration are bombed by unknown assailants. Assistant Deputy Director Shane Dickson enlists Ben McCall, along with FBI agent Kimberly Evans and DEA agent Eddie Guerra to track down the culprits, with the Mendoza Cartel and Antonio Alvarez as prime suspects. She informs them of the late Patrick Stone, who was investigating the Cartel up until his death in the bombing. They are also tasked with protecting Stone's only daughter, Jessica, a key informant in the investigation, whom they place under witness protection. Kim reveals that the Cartel has been purchasing military-grade hardware from an unknown source.The trio proceeds to strike at the Cartel through their distributors—domestic street gangs, such as Araña and the Rolling 50’s, and clash in skirmishes with Araña's rivals, the Vatos Locos. The team burn cannabis fields, raid a gang house, disrupt a sex trafficking ring (which also was housing shipments of cannabis), and intercept a large shipment of cash following an extensive car chase and gunfight.
At Eddie's behest, the team decides to move Jessica to a different safe house across the city in a car driven by one Sergeant Dempsey. Almost immediately, they are intercepted by Araña gangsters and chased along the freeway until their car is hit by a semi truck. Dempsey is killed, but the rest manage to escape in stolen transportation. Realizing that someone let slip their plans, they resolve to trust no one—not even each other—until their mission is complete.
Afterwards, they find a number for Stone's retired acquaintance, Kevin Donleavy, who received a package upon his death. They arrange a meeting at the Panorama nightclub, but upon arrival Ben notices Alvarez among the crowd. After approaching her at the bar and handing her a key, Donleavy is killed by a sniper, uttering only the words "Eagle Pass" before dying. Jessica flees the scene in terror, with Alvarez in pursuit; despite their best efforts, the three are unable to find her afterwards.
Eddie and Kim learn that Jesús Mendoza, son of Cartel boss Juan Mendoza, is headed to Los Angeles in response to the stolen money delivery. Realizing that abducting Jesús would lead them to the Cartel's arms dealer and grant them a powerful bargaining chip, Eddie asks his street dealer, Hector, to tell Araña to mark anyone asking about the stolen cash, then convinces another dealer, Flaco, to contact Araña about the exact topic. Armed thugs promptly arrive and execute Flaco, and retreat to the El Dorado nightclub to inform their guest, unaware they are being followed; there, the agents fight through Araña gang members and chase down Jesús, stowing him into the trunk of their van.
Ben interrogates Jesús about the Cartel, learning that Alvarez has indeed captured Jessica, and that Jesús was to meet with Michael Duke, CEO of the bankrupt PMC Peacekeepers International, and the Cartel's contact for high-end weaponry; satisfied, they lock Jesús inside a development building.
The next day, the trio rendezvous with Duke at a ghost town (The same town where Ray and Thomas fought a group of Pinkertons in Bound in Blood) in Jesús' stead, Eddie dressed as Jesús, Kim as his escort and Ben as "Harris", a weapons expert. However, Duke reveals Alvarez has arrived, as well; Alvarez recognizes them immediately, but sardonically plays along with their disguises. After a weapons demonstration and unexpectedly dangerous live-fire exercise, Duke rejects the Cartel's payment, and states his new price—Monteczuma's legendary treasure, The Gold of Juarez, long since unearthed and relocated to the National Museum in Juarez, Mexico.
That night, gangsters attack the team at their motel, demolishing the walls with a wrecking ball. Despite his multiple attempts at escape, the agents retrieve Jesús and bring him to the Mexican border in exchange for Jessica. However, as the two hostages pass, Alvarez shoots them both with a sniper rifle, killing Jesús and wounding Jessica. The team manages to rescue her, but she soon dies. After an argument in which Ben reveals that Kim shot Donleavy, Eddie then reveals to the rest of the team that Donleavy gave him a key to "Eagle Pass" earlier.
The team use the key to open a locker at a bus station, inside is the package that Donleavy mentioned, which turns out to be a cd that Patrick Stone recorded, on the cd, Patrick says that Shane Dickson is corrupt and was the one who introduced Michael Duke to the Mendoza Cartel, he expresses regret at not testifying against Alvarez back in Vietnam (where Alvarez was tried for raping and murdering a Vietnamese civilian in Saigon back in 1972, but was deemed innocent) and reveals that Ben is the only person he trusted to look after Jess.
Soon after, the team head to a farmhouse and after fighting through some thugs, find a secret underground smuggling passage, the tunnel leads them under the border to an old fort (Juarez' Alcazar) where Mendoza and Duke's men are loading up the Gold of Juarez into trucks, the team manage to kill all the men and then decide to plot Duke and Mendoza against one another by taking the Gold and pinning it on Duke via text message and sending Duke a letter about Mendoza deciding to take the weapons and the Gold all for himself.
The next day, the team plans to capture Mendoza at Jesús's funeral, but Duke's men arrive and the team chase after Mendoza, fighting both men's armies until they corner him in a church. Duke then tries to kill Mendoza himself in an attack chopper, which the team manages to destroy, killing Duke in the process. They then chase after Mendoza, only for Alvarez to show up and rescue him.
The team then storms Mendoza's Hacienda, killing more of his men and finally manage to corner Mendoza, who promptly surrenders. Ben tries to strong-arm him into testifying, only for Mendoza to be killed by an unmanned aircraft drone, which fires upon the rest of the team, who realize that Dickson must've sent the drone after them in order to cover up her tracks. Ben says that Alvarez is the only one left who can testify to Dickson's involvement. The team chase him into a cellar, where they split into three paths. Kim and Eddie are contacted by their superiors who encourage them to kill off their teammates, while Dickson orders Ben to walk away, or "things will go badly" for him. The team manages to corner Alvarez, who reveals that Eddie's debts have been paid off in exchange for his agency to hold him responsible for his illegal actions, Kim reveals that Alvarez is a federal informant and was their link to the Cartel. Ben wants to kill Alavarez in retaliation for his crimes, Kim wants Alvarez alive so Dickson and Waters (Head of the FBI) can go to prison and Eddie wants to split the drug money three ways where they can start with a clean slate.
The team engage in a Mexican stand-off and the player is presented with a choice to either kill his/her teammates or decide not to fight, choosing to kill your teammates results in Alvarez detonating a grenade and escaping, after which you kill your teammates and get different fates for each character, Ben goes to prison while the US prepares to go to war with Mexico, Kim slaps Dickson after being awarded a medal, and is apprehended, and Eddie gets killed (presumably by the person who was blackmailing him). If you choose not to fight, the team lets Alvarez live.
Later on, Alvarez testifies against Dickson's involvement, resulting in her arrest. Eddie and Kim both end up in jail for their actions and Ben is shown placing flowers on Patrick and Jessica's grave, and pulling out a Bible.
Reception
Call of Juarez: The Cartel received generally mixed to negative reviews. Aggregating review websites GameRankings and MetacriticMetacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
gave the PC version 50.33% and 47/100, the Xbox 360
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
version 48.98% and 47/100 and the PlayStation 3
PlayStation 3
The is the third home video game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment and the successor to the PlayStation 2 as part of the PlayStation series. The PlayStation 3 competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
version 45.94% and 45/100.
The game has also been accused of racism and insensitivity toward real life events, addressing issues such as human trafficking and the current drug wars in Mexico with flippant inaccuracy. Extra Credits
Extra Credits
Extra Credits is an ongoing webseries presented by James Portnow, Daniel Floyd, and Allison Theus. The series of videos discuss issues pertinent to video games and game studies, particularly: discussing issues concerning the development of videos games, addressing the legitimacy of video games as...
stating "This might be the most racist game [they've] ever played by a major publisher."
Edge
Edge (magazine)
Edge is a multi-format computer and video game magazine published by Future Publishing in the United Kingdom. It is known for its industry contacts, editorial stance, distinctive anonymous third-person writing style, yearly awards and longevity....
scored the game 4/10 and criticised many aspects of the game, saying "FPS games, like action movies, can be sublime or ridiculous. This is aiming for the former, and often proves to be the latter."