Call of Juarez: The Cartel is Risky Business

Games like GUN, Red Dead Revolver, and Call of Juarez were the only window gamers had into the old west, leaving fans of the genre stranded in a desert with no water in sight. Before Rockstar and Red Dead Redemption went and made the western game all mainstream, the best we had might have been Sunset Riders. 

Since RDR 'revolutionized' the old west, it seems like not many titles set in the same period will ever measure up to the commercial and critical success John Marston brought to the folks at Rockstar. Kudos then to Call of Juarez  for trying something new, and moving in a different direction. Though it may be on a bit of a touchy subject, you don't win big by playing the same safe hand over and over again.

Call of Juarez: The Cartel continues to bill itself as a western in the vein of the two preceding entries in the series, but the wild west has changed. The cartels are the new outlaws, and cash, drugs, and guns are the new gold. In The Cartel, you can take control of one of three 'bad' cops to take down drug lords from Mexico to Los Angeles. 

The Cartel is said to have three-player online co-op, three unique campaign stories and all that, but really that's not important. What is important, is the bitching and moaning that 'people' (ie. near-sighted journalists and left-wing politicians) are doing in regards to the latest Call of Juarez, seeing as how Mexico is in a bad way right now, thanks in part to the real cartels. 

To any of the detractors, I say find something better to do with your power of state or power of media. Lay off, let games be games, and go fight the problems you have with the latest Call of Juarez game at its source: real life. To developers Techland, and publishers Ubisoft, keep doing what you're doing. Call of Juarez: The Cartel looks like it might have some promise, please don't fuck it up on account of over-sensitive blowhards who attack the games industry to make themselves feel tough. 

Also, please don't turn Call of Juarez: The Cartel into something Kane and Lynch-like. Thanks! 

Dead Island Ruins the Idea of a Tropical Vacation

Zombies, zombies, zombies. They're everywhere, and frankly, I'm getting tired of them. Zombies in space, zombies in the old west, zombies in the Red Light District, and now, zombies in paradise! Oh noes!

As much as this whole walking dead craze is wearing on me, I have to admit this trailer for Dead Island -- a new IP in which you brutalize the undead on a tropical island paradise -- is fucking insane. Incredibly well made, hauntingly beautiful, and a total mindfuck. All positive signs that this, another zombie game in the pile, could be something special. 

Of course, trailers can look as amazing as they want, but it wont matter a damn if the game itself sucks. Though it's been in development for quite some time, Dead Island has few details. What has been confirmed is that it's a first person shooter with RPG elements, focused mostly on melee combat, with multiple characters and four-player coop. Sounds like a Left 4 Dead mod to me, but I'll reserve judgement until I have a little more to base my biased opinions on.

If you're not much of a thinker, and the original trailer is too Memento for you, here it is played backwards, which is actually forward.