Call of Juarez: The Cartel

When there's no chance of success where you are, move forward. An ethos you can apply to life, and one you know Techland has applied to its Wild West series Call of Juarez, leaping the years between the 'then' and 'now' as it brings the defining characteristics of the Western to modern-day Los Angeles. Decent though the FPS series has been with its two previous titles, it'd be ill-advised to try its luck for a third shootout in an era that will for the foreseeable future be associated with a new sheriff, one wearing the initialled badge of R.D.R.

Stagecoaches might be replaced with cars, nightclubs may replace saloons, but very little of the series' DNA has been tampered with in the time jump. We're still following a gunslinger called McCall who preaches as much as he shoots. There's still a multiple narrative structure to the game's story. But where once was a priest on a path of vengeance now stands a seasoned police detective; where once we had a duel narrative separating missions by character, we now have a full-on threesome as McCall teams up with an FBI agent and a DEA operative for a bullet-ridden three-player cooperative adventure across America and into Mexico.

Techland are promising a dark and twisted police story with the grit of black humour stuck between its teeth - the pre-gameplay presentation name-drops contemporary TV shows like The Shield and Sons of Anarchy for tonal comparisons, but with the iconic shadow of Clint Eastwood cast over both. Juarez is no longer stuck with the wide valleys and dusty roads of the past, and the variety of locations and gameplay that comes with them has reinvigorated it.

Adopting the real world gang battles of LA as the new West fits Call of Juarez like a smooth shot of expensive tequila. And despite the cowboy hat and dusty trench coat, McCall fits right into this brave new world, now more Tarantino cool than Spaghetti Western. He stays true to his predecessors by quoting passages from the Bible as he starts shooting, but with his own unique and cuss-filled twist, and there's plenty of little nods to his Wild West associations. Talking to an informant, for example, he asks the boy whether he's "got beans in his ears". It's a nice touch for fans of the series and we're wondering if his comrades will have a few digs at his old-style getup.

McCall's joined by FBI's Kim Evans and DEA's Eddie Guerra, and as typical of our heroes these days, both bring a spittoon full of attitude and secrets to the bullet-riddled table.

Don't expect them to be best buds, but they will be stuck like glue to each other's side throughout the 16 missions on offer. There's three player drop in/drop out cooperative throughout the game, but your chosen character might be in a different circumstance or area of the map than the others depending on your objectives at the time.

Because while the three work side-by-side, they'll split and divide as missions decree. They closely shadow each other on a night club shootout early on in the demo, laying down suppressive fire as they work their way up between upturned tables and bars. Stick with NPCs as your partners and they'll handily shout out commands to move while they lay down covering fire, or if they need to reload.

You'll miss out on some fun gameplay moments if you go solo though. Come the demo's close, the three are divided by several miles, with Guerra and Evans fighting their down a mountainside in what looks like Marlboro country towards McCall, who's firmly up shit creek in the valley below as a meeting turns sour. Kim and Eddie cover him as best they can by taking out potential snipers before hijacking a car and doing their best Colin McCrae impression down a dirt track.

Car chase sequences will drop one player into the driving seat while the others provide firepower from the passenger seats. There's a fantastic sequence midway through the demo that follows an explosive car park shoot out - complete with exploding cars raining down like a meteor shower - as you drive along a freeway, weaving through traffic and dodging gun fire. We watch the player driving, and while the handling doesn't suggest any COJ: Nitro racing offshoot anytime soon, it fits perfectly in with the sort of big budget blockbuster experience Call of Juarez has only dabbled with before. There's even banter between the three leads during these life and death situations that, in keeping with the unwritten book of all cop dramas, says while they got to work together, doesn't mean they have to like each other.

The chemistry between the three very different leads is what drives the co-op, according to the developer, who state that the characters dictated the co-op. "The choice of three players co-op was driven by the story, not the opposite," said Producer Samuel Jacques. Cooperation is also essential for survival in those gunfights, coordinating suppressive fire with runs between cover points. Note that because you carry a badge means you've got be careful who you shoot, a point underscored when the three end up in a gun fight in the middle of a packed dance floor.

And while the team are working together to solve the case - mixing up drugs, cartels and Mexico like some explosive adventure cocktail - the developer slips in its multiple narrative structure, one of the hallmarks and highlights of the series in the past, in a much more sublime way than before. The demo kicks off with the team approaching an informant's apartment, with Eddie receiving a phone call just before they go in - and only the player controlling him will be privy to the conversation. Given one story element is the suggestion of a high-placed mole in police force, private asides like this ramp up the tension and these smaller, more subtle elements allow Techland to still make a game worth playing multiple times to get the full picture.

The game updates the atypical Western set pieces for the modern world, and from the small snippets we've seen, it looks like Techland has the formula, and flavour, of an exciting Western adventure just about right.