click me to buy(Available for PS3, Xbox360....& PC on 9/13/11)
I'll admit, I had trouble at first, trouble describing this video game. But, then I stepped back and readjusted my thoughts. I was planning on going easy on Ubisofts latest creation. That will not be the case at all, quite the opposite actually. This game was freakin' atrocious, from the shabby voice acting, to the par if not sub-par visuals, all the way back to the plot which managed to keep me enthralled for....6 seconds. One thing I cannot bad mouth is the multiplayer and co-op play...maybe I'm a noob but I could not figure out how or where to join a co-op play-through. As for multiplayer the idea of an actual "lobby" to wait in while "trying" but constantly failing to join matches was cool. I tried over 30+ times to delve into online play, it worked once, but it froze at the spawn start screen(Waah waaah).
When I threw the 'ol disc into the PS3, I was thinking "Alright, Ubisoft, this should be good". Not...so...much. The graphics for Juarez were on par for the most part with most games. With bright vibrant urban settings to a hidden drug farm in a California national park. The mission was to burn down all the "crops", which promptly had an immediate effect on one of the NPC's in my squad. There was one thing I disliked about the visuals, while aiming ur weapon, what I dubbed the N64 effect, would completely blur everything immediately behind your crosshairs. Otherwise graphics were solid, nothing above what has become expected.
The actual gameplay was easy to follow and mechanically decent. The gunplay was not overly hard to grasp and made for, sometimes fun, fire fights. There were aspects of multiplayer thrown into campaign play with leveling up unlocking different perks. Mainly the access to particular weapons at the start of each stage. Co-op is not the normal drop in/drop out, but you do have the chance to open your current play-through at the beginning of each level. With three characters, three different story lines, that would be your only incentive to play again....twice, if you made it through once.
I didn't pay so much attention to sound and such...I really just tried to get through stage by stage. What was done truly tasteful and well was the integration of Spanish mixed with English. Like in Southern California language/culture is transcending into one. Otherwise the sound was again on par of what is and should be expected of all next-gen games.
Do not buy this game, I know there is still time for PC users to heed this warning. This game is barely worth renting from GameFly, and technically it's free. The execution of this game lacks the luster of a truly well polished video game worth playing. Everything about this game screams mediocre, and that's being generous. If you ever get bored enough to punch yourself in the face, this would be the game to play when that becomes boring as well. My final verdict, 1 measly small shriveled bag out of 5....and again that's generous.