Good game. However, its flaws keep this game from greatness.
Let's start with some positives :
The gunplay is outstanding, which is essential for an FPS. The dev team really nail it with responsive firing, control-wise, and it feels very western. This ain't no fancy-shmancy sci-fi tesla guns or heavy auto WWII gear. Nah this is pure revolver and rifle greatness and you feel that while playing Bound In Blood.
Even better, getting to choose to play as either Thomas or Ray is a brilliant addition, as each character has his strengths. For example, Thomas can't duel-wield pistols but he's the better marksman. Not breaking any new ground here, but it's a nice touch, and it's enough for me to give Bound In Blood a better than average rating.
There's a lot of not-so-great things :
The countdown timer on concentration mode does not encourage exploration to find collectibles, called 'secrets'. But whatever, the secrets are pretty dumb. Mostly hindered with bad writing, they really don't add much to the story or develop the characters in an interesting way.
It's too easy to throw away a good weapon for an inferior weapon. It's hard to explain in words, but you'll understand this shortly after playing. This is made worse by the difficulty to obtain money for better firearms. Especially when looting dead bodies, you have to be exactly where the money was dropped to pick it up. I hate this. HATE. Why do so many games make the collection radius so damn small? I never understand this decision in games. I'm never not going to want to pick up that money bag. Just lemme have it. Gimme money magnet hands. And those bags and such aren't highlighted in any way so it's too easy to miss money bags lying out on tables in plain sight. Everything is the same drab brown /dirty /off-white color so it's hard to see the things you want to see. I understand the development team was aiming ( ha ; ) for visual realism, but sometimes it's better to forego realism in favor of a more streamlined gameplay.
Unngghhh why can't I sell back weapons!?! Bound In Blood does not encourage weapon exploration, which is nearly a fatal flaw for any FPS. After you spend a grand+ on that scoped rifle, you're not going to be quick to drop it--for nothing--to spend another G on a top shelf shotgun. I'm not replaying this just to try some other guns.
Oddly the concentration mode mechanics differ from Thomas to Ray. It's confusing and unnecessary, and makes switching between them a little awkward when it doesn't have to be.
When playing as Thomas there's a couple parts where I got stuck because I didn't find the *exact* spot where I needed to throw his lasso. Lame.
Dueling... probably the most universally disliked part of Bound In Blood. Needlessly frustrating. I got lucky with two duels I won with the first shot. Others I had to repeat 5 to 15 times before advancing. These duels are not optional like they are in Red Dead Redemption (a superior game in most aspects).
Blood In Blood's story is awful. The plot is fine, whatever, but the stereotypical voice-acting is atrocious. If I were Mexican or Native American or a grizzled Civil War vet I'd be angry. As it is, I'm sad that modest-to-big budget entertainment media still can't be bothered to represent all people with respect, let alone strive for authenticity. Instead the voice acting, overall, is a gross jumble of horrible accents, written with lousy 1950s dialogue. All black and white with no grey areas, no truly interesting plot twists. So so dumb. Why is it always so hard to hire actual Mexicans and Apache for those roles? Is it because they don't want to read your stupid script? This is pure garbage.
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Overall Bound In Blood is at least worth a single playthrough, especially now that you can get a used copy for just a few bucks. I recommend it to fans of westerns, moreso if you're good at overlooking dumb writing and a disposable, generic story in your games. If you love FPSs you could do much better, but also far far worse. If you're looking to play all the solid FPS games you can find, definitely pick up Bound In Blood. There is certainly fun to be had here, and I enjoyed this more than The Cartel. Bound In Blood's gunplay is fantastic, and that's enough to carry the game past its flaws. I will definitely play its sequel Gunslinger when I get a PS4.
