Returning to Xbox 360, the Call of Juarez story steps a generation back in time with Bound in Blood, a prequel to the original game. Set 20 years earlier, the adventure stars Ray and Thomas McCall, two brothers from Atlanta, in their prime, fighting for the Confederate army in the War Between the States. As the game begins, tragedy tears them from the war and their home.

Through sequences of stealth, light platforming puzzles, and plenty of shooting, Ray and Thomas face a full complement of classic Western scenarios -- duels, jailbreaks, gunfights, horseback battles, stagecoach chases, and more -- as they travel from Georgia to Mexico, on a quest for a pile of cursed gold they believe will be their family's salvation. Once again, the Call of Juarez story is told from two perspectives, as players take the roles of two different lead characters, but unlike in the original, Bound in Blood players can choose which character they want to play in each stage (computer AI will control the other).

Ray McCall, featured as a much older man in the first game, is the more direct of the two. He specializes in two-fisted six-shooting and big explosives. Thomas is more cunning, with a knack for sniper shooting and stealth. In the tradition of rollicking Spaghetti Western films, weapons in the game are slightly more reliable and easy to use than era-accurate, and the game's gunplay was designed around giving the weapons a solid, authentic feel when fired. In addition to the single-player campaign, online multiplayer modes allow gamers to fight it out in cinema-inspired Western combat.