Before Red Dead Redemption arrived, very few western games existed, let alone ones that could be enjoyed. Red Dead took it to an entirely different level — something that western fans have been itching to get their hands on for a long while now — but before its arrival only a couple were worth even trying out, including GUN and the duo of Call of Juarez and its prequel, Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood.

The Call of Juarez games and GUN certainly aren’t anything that were bound for video game supremacy, but if you’re as much of a sucker for westerns as I am, they’re a ton of fun. Great western settings, stories, and of course music, were all that was needed to offer up a worthwhile gaming experience in the old west.

When Red Dead did arrive and showed how incredible and magnificent a western game could be, one could have assumed that it would push those planning to make their own western games or sequels to existing franchises such as the ones mentioned above to make the biggest and best games they could make. But is that the case?

It’s been announced that a third title in the Call of Juarez franchise is now officially on the way, but the game, which is titled Call of Juarez: The Cartel (click the image above for full game cover), might not be exactly what fans were hoping they would one day play.

Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood
ESRB Rating: M for Mature
Platform: Xbox 360
Developer: Techland
Publisher: Ubisoft
Release Date: June 30, 2009

I’m just going to lay this right out on the table per an observation I’ve made over the years: if you’re not into the old west and the western genre that’s known so well in the movies, then you’re probably not going to be too fond of the string of western style games that have been making their way to our video game consoles. But if you’re like myself and absolutely adore anything set in that quintessential old western setting with some great music backing it up, then this review is right up your alley.

Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood is the follow-up to 2007’s Call of Juarez. The game is a prequel story about the McCall brothers, Thomas and Ray, and their desertion of the Confederate Army to help protect their family. When home becomes just too dangerous, they take their younger brother William, and the trio set off toward Mexico to search out a treasure of legend. As with any story that involves stubborn characters, especially brothers, greed and jealousy find their way into the mix and Thomas and Ray need to find a way to work together or die just another victim to the ruthless old west.

As I mentioned before, I’m a lover of westerns. At one point, the only really fun game that had a great western tone to it, was GUN. Then I discovered a little game called Call of Juarez and I gave it a whirl. The first game had many different things about it that really drove me nuts and frustrated me to no end; but once a groove was found in the gameplay, the story could be focused on and I found myself really enjoying it in the end. This same path came up with Bound in Blood, as the game’s developers changed up a lot of the gameplay that I had gotten used to in the first endeavor. But yet again, once you settle in and figure out how the games works best for you, it’s all about the story and once again, it is a very worthy ride.

Game Trailers TV had a great special on recently which debuted a bunch of great new videos for games expected to make impacts at the great E3 convention — the convention where most of the year’s biggest and best video games make their first impressions.

Below is a list of big upcoming games, a little about them, and the links to some great video previews that video game fans just need to go and watch. Once you watch one of the videos, you can search for a title on the website and watch any other videos or trailers that they may have.

Keep in mind these are just previews of some of the promising-looking multi-platform games that might be big at E3, which takes place June 2-4 at the LA Convention Center. There’s a whole lot more games than this that are coming out soon that have us all Christmas Day-excited for them. There will also be countless other games talked about at E3. Hopefully, you might find a game here that you weren’t aware of!

Think of this like our Summer Movie Mayhem, but with games. Be sure to stay tuned for any giant E3 announcements that may come along this June!