For more on Call of Juarez: The Cartel, check out our full Call of Juarez: The Cartel review. Or, for more of the best Xbox 360 games for an 11 year old, why not try our Family Game Finder
Call of Juarez: The Cartel is a first person action game centred around drug trafficking on the border between Mexico and the southern United States. Playing as one of three officers - either detective BenMcCall, FBI agent Kim Evans, or DEA operative Eddie Guerra, it's up to you to take part in an involving storyline, where they'll be hunting down members of the infamous Mendoza Cartel, who are believed to have been behind a deadly bomb attack on the United States on American Independence Day.
You'll be playing as the good guys in this one, but their methods are sometimes below the belt - from choking prostitutes in an attempt to get information, or actually hanging a gang member in an attempt to extract information, the good guys aren't exactly the moral beacons of justice you may expect.
In terms of questionable content, there's a lot for parents to be aware of in Call of Juarez. On more than one occasion, a woman gets throttled by the main character, who's trying to get information out of them. One scene sees a character being hung, while others include both sexual references, and strongly implied sexual intercourse, complete with bare breasts. One level even takes place in a strip club, with all sorts of scantily clad dancers - this certainly isn't a game for children.
It's also rather violent, too. Even a punch is enough to send gallons of blood flying in an incredibly unrealistic manner, while gunfire leaves the walls splattered with claret.
In terms of language, Call of Juarez is crude and harsh, with at times each sentence seeming to have at least one F word in it, if not MFer, while racial slurs towards white people are also present - both "cracker" and "gringo" are heard throughout the game.
Coming with a fully featured online multiplayer mode, you can play Call of Juarez: The Cartel with up to two other friends online, as you each take on the role of one of the agents. Sadly, there's no split-screen though, so unless you have two Xboxes, two Xbox Live Gold Subscriptions, and two copies of the game, families will have no use for it.
Age Ratings
Format Reviewed: Xbox 360
