Call of Juarez

2006 Techland Action

Windows 11With a fix

MacNot sold

LinuxGold

Steam DeckUnsupported

Gamicality score

Metacritic 724

OpenCritic Not rated

Steam players 781

How it’s combined

Playability today

Runs today2.5/5

Design today1.5/5

Steam user reviews

Very Positive

80%

4,010 reviews1

Get it on Steam Watch the trailer

Facts checked November 1, 2026

Does Call of Juarez run on Windows 11, Apple Silicon Macs, Linux and Steam Deck?

Windows 11With a fix

Runs with a fix. See the steps below.1

Mac (Apple Silicon)Not sold

No Mac version is sold.

LinuxGold

Through Proton. ProtonDB: Gold, runs perfectly after tweaks.3

Steam DeckUnsupported

Unsupported, as rated by Valve.1

Played Call of Juarez lately?

One click, no account, so the next player knows. How we check where it runs

How to get Call of Juarez running today

If the DirectX 10 version (CoJ_DX10.exe) crashes after the Techland logo, set its compatibility mode to Windows XP (Service Pack 2) (PCGamingWiki).
In Episode 4 and the two late boss fights, avoid reloading a left-hand revolver, or play those parts with CoJ.exe (DirectX 9), to avoid a known crash (PCGamingWiki).
For random crashes and sound problems, turn off Windows audio enhancements and spatial sound, or switch to mono audio (PCGamingWiki).
To remove black bars on widescreen monitors, install the aspect ratio and FOV fix linked under Essential improvements on PCGamingWiki.

Synopsis

A first-person Western shooter that alternates between two characters: Billy, a young drifter accused of murder who sneaks, climbs and uses a whip and bow, and Reverend Ray, a gunslinging preacher hunting him who fights head-on with revolvers and a Bible. Levels move through frontier towns, canyons and mines, with slow-motion quick-draw duels along the way.

Developer: Techland
Released: 2006
Genre: Action
Where to get it: Steam

Reception

Critics liked the atmosphere, the voice acting and Reverend Ray's gunfights, while calling Billy's stealth and platforming levels tedious and criticizing long load times and badly placed autosaves; it holds a 72 Metascore on PC. Players today still praise the story, the two leads and the Western mood. Recent Steam reviews also call the controls rough, the platforming awkward and the game buggy, and several players report crashes and confusing duels.

Trailer from Steam

Playability today

The average of two parts, each from 1 to 5. Tap a check to see why. How it works

Runs today

2.5/5

Sold or given away today by an official source
Needs fan patches to run well on Windows 11
?Not confirmed yetSingle-player works without an internet connection
No source covers the current version yet, so this check counts as open, not passed. Played it lately? Tell us
Some content no longer works (servers, DLC, unlocks)
The official online multiplayer service has shut down, leaving only LAN play, and patch 1.1.1.0 in the current release replaced or cut some sections (PCGamingWiki).
No proper support for modern resolutions and widescreen
Widescreen shows black bars or a cropped image and ultrawide is Vert- without a community fix (PCGamingWiki).
No full controller support and no remappable controls
The game has no controller support (PCGamingWiki).
Not Steam Deck Verified or Playable
No intrusive DRM or required third-party launcher account
No pay-to-win or pushy microtransactions
Known game-breaking bugs in the current version
PCGamingWiki lists an unresolved crash in Episode 4 and the late boss fights in DirectX 10 mode, with workarounds (PCGamingWiki).

Design today

1.5/5

Controls feel awkward on a modern controller or mouse and keyboard
There is no controller support, the mouse has no acceleration option and even the lowest sensitivity is too fast for some players, and recent reviews single out the controls as rough. Source: pcgamingwiki.com, steamcommunity.com.
Menus, text or interface are hard to read on today's screens
The game shows black bars or crops the image at several 16:9 resolutions and is Vert- on ultrawide screens, which takes a community patch to fix. Source: pcgamingwiki.com.
Saving is fair: free saves or frequent checkpoints, little lost progress
Manual saves and quicksaves work at any point in a level, alongside automatic checkpoints, though some players find a save can take up to half a minute. Source: steamcommunity.com, web.archive.org.
Hard to make progress without a guide
The quick-draw duels barely explain how to pull the gun, and Steam threads from 2015 to 2024 ask how to win them, with the common answer being to raise mouse sensitivity to its maximum. Source: steamcommunity.com, steamcommunity.com, steamcommunity.com.
Pacing drags: grind, filler or forced backtracking
About half the game is Billy's slow stealth and climbing levels, which critics at release and players today both call the dull part of the game. Source: trustedreviews.com, steamcommunity.com.
Camera or movement fights the player
Billy's levels require first-person jumps and whip swings with imprecise movement, and players still name the platforming as a main frustration. Source: steamcommunity.com, trustedreviews.com, steamcommunity.com.