I, like many long-time fans I'd imagine, despaired a little bit when I read that Techland was taking their Western franchise in a more modern direction with Call of Juarez: The Cartel. It's a fear the developer is used to addressing.

"When we worked on the other Call of Juarez games, we always believed that there were themes of the Western that are still relevant today," said pitchman Blazej Krakowiak. "This is our chance to prove it."

To hear Krakowiak tell it, the studio isn't trying to drag the modern era into its Western, it's trying to bring the west into the modern era.