Due to their connection with slave owning, many equate the Confederacy with evil. While Haris believes taking an objective approach towards the issue will prevent upsetting most players, there are certain considerations he undertook.

"It’s something I definitely thought about as we did it. You don’t want to endorse the Confederacy," Haris cautioned. "The idea was the McCalls were not slave holders and they actually deserted the Confederate army to protect their family. After they deserted, they were chased by Colonel Barnsby, their former commanding officer. Barnsby is the more evil character, though the McCalls are hardly angels. Barnsby wants to resurrect the Confederacy and he truly is a racist.”

Having said that, the American Civil War and slavery aren’t the only hot-button historical issues in Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood.

"[It’s the] same with the Native Americans.” Haris explained. "We talk about the white suppression of Native Americans, specifically the Apache, and how that fueled their anger."

The whole game won’t be deadpan and serious, though. The first Call of Juarez featured idyllic western scenes such as walking through a town with shuttered windows, rolling tumbleweeds, and mine cart chases complete with track-switching levers. The second game extends that tone.

"The story sounds very serious, but there’s also a fair amount of humor. The brothers banter as brothers tend to do. It’s probably closer now to a spaghetti western than a classic John Ford western," Haris said. "We also mixed in a little Deadwood, since that inspired us all as well. I guess I would call it a post-modern western along the lines of Unforgiven or The Wild Bunch.”

Our thanks to Haris for chatting with us. Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood will feature all the stagecoach chases, six-shooter duels, and rolling tumbleweeds you could want when it releases for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Windows PC on June 30.