Ubisoft has announced the third installment of the Call of Juarez series, titled Call of Juarez: The Cartel. The title is being developed by Techland, the studio behind nail'd, and will be available this summer for PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3.

Unlike the previous two titles in the franchise, this one will take place in the present day world while still utilizing elements from the wild west. Similar to many western games, The Cartel will take players from Los Angeles, California to Mexico.

A statement from Lucile Bousquet, director of marketing at Ubisoft, gives a small description of what players can expect from the game:

“Call of Juarez The Cartel is action-packed with a wide variety of gameplay options.”

“It brings the best elements of the Wild West into modern times with a very gritty and relevant plot, interesting characters and a strong story.”

Sadly, not much info is given on The Cartel in the press release, but from the looks of the two screen shots included, it does certainly seem different from any other previous western games. I can't remember the last time I saw a cowboy carry a 12-gauge shotgun. Can you?

It'll be nice to see what changes have been made in gameplay since the 2009 release of the last Call of Juarez game. The Cartel is going to have some pretty big shoes to fill by following in the footsteps of last year's Red Dead Redemption, which gathered much critical acclaim on top of receiving a nomination for game of the year in our own  2010 Video Game Awards. Maybe Call of Juarez will end up "borrowing" or expanding on a few elements from Red Dead, such as side-missions and sand-box game-play.

After the huge success of Red Dead Redemption, do you guys think that there will be any room for another Call of Juarez title? What do you think about setting the game in the modern world?

Call of Juarez: The Cartel is set to release this summer for the 360, PS3, and PC.