How bugs like this get past QA will always remain a mystery to me. Regardless, a lot of PC users attempting to play the wild west shooter “Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood” reported that they could not even launch the game.

If you are experiencing an eternal black screen when trying to launch Call of Juarez, the fix should be easy.

Update February 2011: New video card drivers now fix this issue. Thanks to user rmaims for the tip. I’ll leave this article in place for archiving. If you are experiencing this problem, update your video card drivers!

Apparently, the game has issues with the Aero desktop and you must switch back to Windows Vista Basic or Windows 7 Basic themes while playing.

The Black Screen Fix

  • Open the game’s folder
  • Right click CoJBiBGame_x86.exe
  • Select Properties
  • Select Compatibility tab
  • Check “Disable desktop composition”
  • Click Apply
  • Enjoy your game!

Call of Juarez Compatibility Settings

If this tip helped you play your game, leave a comment!