James Bond 007: Quantum of Solace
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
James Bond 007: Quantum of Solace, the newest game in the James Bond series. It was developed by Activision / Treyarch and based on the same engine as Call of Duty 4 which is a really good base for creating a good game, it is a good game then?
James Bond 007 with license to kill
The game takes place directly after the events of Casino Royale. Where Casino Royale was a love story, this next chapter is based around revenge. James Bond throws away all his inhibitions and goes for it a hundred percent. The consequences of this is that the game becomes incredibly intense and very focused on action. Unlike previous iterations of the series in which espionage was a big part of the game, this is a game that only feed action-junkie with fun gameplay elements, and they succeed quite well.
In the game you get to experience scenes from both Quantum of Solace and Casino Royale which is quite welcoming. The Casino Royale-parts of the game acts as a memories as you get to play them through and they do a good job of bringing together the story, however, there are some changes made in the story in comparison of the movie and the game. This is something game developers do alot though and it does not disrupt the gameplay.
Bond, James Bond
James Bond 007 – Quantum of Solace is a part of the “Games for Windows” games, which means if you have a Gamertag (X360/PC) so you can log in and also play multiplayer. There are also achievements to unlock and the earned gamerscore is brought straight over to your gamertag account, which is always nice.
You navigate the game normally with the keyboard and mouse, but since it’s a Game for Windows game you have the possibility to plug in a Xbox 360 controller. I did not get it to work though even though it has worked for other Games for Windows games. I really do not know why, unfortunately.
The gameplay is very linear and very action-packed. In total it is around 15-16 missions and takes 4-6h to play through if you are accustomed to first-person shooters or action games in general. There are some stealth elements, like you can sneak up on enemies and take them down. This gives a nice change of pace sometimes, but if you want to you can go rambo with your rifle, it makes the game much harder but that is up to you. The game relies on the usual health-mechanic these days, the regenerative one, which means that your health is restored if you’re not taking damage which keeps the flow at a high pace which is nice. With the addition of the usual agent-stuff, ie, hacking doors, turn off the cameras, sneaking out windows and sniper missions. However, the game does not focus much on the espionage stuff since it’s an action game. As an old fox of Goldeneye I’d like to see more sneaking missions, car chases and cool devices. The game does please their action-junkie crowd though.
The game also uses a fairly simple cover system like Gears of War, with the press a button Bond will take cover behind objects, if the cover is not directly near Bond he will simply run up and take cover. Simple and it works very effectively and it is necessary because you die pretty fast in this game. The only drawback with the cover system is well that it can be tricky to get out from cover but overall it works well. Another valued mechanic is Take-down move, this move is a close combat martial maneuver that can be used on enemies that are nearby. You can activate it through by dashing at an enemy or use the take-down button, then an action sequence pop-up where you have to move your cursor over different rings on the screen to perform the attack. It works pretty well and you get a nice flow in the fightscenes, you can take down a whole room of enemies with your guns and go in for the take down on the last enemy. It looks awesome and is very good for the ego.
Graphics, Music and Sound Effects
The graphics are okay, it’s not so good that it becomes surprising, but not bad enough for you to find it hard to play. The first levels of the game are the worst looking ones, towards the middle of the game you hunt a guy through a construction site and it looks really good with view distance blur and beautiful outdoor environments, but it is definitely a step below the top games in the same genre. What I appreciated most was how well made the weapon models in the game were, they look great, but even the appearance of Bond in the last mission is a favorite where you can run around and shoot the bad-guys dressed in a nice shirt and sunglasses. The game also has the classic James Bong Theme, which is nice, solid sound effects and nice voice-acting.
Conclusion
James Bond 007 – Quantum of Solace is an action game with an agent theme. It is action-packed and it’s fun for the moment, the game is short at around 4-6 hours and the multiplayer component is not something you should would keep playing since there are several better multiplayer games out there. But I did have quite fun with the game during my playthrough and I recommend it highly if you are bored on a rainy day and if you can find it cheap, but otherwise there are better games to spend your money on out there.
