Nobody Does It Better?
007 console games used to be quite a big deal. Goldeneye on the Nintendo 64 was the third best selling game for the entire system. Steady releases of either movie tie-ins or spin-off games have been around since the 1980's but stopped dead in their tracks in 2012 with the release of 007 Legends. There was always something enjoyable and reliable about a James Bond video game, they were rarely critically acclaimed but sold decent numbers and gave you a solid 7/10 experience and as a Bond fan, I enjoyed them warts and all. The PlayStation 3 managed to release four Bond games, those four games were released in the space of four years, which seems unbelievable by today's standards.
Firstly we had Quantum of Solace in 2008 developed by Treyarch, a well known developer popular for the Call of Duty series. Followed by James Bond 007: Blood Stone which is an original Bond story, developed by Bizarre Creations, a developer who also made the fantastic Blur game. Followed by Goldeneye 007 Reloaded, developed by Eurocom who developed the PlayStation 2 version of Quantum of Solace. Next we saw Goldeneye 007 Reloaded, a port of the Wii title with some extras. And finally we have 007 Legends, also developed by Eurocom, in 2012 to coincide with the Bond 50th Anniversary.
Quantum of Solace
Quantum of Solace is a first person cover shooter, a genre that was very popular at the time with games like Gears of War and Uncharted. On harder difficulties you pretty much have to find cover immediately otherwise you are gunned down in a few shots. Cover is very binary, you are either in cover in which case you are largely immune from everything unless enemies flank you, and out of cover you are simply target practice.
The game covers the events of the Quantum of Solace film as well as Casino Royale which didn’t receive its own dedicated game. Other mechanics such as mini games for hacking and quick time events are also very typical of the time and don’t really add as much for me.
The levels are pretty basic, you just run through an area, enemies spawn, you do your cover based shooting until they are gone and you move on. There are some sections of stealth merged in which have you avoid cameras and enemies and they are quite fun. Overall I find it to be the most middle of the road of all the games. It’s not a bad game at all, in fact it’s quite fun, but it is missing some of the extra elements that I think are required for a Bond title and it’s missing reasons to come back and replay it.
Goldeneye 007 Reloaded
The original Goldeneye for the Nintendo 64 was a huge success and still is to this day one of the most strongly associated game and console pairing. It was the king of local split screen multiplayer. I personally wouldn’t consider it the best Bond game but there is no denying its influence and popularity. In 2010 Goldeneye would finally return to a Nintendo console, the Wii. Online multiplayer was now an established part of gaming and it seemed a natural fit to try and bring the king of the local split screen into the space but with a twist. This Bond game would not feature Pierce Brosnan, the actor from the actual Goldeneye film, but it would be a modern reimagining starring the then current actor Daniel Craig. The game reviewed well enough and it made its way 1 year later to the PlayStation 3 with some improvements, a new graphics engine and PlayStation move integration which is a neat feature.
Goldeneye 007 Reloaded is a first person shooter typical of its era. You hold L2 to look down the sights and to also lock your aim to the nearest enemy. I personally appreciate this feature as aiming with analogue sticks has never been great and this allows for really quick enemy take downs as you quickly zip between them.
Another trope in many Bond games is its unpredictable use of stealth. Typically Bond games have levels that alternate in sections of stealth and sections of all out attack. In Goldeneye 007 Reloaded you usually enter a new section undetected, you can try your best to skulk around, crouch-walk behind enemies and take them out, but more than likely you will be spotted fairly quickly and the all out attack will begin. There is no hiding and getting back into stealth mode again. Fortunately the different groups of guards don’t talk to each other so once you have moved onto the next section they are all blissfully unaware that you just brutally murdered all of their fellow colleagues in the room down the corridor.
James Bond 007: Blood Stone
Blood Stone is a first in this series of PlayStation 3 Bond titles as it is the only one with an original story. Blood Stone features Daniel Craig as Bond again and also features Joss Stone, a famous singer, who not only sings the intro song but also plays one of the main characters. This one is a 3rd person cover shooter which marks a departure from the other titles, if Quantum of Solace was a Call of Duty inspired then this one leans more into the Uncharted style. Enter a new area, enemies spawn, get into cover or die. Another great feature of this game is the driving levels are back. You get to drive a variety of different cars in chase sequences, a feature that has been missing from the other entries so far. Bizarre Creations, the developer of this title, also created Blur, a driving game, which released the same year, so I am assuming there was some cross-pollination happening here.
The graphics lack a little for me but the game does make up for it in solid and entertaining gameplay. It’s also quite short but that suits me fine these days. The stealth works better than some of the other entries, you can normally make it through good chunks before the game ‘forces’ you into a confrontation. Stealth is important too as you need to use your takedown ability to build up focus points, which is a little mechanic allowing you to go into slow-mo and automatically target the nearest enemies head for a quick and fairly reliable headshot. This skill can get you out of trouble sometimes.
007 Legends
007 Legends released in 2012 the same year as the extremely successful Skyfall movie and the year marked the 50th anniversary of Bond films. I actually think the premise of the game is brilliant. The game takes the main plot, villains and henchmen from Goldfinger, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, Moonraker, License to Kill and Die Another Day. But instead of using period actors and locations they would all feature Daniel Craig and be re-worked in a contemporary setting.
Sadly the execution of this was not as great as the premise. Whilst replaying I did notice a lot of screen tearing and frame rate drops, worse than I had noticed in the other titles and the loading was extremely bad, up to 10 seconds. Many of the levels descend into non stop war with Bond and allies fighting literal armies in an assault on a base. Another very poor decision was, what I can only describe as a “boxing” mini game which is a sort of quick time style mini game and usually how you dispatch the iconic villains of the game.
"The game that killed all Bond games"
This game received a lot of negative criticism and still has an aura of being the game that killed all Bond games, given there have been no more Bond games since. I don’t think it deserves all the negativity it gets. When games are new, we nit pick and compare to other titles to a much higher degree. We are all hyper sensitive to every detail, but when I step back now and look at these 10 year old plus games all the minor details seem less noticeable and important. This game was released in a year where we saw Mass Effect 3, Dishonored, Max Payne 3, Assassins Creed III amongst others. By the comparison of the day the criticism was probably more fair. But looking back today, with the eyes of wanting to play a fun Bond game, it’s not too bad.
The absolute gem of this game is the Moonraker level, saved right until the end, but floating around in 3D space shooting a laser gun is insanely fun.
Handy Guide
Just in case you are lost, here is how the games features break down.
| Goldeneye 007 Reloaded | Quantum of Solace | James Bond 007: Blood Stone | 007 Legends | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First Person | ||||
| Cover Shooter | ||||
| Driving | ||||
| Daniel Craig |
Final Ranking
Looking back at these games with today’s perspective, there isn’t actually a lot between them. Mechanically they are actually quite similar and each one has something the other doesn’t that makes it stand out. I personally like the driving missions from Blood Stone. I really enjoy the difference in levels from 007 Legends but the mechanics of Goldeneye 007 Reloaded are probably the best. But everyone loves a ranking. So here’s mine.
- Quantum of Solace
Absolutely nothing wrong with this one, and it gets extra marks for including missions from Casino Royale, one of my personal favorite Bond films, but it is just the most bland in appearance and mechanics.
- 007 Legends
This one might have the poorest execution graphically and mechanically but the ambition takes it up a notch for me. Combined with all these iconic villains, locations and soundtracks. I think it could have been something special and it is definitely polarizing, but it really isn't that bad.
- Goldeneye Reloaded 007
This one is a solid FPS with some nice Bond-esq elements. It is one of the more fun ones to come back and re-visit, you can even try out the move controls if you really want to challenge yourself.
- James Bond 007: Blood Stone
This one has to take it for me. It seems creating a Bond game in this era was difficult, they all follow a trend, mostly by being another First Person Shooter. My personal opinion is that genre does not quite fit for a Bond game. Bond doesn't typically do all-out assaults on waves and waves of enemies. To be a good Bond game I think you primarily need stealth, with small bits of enemies, you need meaningful gadgets, driving missions and exotic locations. Blood Stone is as close as it comes to that formula and I think it's the best Bond game on the PlayStation 3.