Quantum of Solace: Xbox 360 Review

Posted February 11, 2009 by AShute in PC, PC Reviews, PS3, PS3 Reviews, Reviews, Xbox 360, Xbox 360 Reviews.

Any developer stepping into the rather shambolic world of James Bond video games is a brave one. Ever since Rare set the standard for the franchise with Goldeneye, it has yet to be surpassed. Goldeneye was great, not only because you could drop in and out at will, but it had a multi-player mode that made it the phenomenon that it is. To be fair, looking back at the game now; visually it looks awful, but it only compounds what an awesome job Rare did with the game play.

Recent additions to the series have been ‘ropey’ to say the least and film tie-ins are always have a bit of hit & miss. Tomorrow Never Dies, The World is Not Enough, and Rogue Agent, to name a few, have all fallen short of the mark. However, now that Activision and, more importantly, Treyarch are on board, things are bound to change…

Lets start with the story. The game picks up elements of both Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace and brings them together to make a coherent story for the game. If you have not seen the films, you will be completely lost as there is no ‘previously, on James Bond’ a lá Lost sequence that gets you caught up on the story. It opens where Casino Royale left off, (SPOILER!) with Bond taking out the legs of Mr. White outside his mansion. Of course, for that to make any sense, you will have to see the film. That being said, the story within the game is well told and it is not necessarily a prerequisite to have seen the films, although it certainly helps.

In fairness to Treyarch, things have changed. The most notable change is the addition of active cover. That is, the ability to run to a wall, tap A and take cover behind it, avoiding incoming enemy fire. This works well in practice and allows for far greater tactical gun play rather than the previous games’ gung-ho approach to gameplay, firing as many rounds as possible in the general direction of the enemy.  However, because you have the ability to hide behind walls, safe in the knowledge that you can avoid damage, you immediately lose the urge to be sneaky and take guards out without alarms being raised. Instead, you are compelled to adopt the ‘unleash hell’ approach and fire blindly in the direction of the enemy, consequently reverting any progress made by the developer.

This may be a little hard on Treyarch, as it is clear that they have gone to great lengths to improve the AI to make the whole process of progressing through the levels more challenging and engaging. Enemies will actively flank you and try to get behind your position if you stay in one place too long. This is infuriating on the harder levels in the game as you barely have time to pop your head above cover before it is blown off!

The look of the game is far removed from the likes of Goldeneye Rogue Agent. The rights to Daniel Craig’s likeness have been acquired and this has been used to great effect. It certainly makes the whole game feel a bit more real and true to the films. The locales vary greatly, as per the films, and add to the variety of the game play, allowing the user to engage the levels in slightly different ways. This helps the game avoid becoming another linear, generic shooter.

The cut scenes that link each level together are cheesy to say the least, but I suppose that is what James Bond is all about. The saving grace is that the actual voices from the cast is used, such as Dame Judy Dench as ‘M’. This is of little consequence, as they can be skipped if you want to go on with the game.

There are some nice set-pieces that have translated well from the films. A particular favourite of mine was chasing the bomb maker into the embassy building. It is a real treat to accurately re-enact some of the more spectacular sequences from the films and there is a real authenticity about it.

The multi-player is solid enough, but is not ground breaking by any stretch of the imagination, coming with all the standard modes we have come to expect from first person shooters in this day in age. That being said, it complements the story well and adds to, what is, an overall pretty decent package.

So, is it as good as Goldeneye? No, but we were never expecting it would be. I think a line should be drawn under that pinnacle of Bond gaming greatness and we should start taking subsequent iterations for what they are. Quantum of Solace ticks most of the boxes for a next generation shooter and, if you like James Bond, this is definitely the game for you.

Tagged as 007, Activision, FPS, James Bond, Quantum of Solace, Treyarch