Quantum Of Solace
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James Bond 007: Quantum of Solace
Bond, James Bond. Those words are possibly the most famous words spoken by a character in movies that was not part of the Star Wars movies. I am a huge fan of the James Bond books by Ian Fleming, a real world spy in World War 2, and the 22 official movies based on his novels. I will also admit that Daniel Craig is my favorite James Bond out of all the actors and yes I know that will not be popular, I like this new Bond as he replaced by old favorite Sean Connery. Quantum of Solace is the latest James Bond movie to hit screens and of course being a big movie we have to have a big game and Activision has tasked Treyarch of Call of Duty 3 and Call of Duty 5 fame to do just that.
Quantum of Solace the game takes place during the Quantum of Solace movie as well as Daniel Craig’s first Bond movie, Casino Royale. The action jumps between the movies as a narrative takes place explaining what happened with Bond before, during and after the poker game. Unlike the other Bond games we have played such as Golden Eye or Everything or Nothing, this James Bond game is not full of gadgets, but just guns and great gameplay. Using stealth or go in with all guns blazing, most of the time the choice is up to you and with the fun level design you have multiple choices on how to move around the levels.
Gameplay
Quantum of Solace is part Call of Duty and part Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Vegas (for the cover system) and in the end this mixture of two different games works very well. The first person is great and controls almost as well as Call of Duty 4, and when you need to take cover and pop up or around for some quick head shots it works almost as well as Rainbow Six Vegas. Like I said, almost works, because the controls always seem to feel like you must force them to do what you want, they are responsive, but not enough for fast, fluid and intuitive gameplay.
During the game you will notice almost everything will explode and cause damage to enemies or yourself if you are near by. This is helpful, especially when the game throws what may even feel like almost too many bad guys your way. But shooting your guns is not the only way kill your ways through the game, besides using the various guns you can get Bond’s Kung-Fu on and take down enemies silently. There are a few instances of fun hand to hand combat where you will be hitting the A, B, X or Y button and if you miss you will end up doing the entire scene again; this is annoying yes, but the combat is actually very fun.
Multiplayer will not be everyone’s cup of tea, especially since the first few times you play it you will think of Call of Duty 4’s stellar multiplayer gameplay or even a few other games. Quantum of Solace’s multiplayer game modes include Territory Control, Free for All and Team Conflict as well as a fun and unique Counter Strike type of mode called Bond Evasion where a player controlled James Bond has to get out of the level. You also will earn points to buy new weapons and upgrades for online play, but all in all this multiplayer gameplay just will not entice players to leave Gears of War 2, Call of Duty 5, or Halo 3.
This is one game that uses the Xbox 360 Achievement System in a good way. You will unlock achievements for completing levels, but for also performing specific tasks such as being stealthy through a level, shooting satellite dishes off of roofs, disabling cameras and more. Specific actions which are not required to beat the levels and you will probably miss them if you do not look at your achievement list, but they are fun to unlock and add some replay value if you miss them the first time.
Graphics
Graphically Quantum of Solace is a game which looks like one of Treyarch’s older titles, Call of Duty 3, but was smacked with the ugly stick a few times so it lacks that polish we would expect, especially after seeing the amazing Call of Duty 5. Not all of the graphics are bad though, explosions are very well done, the level design is great and some of the in game animations are surprisingly good, because some of the other animations are surprisingly bad. Each of the characters in the game are easy to recognize from their real life counterparts and especially in the case of Daniel Craig who is always brooding and looking like a total bad ass when he needs to be.
Audio
James Bond: Quantum of Solace sounds like a James Bond movie in every way. The music is Bond, the sound effects are Bond and thankfully the voices are all from the last two Bond movies, Quantum of Solace and Casino Royale. What will stick with you audio wise is the strong voice work which is pulled partially from the movies and the rest sounds like it was either re-mastered or recorded in a studio. Even minor parts have the actors speaking the part for a single line.
Value
Multiplayer wise the value is average, it was fun for a couple of games, but compared to the other big named multiplayer supported titles out there Quantum of Solace does not stand a chance. In the end this is more of a bad case of timing then a bad multiplayer game.
Bottom Line
If you love the James Bond franchise this is a great game to play single player wise. But it is a rental in the end as the only real replay value is if you want to get the achievements.
Pros
+ Good use of the Bond license
+ Very fun game
+ Graphics are good, but could be better
+ Great level design
+ Audio is well done
+ Mix of Rainbow 6 and Call of Duty
Cons
- Multiplayer could be better
- Controls are good but just feel off at times
- Overall Presentation is low, where is the FMV from the movies?
- More in mission direction would be nice at times
Final Verdict
Here's a small guide to help you understand our evaluation of games.
PRESENTATION GRADE
Can be from the game's box to the contents of the booklet, and even the game introduction. (Intro, menus, options, etc)
GRAPHIC GRADE
Up to what point the graphics have been worked on my the developper. The design type, the effort used for textures and environments, as well as animations and framerate.
AUDIO GRADE
Is the soundtrack a good match to the game's style, he ambient sounds keeping with the gameplay and the sound effects clear and convincing?
GAMEPLAY GRADE
Placement of the controls and the inferface that the player with be using during the game.
REPLAY VALUE GRADE
The most important factor in the evaluation of a game. It identifies the lifespan of the game and the fun of coming back again and again.
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