![]() ![]() It's commonly accepted that Blood Stone's failure to find an audience directly led to Activision shutting down developer Bizarre Creations, who were beginning work on a sequel, which, alas, never came to be. Everything or Nothing was a whole lot of game, and, while the core shooting hasn't aged very well (too much auto aim), it still stands tall as a monument to the creative power of the James Bond license.Ģ010's Blood Stone is a criminally underrated title which sold poorly and never got the love it deserved. ![]() It also featured an excellent two-player co-op mode, featuring a side-story which complemented the main plot. The action was exclusively third-person for the first time since 1999's Tomorrow Never Dies game, and featured a mix of cookie-cutter shooting, visually engaging melee combat, and a handful of unique vehicle chases. In addition, Willem Dafoe played an original villain, and the supporting cast was filled out by regulars from the films (John Cleese, Judi Dench) and newcomers like Shannon Elizabeth and Heidi Klum, all wrapped in a story which went absolutely bonkers in the most delicious way, making the plot of Die Another Day look downright restrained in comparison. 2004's Everything or Nothing had the production values of a feature film, with Pierce Brosnan lending his likeness to the character, as well as his voice talent, for the first and only time in a game. And that's awesome.Īfter a couple of FPS adventures, EA entrusted their Redwood Shores development studio (which would eventually be known as Visceral Games) with a wild new reinterpretation of what a James Bond videogame could be. One of its maps, "Chemical Plant," is actually a fairly faithful recreation of the legendary "Facility" from the original Goldeneye 007. While fairly divorced from the James Bond aesthetic, the cover mechanic and more limited weapons selection made Quantum of Solace's multiplayer suite stand out among its contemporaries. However, the game had unexpected legs in its wonderful online multiplayer mode, which presented itself as a great alternative for players who had burned out on Call of Duty. The single-player campaign could be completed in an afternoon and was a fun, if unspectacular, shooting gallery with some unobtrusive and thankfully optional stealth segments. ![]() Developed by Treyarch ( Call of Duty: Black Ops, Spider-Man 2) using the Call of Duty 4 engine, the game was a pretty standard CoD-style shooter, with a novel third-person cover mechanic. Despite the title, it also follows the events of Daniel Craig's first (and best) Bond film, Casino Royale. 007 Legends is the weakest entry in the series, by a wide margin.įollowing Activision's acquisition of the James Bond license, their first 007 story was Quantum of Solace. The worst part, though, has to be the fact that, despite featuring some of the original cast of the movies, such as Michael Lonsdale as Hugo Drax and Carey Lowell as Pam Bouvier, Daniel Craig doesn't voice James Bond, making the whole gimmick of the modern version of the character in scenes from the old films a completely moot point. The cookie-cutter FPS missions also suck all personality out of the admittedly well-realized environments, pulled straight from the films. Unfortunately, there's no overarching story to connect the disparate pieces, so the whole game just feels like a thrown-together mix tape of "007's Greatest Hits." Despite running on the same engine as the decent Goldeneye Reloaded, the graphics in 007 Legends are noticeably worse than its predecessor, particularly with regard to the choppy framerate. The title is set over events from six different films: Goldfinger, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, Moonraker, License to Kill, Die Another Day, and Skyfall. What was supposed to be a celebration of the 50th anniversary of James Bond in film wound up being the death blow to his video game reputation. 007 Legends is, to date, the spy icon's final virtual adventure, and for good reason. ![]()
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