James Bond 007 - Quantum Of Solace (2 DVD)
The majority of the gameplay feels
conventional for a first-person shooter, though the optional stealth
elements and the third-person cover mechanic definitely make things more
interesting. When in cover, the camera zooms out and affords you a
third-person view of the situation that makes popping out for headshots a
relatively undemanding endeavour. This view also helps the game in more
subtle ways; the satisfaction of controlling a character who is
instantly recognisable as Bond as you pop out from cover and silently
put a bullet in the back of a henchman's head cannot be overstated.
When attempting to move around unnoticed, your silenced pistol serves
you well--as long as you manage one-hit kills. Get careless, and you'll
find yourself under heavy fire and diving for cover as enemies are
alerted to your presence and their reinforcements pile in. With that
said, on lower difficulty settings it's certainly possible to make it
through many levels with guns blazing. But it's just as much fun and
ultimately more rewarding to play by moving carefully, sneakily taking
your enemies down, disabling security cameras, and quietly hacking
locked doors.
Occasionally, taking a somewhat
stealthy approach is mandatory. This would be fine, except that some of
the set-pieces feel a little ham-fisted. A couple of segments that leave
you pinned down by multiple waves of enemies feel out of place, and the
novelty of edging along a window ledge keeping an eye on windows to
avoid guards inside wears off by the third time you find yourself doing
it.
The environments are, on the whole, well
designed. The variation presented by wreaking merry havoc in a large
museum in Miami, gunning down bad guys on the roof of a moving train,
and chasing double agents across rooftops in a world heritage site is
one of the game's strengths; it makes the chapters more fun individually
and really helps to make the game feel like a James Bond movie. That
feeling is further enhanced by cutscenes that feature key members of the
cast of both Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace,
including Daniel Craig, Dame Judi Dench, and Eva Green. The stars' voice
talents are also put to good use in the MI6 briefings that flash across
the screen between missions, and all of these things add up to a very
satisfactory Bond experience. One thing that doesn't sit well is the
amount of product placement in many of the levels, from indestructible
Sony Vaio laptops to SonyEriccson Cybershot phones that are loaded with
clues. The presence of such things really jars with the rest of the
world, given that nothing else is branded at all.
The thing that really brings Quantum of Solace down, though, is the
lack of a coherent story. This is largely because in addition to the
titular movie it features content from 2006's Casino Royale.
The action from the earlier film is presented as an extended flashback
sequence that kicks in after an hour or so of gameplay, and it feels out
of place in the context of the main story. It goes on for so long that
by the time you are thrust back into the story proper, you will almost
certainly have forgotten why you're standing on a rocky outcrop in the
middle of a jungle next to a downed helicopter. The story takes only
four to five hours to play through, and ends very abruptly. There's some
replay value, though only if you're into unlocking achievements,
finding hidden items, or checking out different difficulty settings.
Thankfully, the multiplayer suffers from none of the issues that put a
damper on the single-player experience, and the wealth of modes makes
for manic fun across all of the game's varied environments. The linear
chase through the Siena rooftops provides the basis for a great
multiplayer environment spread over a seemingly wider area, for example,
while the courtyards of Venice provide some intense close-quarters
action. Most of the multiplayer modes pit nameless MI6 operatives
against mercenaries from a shadowy group known simply as The
Organisation. The Man With the Golden Gun mode is worth singling out
from the standard selection of deathmatch and territory control modes,
however, as it lends itself well to manic encounters. All players are
fighting for control of a gold Magnum that fires explosive one-hit-kill
rounds, and kills with it count for much more than those using other
weapons. The nature of the challenge means that nervous and fragile
alliances will be formed on the fly among players going for the gun,
with all parties waiting for just the right moment to annihilate those
around them.
Other interesting multiplayer modes
include those in which you get to play as Bond. Bond Evasion is a
team-based escort-style game in which MI6 players are charged with
making sure that the Bond player makes it to an exit point alive. Bond
Versus, on the other hand, pits The Bond player against everyone else in
the game in a fight to the death. Bond has access to more impressive
gadgets than his Organisation enemies, he can see them on his minimap,
and he has two lives. Bond can only live twice, Organisation players can
only live once. Both of these modes are fun for a while, and they
provide an interesting counterpoint to the more traditional offerings.
To give the multiplayer even more longevity, credits are awarded from
each successful round based on your contribution. These can then be
spent on new weapons, new gadgets--such as scopes, extra ammo capacity,
or armour--and even rather excessive golden weapons. These are a nice
touch for those who want to make it very clear how little taste they
have or to flaunt their experience over less-seasoned competitors. The
standard loadout is good enough, however, to not put new players at any
great disadvantage, and it's also possible to earn credits in the modes
that don't let you customise your starting weapon or equipment set.
It's unfortunate that Quantum of Solace's single-player mode is so
short-lived, but there's enough good multiplayer content here to keep
you playing long after you've saved the world.