John "wardrox"
Saturday, May 23rd 2009

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“Ba-dum be daaa be dun daaa” said the music. Roughly translated to “You’re in a Bond game. Act like it”. Quantum of Solace (the game) is the FPS equivalent of what would be left if the Bond films Casino Royal and Quantum of Solace got juiced up on Rohypnol and tried to remember what they were about. The game’s plot skitters around between the two films’ stories, making sure to cut out anything that could resemble useful information. What you’re left with is a few seemingly unconnected action scenes perfect for an FPS.

The game ends up feeling like a slightly cut down and re-skinned version of Modern Warfare (probably due to it being developed by Treyarch and based on the Call Of Duty 4 engine). Gone are the large scale, epic feeling set pieces and nice graphics. But gained is a cover system, hackable doors, security cameras, and a bad-ass music track. As you would expect the game leads you along a liner path through each level, making sure you dispose of the ne’er-do-wells along the way. Significant fight sequences are mostly replaced with quick-time-events, but thankfully these aren’t overused.

The game also comes with a multiplayer which is a re-skinned version of the CoD4 multiplayer. There are a variety of game types and during each round you earn points. These points can then be traded in for specific upgrades. Be they better weapons, a variety of bombs or perhaps some perks.

Who needs a coherent plot when you have a licence to kill?

Schizophrenic much? Due to the developer’s seeming lust for all the action all the time, the plot of the game is utterly confusing. Instead of taking a chronological, logical approach; half the game is played out as some kind of flashback Bond is having. To make matters worse; any part of the game that couldn’t easily be made into level has been replaced with some, all be it nice looking, loading screens with basic diagrams and voice over work by Bond’s supervisors.

But not even that’s straight forward. There is an extra level of meta on top of this as the loading screens act as a sort of log file, being viewed by some unknown evil guy. So, and I may be a bit off here, as I understand it some of the levels are flash backs Bond is having, as observed by his superiors, as observed by somebody observing his superiors, or something. Either way you get the point, it’s complicated and not really worth thinking about. Oh, and if you haven’t seen both of the most recent Bond films, don’t even try to follow along.

With that being said, if you are worrying about the plot you are doing it wrong. What happens is; you shoot some dudes, stuff blows up and if you play your cards right, you get the classic Bond theme at just the right time to make you feel like you are a tux-wearing bad-ass. All be it a poorly animated bad ass. On that topic, the character models do actually resemble who they are meant to be, in a slightly awkward, not-quite-right kind of way.

Bond doesn’t duck

Unlike most FPSs, Quantum of Solace for some reason has a cover system. Press “A” and dash to the nearest small wall. Here, the enemies seem to be totally unable to hit you. You however, can happily head shot them whilst blind firing from 200 meters away. Sadly I can’t rag on this too much as it is actually sticking rather true to the source material.

It still doesn’t explain why the cover system is actually needed though. Being crouched behind a wall should have a nearly identical effect, but it doesn’t. Unless you are “in cover” (and in third person, looking at polygonal Daniel Craig) the enemies seem perfectly able to hit you even from a distance. Knocking down your rechargeable health. Enter cover and you’re basically safe unless they come around behind. Something that can act like a bit of a crutch when things get tough.

The difficulty of the levels sadly seems inherited from Call of Duty. You find things straightforward and easy for the majority of the single player, but are met with infrequent, but very annoying hurdles that just suck. Some sections resulted in me dying several times over in the exact same spot before my trial and error paid off. Frequently the game gives you no clear indication of where to go and with an abundance of screen shaking in parts, it can become rather disorientating.

How many Bonds?

The game does have multiplayer. Perhaps to try to counter the impressively short single player experience and add a perception of value for money. As with Call of Duty 4 there is an experience system. Doing well in a game adds to your pot, which can be spent buying whatever upgrades, perks, and weapons you want from the virtual store. This brings with it all the usual balancing issues and annoyances (i.e. everybody else has better everything than you). Thankfully most of the people playing Quantum of Solace multiplayer at the moment, with it being nearly half a year after the game came out, aren’t very good.

I know I would probably find more wrong with the multiplayer if I played it for longer, but it’s so uninteresting to me I don’t really want to. Especially considering how there are so many other games which provide more substance and originality. As with the single player it’ll probably keep you entertained for a few hours.

A few other points worth mentioning:

• The audio is great but the graphics are kind of a let down, especially considering how much it resembles Call of Duty 4 in all other aspects.
• The instant take downs all require a single button QTE. I just shot people because it saved the hassle.
• “Hacking” doors and security cameras is so easy I have no idea why they added it to the game.
• The game suggests you try to use stealth. Rarely did I find this either a) more fun than shooting or b) more useful.
• There is one good multiplayer type which is where you take it in turns to play as Bond vs. everybody else.

Quantum of Solace is a short game with little depth. What’s there however works surprisingly well at doing what it was meant to do. The music alone makes you actually feel like Mr. Bond, sometimes. The game inherits a lot of annoyances from its Call of Duty heritage, but thankfully doesn’t try too much to give you a hard time about it.

It’s well worth a play through and I can honestly say it was worth the amount I paid to rent it for a week. With mostly forgettable multiplayer and only a few memorable moments in the single player, it’s not going to rock your socks. But it might be worth a look if you have nothing better to do with an afternoon or two.

You should play this game if…

… you look good in a tux.

Final Score

Short but sweet. It’s a Bond game done right but doesn’t do anything special.

(What does this score mean?)

Tags: James Bond, Quantum of Solace Posted in: Critique, Review