James Bond: Bloodstone

To be honest, for the RRP this game is far too expensive but for the price it is now it is definetly worth at least considering or buying.

The story: 9/10 Despite what some reviewers say i think that the story is a well thought out one and worthy of a movie itself. There a seven chapters (not levels) generally within each chapter there are 3 15-30 minute levels. Yes some would say that the story mode could be longer but my advice is too simply set the difficulty setting to the 2 highest one which i believe is "Agent" this makes the game far more enjoyable and it lasts a bit longer. On the medium difficulty i completed the game in around 7-8 hours of playtime and i beleive that im quite a good gamer. I liked some of the features like focus aims and the very cool stealth and full on takedowns you can perfrom with Bond. This added something extra into the game and made you think more during situations where there are 5 or 6 people in one room. Who should i use my focus aims on? Should i stealth takedown that man behind cover or start a fire fight? This adds an extra element to the gameplay. Other little things such as slow motion sequences and security camera's that need to be disabled add something extra to what would be without them a basic shooter game. Once you've completed the game you can redo it on "007" difficulty which is even harder than "veteran" on COD 6 there are trophies for completing each chapter aswell as trophies for completing a number of moves within the game for example: 150 takedowns or 100 focus aims. I still believe that the game could be longer but otherwise it's a crisp and well made story.

The graphics: 9/10 very good in my opinion, some of the videos of this game don't really do the graphics enough credit.

The sound: 8.5/10 the sound quality is very good and Judi Dench and Daniel Craig provide their characters voices very well.

The online play: 8/10 The multiplayer aspect is quite good really, better than i expected, personally i only have two gripes with the gameplay
1. The melee system isnt very well thought through and is quite frustration because you have to press square rather than a much more simple R3 and it's not as cool as the takedowns because it's just a simple wack of a gun which is quite dissapointing.
2.The players have too much health, you may disagree but it's what ever suits you really. These are only minor things and shouldn't put you off playing the online part of the game.

Overall this game is very good and for the price it is at the moment, definetly worth getting.

Bizarre Creations RIP, the team that brought you the successful `Project Gotham Racing' series is no more. This is in no small part due to the lack of success they had with their last game `James Bond: Blood Stone'. The game is not great, but it's certainly not poor enough to close a company. `Blood Stone' is an all new Bond adventure designed for consoles and sees Daniel Craig's Bond up against a mysterious villain who is after some expensive gems. The adventure sees Bond crossing land and sea to uncover who the Mr Big is and bring the culprit down.

The game is a combination of 80% third person shooter, in the style of `Gears of War', and 20% racing game, in the style of `Stunt Man'. For a racing specialist studio it is bizarre that Bizarre Creations have created a game that has poor driving sections, but decent enough shooting sections. The driving elements are pretty linear and require more trail and error than real skill; no matter how good you are death will occur. The shooting sections are stronger as Bond can use a series of weapons and close combat. By partaking of hand to hand Bond can build up a meter that allows him a series of one hit kills. As this is the new Bond the level of gadgetry is limited to a smart phone that can pick up movement and cameras.

`Blood Stone' is not an awful game, but it lacks any sort of originality to stand out. Like the movie tie-in game `Quantum of Solace' it all feels a little flat. This is not helped by the uncanny looking model of Craig and Joss Stone's almost dead like voice acting. Bond should be a character designed for gaming, but `Blood Stone' has a distinct lack of polish in terms of compelling gameplay. However, with its solid level design, decent enough online multiplayer and graphical fidelity there is enough here for a Bond fans to enjoy if found at a reasonable price.

The storyline is a bit confusing and not that original. Mostly, you are making your way through various buildings and shooting people from behind cover.

There are some vehicle chase scenes and although they are nice to look at, they are very one dimensional. If you crash you have to go back to a checkpoint, and you can't 'catch' the enemy no matter how hard you try until the specified end of the chase. The Aston Martins handle like trucks too and you feel like you're simply guiding them in a kind of strange cutscene rather than driving. These gripes also enter into parts of the game where you're jumping across things or running away from something. It ruins the element of freedom and challenge you should get.

There is a 'takedown' mechanic where you can sneak up on enemies and take them down physically. You just get near an enemy and press a button so it's pretty easy and not satisfying. This does give you the ability to use up to three 'focus aims' which are of no particular use when it's just as easy to simply shoot enemies conventionally. I expected the whole 'takedown' element to enable you to make your way through levels in complete stealth. Frustratingly though, there are very few opportunities to do this as enemies are placed in such a way that you can't avoid alerting them and getting into gun fights. Pretty silly for a game based on a secret agent. Another thing they included that should have aided the stealth aspect was the 'smartphone' option which shows you where all enemies are and where you're supposed to be going. It's of no use other than seeing how many enemies there are in the room though as you KNOW you'll never be able to work though a room using takedowns.

The previous game, Quantum of Solace, was much better in this regard and a better game all round in my opinion. The game is pretty short but by the time I finished it I wasn't really paying attention anymore.