Quantum of Solace is a true Bond shooter, but falls just a few steps short of being awesome. The gunplay is solid. Mechanically speaking, this is the best James Bond game in a long time.
The same engine that powers Call of Duty 4 proves itself capable of being dressed in a 007 skin, playing smoothly from first person without frame rate degradation.
But the Call of Duty 4 comparisons are minimal. Developer Treyarch did a less than outstanding, but still tolerable job of integrating a third-person cover mechanic. The transition between first and third person feels disjointed, and the only way to pull out of cover is by moving backwards. This isn’t nearly as slick as something like Gears of War, which lets you tap the cover button again to exit cover, or as fluid as the same POV-switch in Rainbow Six Vegas.
Amongst the crowd of movie games, Quantum of Solace is well done. While the visuals are competent, they aren’t going to floor your jaw, so don’t go in thinking “Call of Duty 4 engine, Call of Duty 4 graphics.” It’s evident that most of the graphical resources went into Daniel Craig’s likeness, because it is appreciably true-to-life. Some small issues like the odd floating gun don’t hinder the experience, but certainly reinforce the lack of polish.
Sooner or later the stop n’ pop cover system starts to feel tired. The encounters become repetitive and feel like the same firefight you just engaged in a loading screen ago, with a different texture. QoS only shakes (not stirs) it up once, when you have to navigate a poisoned and disoriented Bond through the Casino Royale in Montenegro – it’s the only moment that’s not shoot n’ shoot some more.
Some potentially cool moments were lamentably omitted. The game opens with a fantastic, trademark “Bond” opening sequence, complete with music and fancy visuals, that incorporates the car chase from the beginning of the film. It was not playable, but still visually stimulating to watch. Not all instances are like this, however. One of the most intense scenes in Casino Royale, where Bond pursues Vesper Lynd’s kidnappers in his Aston Martin then rolls his car several times, is relegated to a simple “Bond has had an accident” voice clip over a loading screen. These scenes would have been fun to participate in; imagine the potential for an exhilarating break from the stop n’ pop shooting.
The level design is painfully linear; it’s a can waiting to be pried open. You’re stuffed through a tunnel of chronically claustrophobic corridors throughout the entire game, popping behind cover to knock out some generic baddies. Even the vast Bolivian desert is inexplicably linear, playing like a hallway in an office building.
Despite all these flaws, the QoS retains a Bond attitude. There are some undeniably badass moments interspersed throughout the repetition. Powerful “Takedowns” are cool moves that see Bond disarming an opponent with hand-to-hand combat. Similarly, timed button-press bosses fights are an interesting way to participate in scenes from the movies, and drilling a 9mm round into a henchman’s skull from Bond’s silenced Walther P99 to have him fall over a railing and land in a wine cellar is a true Bond moment. Venice, Italy, is represented with detail that does the city justice and mixes stealth with action for an on-your-toes mission. Perhaps most notably, however, is the “Train” mission that ignited some nostalgia, bringing back memories of a popular Nintendo 64 James Bond game that I refuse to draw any further comparisons to — the decade-old Goldeneye can’t be the benchmark for Bond games, because you’ll be so blinded by inconsolable nostalgia that you won’t care how poorly it holds up, but I couldn’t help but feel as though Solace was deliberately calling back on it.
Multiplayer plays smoothly and is free of any noticeable lag, but sadly, it doesn’t have very much staying power; it plays like Call of Duty 4 sans the intensity. Even the touted new “Bond Organization” mode is traditional VIP Escort (protect and guide a target to the finish line) re-purposed with a 007 skin. Classic mode, with weapon pickups, was my personal preference online; yet again, it had a James Bond “feel” — free from persistent characters and weapons only available to certain players –- it was a fair and balanced deathmatch.
Quantum of Solace could have been more than it is, but it doesn’t live up to its promised potential. Treyarch definitely did some things right, and Quantum of Solace satisfies the itch for James Bond’s return with wonderful moments that represent the film and character well. While the game is far from weak, it should have been stronger.
Considerably.
[Rating: 3/5]
