James Bond 007: Quantum of Solace Game Review
Back in the 1997 Rare released Goldeneye for the Nintendo 64. Some say it’s the best Bond game they ever made. In 2003, Electronic Arts tried their hand at making a Bond game with Everything or Nothing. With a bit of success from that, a couple years later EA went on to release From Russia With Love. With over 10 years of James Bond video games experience, has the industry learned to make a great Bond game?
Right off the bat, it must be said that this is a short game. Despite the fact that the game actually spans both Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace, on the hardest difficulty, I was able to finish it in a weekend. Granted, I may be a little more of a seasoned/veteran player, but even an average game typically takes longer than that. The saving grace to the shortness of the game, is that the two movies are threaded together well. Of course, the game’s story isn’t identical to both movies, it’s understandable that they had to extend various action parts of the movies in to full levels.
For the most part, the past Bond games have been third person shooters with gadgets. Unlike it’s predecessors, Quantum of Solace is more of a first person shooter, with the occasional third person stealth elements and quick-time events. Considering the company behind the game is Treyarch, best known for Call of Duty: World at War, it’s no surprise that the game was built using the CoD engine. The only minor gameplay annoyance is the cover system. Getting into cover isn’t an issue, but to get out of cover you have to pull down (or back) on the left analog stick. If you were ducked down while in cover, you immediately stand up (thus negating the point of ducking behind cover). Otherwise, it’s fun and engaging to play.
Graphically, it’s what you would expect from the CoD engine. Models and environments are done well. There are even a bit of both destructible and destructive environmental elements. The music for the game is very similar if not the same as the movies, which created a decent ambiance. As for the voice acting, unlike prior Bond games Quantum of Solace actually has all the main movie actors reprising their roles for the game: Daniel Craig (Bond), Judi Dench (M), Eva Green (Vesper), Olga Kurylenko (Camille), Mads Mikkelsen (Le Chiffre) and Mathieu Amalric (Dominic Greene). 
In addition to the single player game, there is a multi-player aspect of the game. Problem is, I had no success in finding anyone playing. And since you can’t play multiplayer without a minimum of three players, the multiplayer part pretty much remained untouched. For that reason, it cuts deeply into the replay value of the game.
Overall, I’d say this was a decent Bond game. The biggest negative is the time it takes to beat the game. Technically, I’m just not sure the game is worth shelling out $30 for. If you can get it on sale, rent it, or borrow it from a friend, the length of the game wouldn’t be such an issue.
