40 replies to this topic

[K1Bond007]

Review: Blood Stone

A review of the “other” Bond game out this month from a Bond fan’s perspective.

[DamnCoffee]

4/5.

Quite a good game. BUT, it's too short. I wouldn't mind a few extra levels, but what we have so far is great. I just wish it was marketed better.

[zencat]

Terrific review. Thank you, Brad.

[sharpshooter]

4/5.

I agree with the reviewer's sentiments. The ingredients for a good game are there. And it is a good game. But it didn't fully take off. It's a notch below EoN, which seemed to really go the distance.

Blood Stone needed a few more levels. Both more subtlety and fleshing out - giving the girl a massage in EoN for example. (Haha) And while I have grown to accept the lack of a main villain, having one would have helped.

But saying that, it is a worthy addition.

[Matt_13]

4 for me.

[K1Bond007]

It's definitely a 3. It's neither bad nor good. I agree with the review on a number of points. The plot isn't that good, there is no clear villain throughout the story - they just kind of spring it on you at the end and there are a ton of cliches used throughout. How many times did Craig's Bond ask for a name? It kind of reminded me of some of the later seasons of 24 where instead of some long plot that they would drag out (like the first few) they jumped from villain to villain until you get to the end of the required 24 episodes. Side by side, GoldenEye and Blood Stone I couldn't help but think that Feirstein was a relic of the Brosnan-era Bond films. He's got it in him, it's just this one was weak.

The gameplay was a ripoff of Splinter Cell: Conviction which did it first and did it better. They should have put more into it and made it their own. Instead it's repetitive in a not-so-fun sort of way. There are a couple neat scenes, but they're few and far. The driving levels were fun, but also quite linear. Kills re-playability. Once I was done, I was done.

In the end, it's an extremely short game that has all the makings and groundwork for a good Bond game, but they just never went the extra distance to make the game stand out. They never pushed it to where it needed to be. And yeah.. neither bad nor good. Definitely a 3.

[Quantumofsolace007]

It's definitely a 3. It's neither bad nor good. I agree with the review on a number of points. The plot isn't that good, there is no clear villain throughout the story - they just kind of spring it on you at the end and there are a ton of cliches used throughout. How many times did Craig's Bond ask for a name? It kind of reminded me of some of the later seasons of 24 where instead of some long plot that they would drag out (like the first few) they jumped from villain to villain until you get to the end of the required 24 episodes. Side by side, GoldenEye and Blood Stone I couldn't help but think that Feirstein was a relic of the Brosnan-era Bond films. He's got it in him, it's just this one was weak.

The gameplay was a ripoff of Splinter Cell: Conviction which did it first and did it better. They should have put more into it and made it their own. Instead it's repetitive in a not-so-fun sort of way. There are a couple neat scenes, but they're few and far. The driving levels were fun, but also quite linear. Kills re-playability. Once I was done, I was done.

In the end, it's an extremely short game that has all the makings and groundwork for a good Bond game, but they just never went the extra distance to make the game stand out. They never pushed it to where it needed to be. And yeah.. neither bad nor good. Definitely a 3.

Well said. I agree.

[DamnCoffee]

I'm pretty sure you gave this a 4/5...

[marktmurphy]

It is fun, and it's nice to see some vehicles and machines that it's amazing to think Bond hasn't encountered onscreen before (tunnel excavators, giant dumper trucks, a ground effect plane, Ospreys etc.), and Craig certainly gives a great performance (I honestly don't see what everyone sees in Joss Stone: I think she's pretty bad here) but it is a little wanting. The car sections are great fun although it'd be nice to have a little more to do in them, and there's not quite as much invention in the kinds of gameplay as in, say, Uncharted 2. in that you get to hang off the sides of trains, leap from truck to truck in a massive chase and even jump from a collapsing building; all within the game's normal engine.
The story is decent but it would have been nice to see something a bit fresher or unique: I think that just because it's a game that doesn't mean it can't take a bit more plot and character. I'm not sure that I even completely followed the villain's scheme when it was revealed at the end, and the twist was a little meaningless, really. Lack of a villain is a bit of a problem. We got Willem Dafoe last time, guys!
Also, for me the music is pretty bad: sounds like a 70's cop show to me a lot of the time. The title song is probably the best we've had in a game so far, though: it's very decent, if over-sung by Ms Blood Stone herself.

It is good fun, it's lovely to be Daniel Craig executing some wonderfully cruel moves, the cars look and sound lovely, as do most of the environments (I love the Russian power station and the epic dam at the end) and it is nice to follow a new Bond story with some very nice ideas for set pieces and locations which are well-suited in tone to a Craig adventure. It could have been more, but it's nice to have what we do.

[Agent Spriggan Ominae]

I gave Blood Stone a 5/5, but to be honest it’s probably really a 4.5/5 or 9/10 but I figured I’d round it up. As for effort I feel Bizarre Creations deserves a 5/5. When it comes to my personal enjoyment, Blood Stone scores a 5/5 or 10/10. This is my favorite Bond game to date. I never got to fully experience Goldeneye on the N64 so I cannot really compare it to that. It came out before I really got into games and I only ever got to play a couple missions and the multiplayer death matches. Agent Under Fire was the first Bond game that I played through to completion and I’ve played/own all the EA/Activision efforts released since(Also finally got TND and TWINE for PS1 last month, just haven’t gotten around to them yet). I know I’m not speaking for everybody but to me Blood Stone is the spiritual “Bond 23”. Kinda like how one could say EON was Brosnan’s “5th” film. Although I think Blood Stone works better overall and IMO is a far more interesting game. I’ll go as far as saying that I think it has the best story of the original Bond games.

The story is where Blood Stone really shines. It has one of the more original and unique plots for a Bond tale. And at the same time it remains true to CraigBond. The story is very engaging IMO and like Casino Royale and Quantum, it focuses on a more gritty and grounded spy thriller type of plot rather than the standard SuperVillain/Weapon threat to the world. Blood Stone is a quint-essential espionage story taken to edge and injected with the style of action from Craig’s films. The pacing is great and we get some variety in gameplay. It’s not all run and gun. We do get to do some cloak and daggery type stuff and investigations.

There’s a lot of replay-ability for Blood Stone IMO and in fact the story demands it to be truly appreciated. I didn’t get everything the first time through and you really need to read through all the intelligence files and pay attention to the little in-game conversations that occur between various henchmen and other characters. It’s a gold mine of exposition and adds a who new layer of intrigue and the awesome thing about it all is that it’s a truly interactive experience. For once they make good on being able to be in “the mind of Bond”. They don’t spoon feed you everything and you got to do a little bit of real detective work to piece it all together. Even a little bit of simple puzzle work here and there. That’s not a bad thing IMO and reminds me of the in-game files from the Resident Evil games, which I also enjoy very much. This is where I feel games like RE and Blood Stone have a slight leg up over Metal Gear Solid as far as being a truly fun and balanced “Cinematic” game experience.

What is there to love about the Blood Stone story? Or what is it that I love about the story? For one IMO a lot of thought and research was done. This is a story made by Bond fans for Bond fans. And what I love is that as far as Bond adventures go, it is truly unique and breaks away from the standard formula. It’s pays homage to some classic stuff. I’m surprised no one’s mentioned it but the basic plot owes it’s bones to The Ipcress File. It can be also seen as a very, very loose adaption of the Diamonds are Forever novel and there are even some subtle and not so subtle references to the post Fleming novels like Colonel Sun and Devil May Care. Not to mention little nods to the films and even previous games.

I got a very familiar feeling while playing Blood Stone. Even though we don’t get an opening gunbarrel and the theme isn’t heard in full till the end, never once did I feel like I wasn’t playing a Bond adventure, especially a CraigBond one. They captured the look, feel, and style perfectly IMO. And true to the Craig era, we are getting a truly innovative Bond experience with Blood Stone. In general I feel like the Craig era has been the most progressive time in the history of Bond since Connery first took the role. People need to really understand what this reboot means for Bond. This truly is Bond restarted from the ground up.

Maybe it’s because I’m fresh off reading the entire Fleming series straight through for the first time and about a third of the continuation novels, but I have a newfound appreciation for what the powers that be are trying to accomplish right now. For the Connery films they started with base of Fleming and then let it naturally evolve from there. Things like the character of Q and Moneypenny, and the whole concept of the gadgets as we know them now are products of the natural evolution of the early films and not the way envisioned by Fleming. Nothing wrong with that but rather than run back to the old formula so quickly, why not have some fun with what they’ve already established in CR/QOS? And that’s what they’ve done in Blood Stone. It was refreshing to see Rory Kinnear return as Tanner. Hopefully like Jeffery Wright’s Felix Leiter, we’ll be seeing more of his Tanner in future movies/games. Also nice is the return of “Q branch” and going by how it is utilized in Blood Stone, I would say we got to see it and some personnel/equipment from it in both CR and QOS. They just never referred to it by name. I also love the visual continuity for the MI6 computer graphics that carried over from Quantum.

As far as Craig as Bond in Blood Stone, he’s true to form. He does the best job he can and the material he has to work with is not half bad. Some classic Bond moments. Loved the bit with the hard hat which evokes memories of the car park in the Bahamas. Also how Bond deals with Pomerov is priceless. Lots of other little moments throughout. For all that I’ve said about not running back to the formula, there are some of the more traditional elements present in this game. The origin story of CR/QOS is well and truly done making Blood Stone Craig’s first “traditional” Bond story. M has her full trust behind Bond, “You can keep your faith. I put my trust in Bond”. We get a PTS that is separate and self-contained from the main story. Bond has a random fling with what appears to be the cocktail waitress from the G-20 summit. I love how they have Bond on holiday immediately after wrapping up the PTS mission. Reminds me of how M would give Bond some leave after a successful mission in the novels. I never bought the notion that we were watching Bond become the “Bond we know love” by the end of CR/QOS. Bond is Bond from frame one. IMO the moment Bond ceases to grow and evolve as a a character, is when the powers that be should just end the franchise.

Joss Stone gives an excellent performance as the main Bond girl, Nicole Hunter. Just like her predecessors Vesper and Camille, she is an interesting and complex character and plays with the rules of what we’ve come to expect from a Bond girl. Truth is we really haven’t had a Bond girl exactly like her. Very original and unique role IMO. One area where the game has been criticized has been the lack of clear central villain. To a certain extent that is true. While there is a clear cut big bad/mastermind of the story, their identity is kept hidden for almost the entire plot and discovering that character’s identity is part of the story. For the most of the story Bond is up against a hydra-like conspiracy, not unlike the Spangled Mob from DAF the novel. It adds an air of mystery and IMO makes the story all the more interesting. Some of the twists are downright Hitchcock-ian. I’d say it comes across closer to Gardner more so than Fleming. Think Icebreaker or Nobody Lives For Ever. But I’m enjoying Gardner’s novels so that’s a plus in my book.

As far as the villain’s plot/scheme, I feel it’s truly unique and original for a Bond story. Like I mentioned earlier, it’s not the traditional SuperVillain with a plot to takeover/destroy the world with some awesome secret weapon. Much like the rest of the Craig era this is a brutal, hard-edged spy thriller through and through. This is closer in terms of story to say The Ipcress File, rather than The Spy Who Loved Me or Tomorrow Never Dies. I know Ipcress File isn’t Bond but it’s a great spy story and Bond paying homage or blatantly stealing from it isn’t such a bad thing. The villains in Blood Stone are true to the mold established in CR/QOS. They are “economic mercenaries”, worshippers of Mammon. They share the same mentality as the original SPECTRE. It’s not about politics or ideology. It’s business, making money and lots of it. The realities of the world is whoever has money has power. Money = Power. The more money = more power. The more money and power you have, a bigger piece of the world you dominate. The villain Pomerov is described as an oligarch, and much like Dominic Greene he didn’t get that way by doing business like “nice people”.

How the villains in Blood Stone go about seeking money and power is as sinister and devious as villainous plots come. MI6 has no problem with people earning a little money on the side, provided it’s not selling government secrets, especially not WMD secrets. How the villains obtain these secrets is the diabolical part, through the kidnapping and brutal torture murders of various scientists/researchers. It’s actually pretty dark stuff. To me it’s a quint-essential spy thriller. Somewhat inspired, topical, and relevant to some real world espionage activities. Makes me think of the CIA secret prison program. Snatching someone off the street and sending them to some distant foreign location for interrogation. Kinda grounds it in the reality of the post 9/11 intelligence world. I love the harder edge present in Blood Stone. A lot of the previous efforts from EA had a somewhat dumbed down cartoony feel. Almost like it was kids stuff. Blood Stone feels likes a dark and gritty, uncompromising spy story. A grown up adventure.

The action in the game is also very satisfying IMO. I love that they brought back the cover system used in Quantum. One of my favorite aspects of the gameplay. I really like how the game forces you to use the cover on harder difficulties. Makes stealth essential and adds a more realistic feel to the gameplay. The CQC takedown system is a lot of fun and the focus aim is a nice addition. It does introduce an element of strategy and you do need to think quick on your feet if you want to survive on the harder settings. I love how they’ve made the environment interactive when it comes to dispatching baddies. Reminds me a little of The Punisher game for the PS2/Xbox that came out in ’05 and is still one of my favorites. In the Siberian refinery level shooting the large fuel pipes causes flaming jets to shoot out that can take out goons.

Here’s an easter egg that I haven’t heard anyone mention. During the hovercraft mission when you’re fighting Pomerov’s henchmen on the upper deck, a gunman takes up position on the wing balcony directly above the intake fan. If you shoot him just the right way he’ll fall off and land directly in the intake fan, even giving off a little red cloud of gore as he’s consumed. And this can repeated on the gunman that takes up position on the opposite balcony. That gets points in my book. I know. I get my kicks off of strange and grisly things lol. But for comparison in EON, there’s a large grinder in the mine level. Bond can fall in and get killed( even that’s a freeze frame) but if you shoot a goon on the conveyor he’ll just drop where he is and vanish. If you maneuver the characters just right you can do a melee attack that flips them over the side but they land on an “invisible sheet of glass” floating above the crushers for a few seconds before slowly disappearing. At least in Rouge Agent you cold throw henchmen into the crusher in Goldfinger’s mine and it looked like they were being consumed. Hahaha I know I’m a little sick. What can I say? Dario’s demise is perhaps my favorite henchmen death from the franchise.

The vehicle levels are among my favorites. If I had to pick a standout it would have to be the chase through the streets of Bangkok. It pays homage to one one of my favorite sequences from the Craig era, the Miami Airport chase. In fact the whole idea of having Bond in a tow truck is a deleted sequence from the Airport scene. Originally after the Tanker has the close scrape with the tow tug, Bond was to commandeer the tug for a part of the chase. That idea has finally been put to use. The vehicle missions are all fun and edge of your seat. And each is somewhat unique and different from the last. It is much welcomed after that lack of vehicle missions of any kind in the previous game effort. It’s almost as if the developers sat down and read through some of the biggest criticisms of the QOS. Lack of vehicle sequences and things like the entire Haitian sequence and the embassy shootout left out and almost no fully developed/produced cut scenes. Just the near static MI6 computer screen where we get to “hear” M and Tanner talking about all the exciting things Bond’s doing. Not so for Blood Stone. This game is very hands on and more than makes up for Quantum.

I can’t comment on the online multiplayer since I’ve yet to sample it. In general I’ve never really gotten into online gameplay but my friends and I had some good times on Quantum. For me the gaming experience has always been about the main story modes. And for me Blood Stone delivers. The biggest tragedy is how badly Blood Stone has flopped. This really make me sad because Blood Stone’s failure almost ensures that we probably won’t get another original or third person Bond game for a very long time, if ever again. And the fact that it’s failure really has nothing to do with the actual quality or content of the game. Activision really ed this one up with the marketing and timing. I didn’t hear anything about this game except from what was on the normal Bond sites. I can’t recall seeing any ads or articles in magazines or on TV. They should have sat on this game a little longer, maybe worked out a few more kinks and released it next year. There’s still a blooper or two, most blatantly at the end of the Monaco level. Blood Stone went up against not just another Bond game(and not just any Bond game, a remake of the original and what many claim as the best Bond game) but as Call of Duty: Black Ops. Black Ops is a cultural phenomenon all it’s own. It’s like LTK going up against Batman in ’89.

What Black Ops and it’s Predecessor Modern Warfare 2 and before that titles like Grand Theft Auto, Resident Evil, and Metal Gear Solid is that games are just as big and relevant as a storytelling medium as novels, theater, and film. However the market is very different. With games going for $60 a pop, fans are being more discerning. Also working against Blood Stone is the preconceived notion that movie character tie-ins/licensings are of lower quality that exists only to make a quick a buck. And let’s face it, post Goldeneye the general perception of Bond games to the average gamer isn’t really that hot. The sad thing is that a lot of the fans who could truly appreciate Blood Stone have written it off without giving it a real chance, are either waiting for a price drop, or they’re the kind of fan who probably wouldn’t be bother to play a “video game”.

Blood Stone is IMO a giant step in the right direction but I fear because of it’s performance this may be it in terms of us seeing another adventure along these lines. I have a feeling in time the overall perception of Blood Stone will change. This is gonna be like the OHMSS of Bond games. I’m thankful that we have it. Blood Stone is gem. And a rare one indeed.

I stand by my rating. 5/5 overall for me.

[:~BeNzEdRiNe~:]

When I came home from college for Thanksgiving, I played through it on my brothers Xbox in roughly 4 hours. It had a great story line, as previously mentioned, but I felt the gameplay was somewhat lacking. The car chases were fun, but a little too linear. I liked EON's driving levels better, simply beacuse there were multiple routes to the objective. It's a simple game and pretty easy to pick-up on. But that being said, I don't think it's re-play value is there. Rent it if you can, it's short enough. If they could have combined EON's gameplay with Bloodstones story line, we'd have a perfect game

[CardShark]

I was truely impressed with the game. I loved it.

[Janus Assassin]

So far I'm enjoying it waay more than QOS could have even been. This should have been put on film

[mttvolcano]

I would give either a 4/5 or 5/5.
Graphics in areas are better than others but it didn't really bother me. The lack of a main villain was a very interesting plot, but that's what would put it down a rating for me. A few more levels I guess would have been a bit better also.
Other than that I thought it was great, very enjoyable gameplay!

[x007AceOfSpades]

I thought the game was very well done, but as stated by many it's too short even for me. I also wish there was a more memorable villain. Having just completed it, I intend to grab all achievements and play through the campaign and get into some online multiplayer. I'm looking forward to next years 007 game.

[Gothamite]

I played through a lot of levels of this and enjoyed them a lot. They didn't re-invent the wheel in terms of story or presentation (which is something EoN came awfully close to doing, in my opinion) but the game was a fun, serviceable Daniel Craig-alternative to EoN, which was and is my favourite Bond game (and my favourite way to play as Bond).

The shooting in this game is excellent. Maybe it's like other games, I don't much care. It was a little bit different to EoN but similar enough that I still felt like I was playing a sequel to that game. Focus Aims are a wonderful idea and make up for the lack of gadgets. I just wish you could upgrade so that you could earn more than three at a time. The one-button combat was initially a bit offensive to me (why only one button?) until I realised how much I was enjoying myself and how much the game didn't really need a complicated combat engine when the shooting was so good. This kind of combat works a lot better than the unfortunately messy and unresponsive combat of EoN.

The only thing I really didn't like about playing the game was how the screen would flash when you go into cellphone scanner mode or whatever it's called. Considering how many times you have to use that mode, it was really straining on my eyes and I can only imagine how people with epilepsy would respond to that.

I didn't actually play through the full game, but the initial levels I did play had a dreadfully uninteresting story for a Bond game. I couldn't even tell you what was going on, and as someone else pointed out, Bond says "Give me a name!" (or things to that effect) far too often. The graphics in the cutscenes were unforgiveably bad, considering the capabilities of pre-rendering today. EoN's M looked far more like Judi Dench than the potatoey mess in this game. Our man Dan looked pretty good, I suppose, but they really didn't capture his wonderfully icy eyes. And is his hair that dark, now? I did like his dark hair in the game, but I would have preferred him to look more like what he does in the movies. I really liked how you could pause the cutscenes, as well. Strange that games have never thought to allow you to do that very much in the past. The song in the title sequence was phenomenal for a video game and was probably one of my favourite things about the whole game. It's disappointing that more people don't like it.

The driving was also extremely disappointing and inferior to EoN. It reminded me of the lacklustre driving levels in From Russia with Love (which also featured a terrible use of the DB5).

Altogether an enjoyable experience that I might buy second-hand at some point for when I'm in Daniel Craig Bond moods (which I am likely to be). I'm mostly grateful that with the 1st person shooter Bond games being so popular with people other than me, that we also get a game that's so similar to EoN while improving some of its minor flaws.

[tdalton]

I gave it a rating of 2.

This one was a real disappointment, with overly basic combat and driving sequences that aren't so much chase sequences as they are sequences of just trying to stay close to the target until the game allows you to catch up. The game doesn't really allow you to do anything that affects the environment around you, and is basically just an interactive movie that sets you on a linear path from point A to point B and puts some token bad guys in your way to try to make it somewhat challenging.

[MuppetFeet]

Great review, thank you

[Agent Nine]

it is good game i would rate it 7.5/10 or 8/10

[SecretAgent007]

I thought it was great. I don't play video games much (mostly just the Bond games when they come out). This was my first 3rd person shooter and I really enjoyed that aspect of it. As stated previously it does seem short, but I was fine with that. I hope their next one (continuation of the story??) will also be a 3rd person shooter.

[winstoninabox]

SPOILERS ABOUND

A 3 from me. It looks nice, the H2H finishes are satisfyingly brutal, the cover system works well, the Focus Kills are a nice addition and the game really changes when you play it on the highest difficulty.

That said Uncharted did single player better 3 years ago, and next to Uncharted 2 with its superb single player AND MP from the previous year, well Blood Stone looks like a university coding project. It has most of the right elements, but fails to do anything with them. Level design is extremely lacking. You can climb objects, but there is nothing to climb except low cover. There should have been some good hiding places to look for and different ways to approach some of the larger firefights. That would have made it seem less like Bond was stuck in a long hallway. And why oh why when you're past the first level is the game still holding your hand by telling you which key to press to climb over an obstacle or to stick to for cover. Far too nannying. Much like the cell phone which has either M or Tanner calling Bond every few minutes.

The cell phones was really annoying with its ability to highlight the enemies. It has the same problem that Batman: Arkham Asylum had with Detective vision in that you spend far too much time in "cell phone vision" to keep track of the enemies. I'm not saying that it wasn't a useful feature, especially on 007 Difficulty, but it really does break immersion when Bond spends so much time checking his phone's radar. If they want the player to have that information, then there should have been a way to give it without bringing up the cell phone vision.

The chases are especially weak. Sure they have sound and fury, but you're just rushing the vehicle down a long corridor working out when to brake. If only there could have been some short cuts to find, a collectible to run over, something... I did enjoy the Ekranoplan sequence for it's sheer ludicrousness, but Joss Stone piloting a military hovercraft! Really? When a jewelery designer is the one driving the hovercraft you know that the plotting has taken a backseat.

As others have pointed out there is a lack of a central villain to ground the conflict. Bond works his way from one to the next, and even worse when it's all said and done in the epilogue we find out that we haven't even met the real puppet master yet. So we've essentially had a setup for a conclusion that thanks to Blood Stones' poor sales we may never see.

And just what does Blood Stone have to do with anything in this game?

Edited by winstoninabox, 25 October 2011 - 06:28 AM.

[thecasinoroyale]

3/5 for me.

A decent Bond game, and some great levels dotted throughout making the most of the Bond ethics and traits.

A litle too short for me and, as some say, too linear A-B style, but that's not really to big a fault. Easily one to go back to after a while!

[conneryboy]

After months of should I shouldnt I I finally bought this game, mainly because I had just finished GoldenEye Reloaded and needed some Bond action. I must say I was pleasently surprised by it, upon starting it I had IGN's rather scathing review in my head which turned out to be a good thing, my expectations were low and BloodStone exeeded them, OK the visuals were not the best and Joss Stones inclusion is somewhat baffleing yet the game mechanics were solid and I enjoyed the benifits of stealth play. The one thing I dont understand is IGN's poor review, every critisim they make could be also said for GoldenEye reloaded which recived a favorable review, all in all a good Bond game that reminded me somwhat of Everyting or Nothing, which is no bad thing.

[mrevans]

After months of should I shouldnt I I finally bought this game, mainly because I had just finished GoldenEye Reloaded and needed some Bond action. I must say I was pleasently surprised by it, upon starting it I had IGN's rather scathing review in my head which turned out to be a good thing, my expectations were low and BloodStone exeeded them, OK the visuals were not the best and Joss Stones inclusion is somewhat baffleing yet the game mechanics were solid and I enjoyed the benifits of stealth play. The one thing I dont understand is IGN's poor review, every critisim they make could be also said for GoldenEye reloaded which recived a favorable review, all in all a good Bond game that reminded me somwhat of Everyting or Nothing, which is no bad thing.

Definitly agree with you about the IGN review. I got it anyway because its a bond game. I was blown away by how good it was. It didn't take me long to finish it but honestly it was longer than I thought it would be (based on IGN) and though it may have been a little short, it sure was sweet. Once I started playing it was hard to put down. some of the foot chases and set pieces reminded me of Uncharted 3, not that they were of that caliber but still awesome. I can't help but wonder what the reviewer expected. It's an easy 4/5 for me.

[Nicolas Suszczyk]

Finally I got a new laptop and it worked!
Played it in Recruit difficulty, so that was easy.

Don't expect me to write a full lenght review, but my toughts are...

I liked the plot, even with the lack of main villain. Still, I felt the gameplay was a bit dull and un-bondian. It was OK to take down villains et all but, driving vehicles without gadgets (or at least shooting the enemies) -even in the ungadgetry of the Craig era- was terrible lame, altough the driving missions where the most difficult part in all the game (particularily the Vanquish in Siberia - I kept falling on ice or getting shot by the copter!).

But the true lack of the game was the Bond Moments (which I loved in Nightfire and EoN). I had the feeling all I did was jump, take down, shoot, and then animations. BTW, the thing was exaggeratedly user firendly! they even let you know when somebody throws you a grenade!

Still, a 4/5 or 7/10 seems like a suitable mark for me. I bet QoS is kinda better.

[Gothamite]

After renting GoldenEye Reloaded the other night (they were out of 007 Legends) and playing through it, I found it to be really mindless and boring; just waves and waves of bad guys coming at you with no real atmosphere or skill to anything. It was a really obnoxious, insulting example of why I don't think Bond is right for the FPS genre. James Bond does shoot people (lots of people), but he's not John Rambo.

007 Blood Stone certainly is mostly comprised of shooting, but there's just something far more Bondian about the whole game. Maybe it's because you can actually see Daniel Craig, maybe it's because the controls and shooting system are far better and more satisfying and maybe it's that you're not routinely insulted by the shoddy job of trying to remake GoldenEye as a story (even though the story in BS is just that), but it's just a better, more enjoyable game.

I love the shooting, I love the Focus Aims, I even love the one-button combat. The game should have been longer, there should have been more opportunities for stealth (GE beats it there) and they should have incorporated a few additional gameplay modes into it to really make you feel like James Bond and not just another machine-gunner (card-playing and conversation-manipulation springs to mind). As many people have said, unlike GoldenEye Reloaded or 007 Legends, in Blood Stone all of the ingredients really are there for an absolutely excellent Bond game up there with Everything or Nothing. It's just a pity there isn't more to do.

Still though, in an era where more of the Bond games are rubbish, I'm at least grateful that we have 007 Blood Stone.

Edited by Gothamite, 04 November 2012 - 06:45 PM.

[Iceskater101]

So 007 Bloodstone is worth the purchase?

[Double-0-Seven]

So 007 Bloodstone is worth the purchase?

Definitely! It really feels like you're playing in a Daniel Craig Bond movie.

[Iceskater101]

Wow that's awesome! What is the story about?

[Double-0-Seven]

To be honest, my memory on the plot is a little cloudy (haven't played through it since I first got it - been meaning to give it a go again!), but this summary should do:

http://en.wikipedia....07:_Blood_Stone

Not the most inspired plot but the overall look and feel of the game is very much rooted in the current Bond era. The hand-to-hand mechanics are very good and the locations are top notch. There's a bit of variety in the missions (stealth, driving, action, and so on) which has been sorely missing from some of the other recent Bond games. Plus Daniel Craig and Judi Dench lend their voices.

Have you ever played Everything or Nothing? This game is more or less the Daniel Craig equivalent. My only complaint is that it was a little too short as far as modern games go, but I never did do the hardest difficulty.