It will be awhile before we see James Bond back on the big screen. But if you are in dire need to see Bond order some martinis and shag some fine looking women, Bizarre Creations’ new Bond game is one of the two options you have. James Bond 007: Blood Stone was developed by Bizzare Creations, the makers of the Project Gotham Racing series, so there are plenty of driving elements to this typical, generic third-person shooter. It’s no Goldeneye but it is the best Bond game since then, although that doesn’t say much either.
Reprising his role as the suave secret agent known as Bond, James Bond is Daniel Craig. Like in every Bond film, 007 must save the world from some foreigner’s evil plan to rule, or destroy the world. The title of the game is Blood Stone, and it surprisingly has nothing to do with diamonds or stones. Instead, you will spend most of the story going to various locations looking for biochemical terrorists. Blood Stone does manage to capture some of the nostalgia that comes from watching a Bond film like the cool intro/song, but not once did I see the classic James Bond gun barrel sequence.
If my memory serves me right, I believe this is the first third-person Bond game. That might be a bad timing considering all the generic third-person shooters we get every year, and Blood Stone is one of them. It works well but it’s just not enough to keep you playing if you are not a huge fan of the series. Blood Stone shies away from originality, and eventually just straight up takes elements from other games. The Mark and Execute system was first seen on Splinter Cell: Conviction and is seen in Blood Stone as well. Like in Conviction, you can push a button and instantly one shot kill a highlighted enemy, and like in Conviction, you gain this ability by using a takedown. Blood Stone also takes the Detective Mode from Batman: Arkham Asylum, and allows you to use Bond’s smart phone to detect enemies and objective locations.
As I mentioned before, Blood Stone offers plenty of fast paced driving sequences. The driving portions of this game are a huge step back for the creators of Project Gotham Racing. Just about every mission in the game features a driving sequence and it eventually just wears a little thin. It’s like they were continuously looking for where to stick the driving portion of the mission at. The driving itself is solid for the type of fast paced action that’s revolving around you as you power an Ashton Martin. The biggest problem for me was that in every driving section I was just driving to the place where the cutscene is triggered. Only once was I ever actually required to stop someone with my vehicle.
Much like James Bond 007: Blood Stone, I am too uninspired to continue with this review. Though it may sound like my time with the game was a pain, it actually provided me with a delightful afternoon; in which you might complete the entire game in. Blood Stone is one of two Bond game choices you have, I suggest you look into Goldeneye on the Wii.
