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  News > 1up: James Bond 007 Quantum Of Solace The Game (xbox 360)

What's the game about? A couple of years ago, Activision took over the James Bond license (held at the time by Electronic Arts), and Quantum of Solace is the first game to come out of that switch-up. Taking place over the course of the upcoming Quantum of Solace movie as well as the story of Casino Royale, the game mixes first-person cover-based shooting (that switches to third-person when you're behind cover) with stealth options, and it also throws in a few multiplayer modes that we don't know much about yet.

What's new for Games Convention? I was able to get my hands on the game for the first time and got a good look at how it balances combat with stealth. In short, it's a much better shooter than it is a stealth game. And I think the developers know that, since they're not pitching it too hard as a stealth game. According to Activision executive producer Stuart Roch, the game forces you into action sequences at many points, but it never forces you to play stealthy if you choose not to.

What I played of the ranged combat was very similar to Gears of War in that it relied heavily on its cover system. Much like in Gears, you press "A" (in the 360 version) to lean behind a wall, and you can jump or run to another cover point from there. There doesn't seem to be much new added to the equation, but the controls feel good, and I didn't have any trouble moving quickly through levels using this basic setup.

When you're too close to an enemy to take cover, you can click the right analog stick to perform a melee attack. Rather than sticking your gun out like in Halo, clicking the stick initiates a button-pressing minigame where you have to push the proper button to follow through on the attack. This feels very similar to the button-pressing takedown maneuver from The Bourne Conspiracy, though it's less flashy.

The game uses this mechanic for its stealth attacks as well -- get behind an enemy before he sees you and perform an attack in the same way and you take him out silently. You also have silencers you can put on/remove from some of your weapons. Given that those are your two main stealth abilities, I wouldn't expect many complicated stealth tactics over the course of the game, which is fine considering the game's approach.

What's our take? One of Activision's key marketing points for the game is that it runs on the Call of Duty 4 engine, which is kind of like saying you should pay attention to Shaun White Snowboarding because it runs on the Assassin's Creed engine -- it doesn't really matter. Take that comparison away and Quantum of Solace fares better. My apologies for comparing it to the same competitor twice in the same story, but Quantum gives off a similar vibe to games like The Bourne Conspiracy and Stranglehold in that it seems like it'll be a pretty straightforward big action game that's fun for 10 hours, and then you forget about it a few days after playing it. But I'm open to being proven wrong if multiplayer turns out well.

http://www.1up.com/do/previewPage?cId=3169497&p;=4