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  News > Ugo: Quantum Of Solace Review (360/ps3)

Ever since the runaway success GoldenEye 007 for Nintendo 64, video games starring James Bond have been left with an unreasonably high bar to meet. While Quantum of Solace, developed by Treyarch and published by Activision for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 consoles, doesn’t quite hit that mark, it comes closer than anything else we’ve seen in the decade-plus since GoldenEye’s release. That said, this is still a movie-licensed game and it shows many of the faults gamers have come to expect from such offerings.

Quantum of Solace actually covers the events of both the upcoming film and 2006’s Casino Royale, which was the first to star actor Daniel Craig as 007. The sequence of events is a bit unexpected however, with gameplay set during the Casino period unfolding as a flashback. It makes narrative sense in the context of the overall story, but it isn’t exactly clear how or why until the final quarter of the game.

In the interest of avoiding spoilers, suffice to say that the game begins with a failed assassination attempt set during the Quantum (film) timeline. This is followed by a lengthy flashback covering the whole of Casino’s plot. The game’s final missions bring players back to Quantum of Solace, with Bond and Bond girl Camille (voiced by Olga Kurylenko) attempting to finish what they started. It isn’t made explicitly clear how everything ties together until the very end, though perceptive players won’t have too much trouble figuring out the basics before the credits roll.

As for the gameplay, Quanutm kicks it old-school, serving up a straightforward first-person shooter in the vein of GoldenEye. Building the game on top of Infinity Ward’s Call of Duty 4 engine, Treyarch has inserted some light stealth and cover elements to mix things up, but players can just as easily open up with their loudest boomstick - usually something procured on-site rather than carried in - from moment one. Stealth has its limits too; while it can make the early going in many missions a great deal simpler, the quiet approach eventually becomes impossible as Bond makes himself more of a nuisance to his enemies. Our biggest problem with the gameplay is the fact that so many missions end with entirely QTE-driven boss fights. They’re well choreographed to mirror the style of a Bond flick, but it still feels like a cop-out.

While the visuals are uniformly underwhelming, Quantum delivers a fun and challenging experience thanks to some surprisingly intelligent enemy AI. Bond’s opponents throughout the game are very aggressive, constantly moving to flank from multiple sides and keeping the pressure up with grenades on even the default difficulty setting. There’s definitely some fudging going on as enemies seem to have a preternatural awareness of Bond’s location once he’s been spotted, but overall Quantum of Solace manages to keep the challenge high and the frustrations at a minimum.

Each completed mission unlocks an interactive “debriefing room” set in MI-6 headquarters. Here, players can explore a series of rooms to check out concept art, character models and weapons related to the mission in question. Cutscenes and between-mission debriefings can also be accessed from the game’s unlockables menu, separate from the debriefing rooms.

Treyarch smartly carried over the fundamentals of Call of Duty 4’s stellar online component. There are no experience levels, but players earn points as they play which can then be spent in the Weapons Store. In addition to primary/secondary firearms, weapon attachments and grenades, the store also offers Gadgets which serve as stand-ins for the other game’s perks. The single custom loadout slot allows no more than two Gadgets to be equipped at a time.

Quantum of Solace serves up two deathmatch modes (arcade and regular), a team deathmatch and a mode called Territory Control which is very similar to COD4’s Headquarters, with a shifting control point which must be held by a team for points. There also three Bond-specific modes to choose from: Bond Versus, Bond Evasion and Golden Gun.

Bond Versus pits one player – as Bond – against an entire team of evil henchmen, who are under the command of The Organization. Bond’s goal is to either eliminate the enemy threat or disarm a bomb while The Organization must instead try to bring him down. In Bond Evasion, one player on the MI-6 team is designated as Bond; the goal is to get Bond to an escape point before The Organization can cap him. Golden Gun harkens back to GoldenEye's own Golden Gun; a one-hit-kill handgun is placed on the map for all to see. While any weapon can be used to kill other players, only kills made with the Golden Gun score points.

Quantum of Solace is a solid game which will undoubtedly fall victim to this overcrowded holiday release season. The solo campaign is short – less than 10 hours, no question – but the intelligent AI keeps things surprisingly enjoyable. The narrative is of secondary concern at best and the graphics lack the detail of Infinity Ward’s masterpiece, but a solid challenge and persistent multiplayer elements make this a decent buy.

Unfortunately, "decent" just doesn’t cut it right now. October alone delivered a non-stop lineup of A-grade releases and November isn’t going to be much different. It’s tough to recommend Quantum in the face of such stiff competition. If you’re looking for something quick and mindlessly entertaining to pass the time with until the next must-buy drops, Quantum of Solace will deliver. Otherwise, wait for the next release drought and grab this one as a bargain title; you won’t be disappointed.

http://gamesblog.ugo.com/index.php/gamesblog/more/quantum_of_solace_review_360_ps3/