Quantum of Solace Review
A Review - By Steve Heller
007 Goldeneye on the Nintendo 64 revolutionized console first person shooters in more ways then one. It featured stunning graphics, an amazing single player experience, and still one of the best multiplayer offerings I've ever witnessed. 007 games since Goldeneye have never captured the same formula.Treyarch have released the first 007 game in this generation, and while shooters have certainly come a long way since the Nintendo 64 classic, this is the first Bond game worth mentioning since
It is worth mentioning that Quantum of Solace is the best movie to game adaption I have ever played. It manages to keep the player involved in the story, keeping in the details, adding in gameplay elements that don't detract from the movie's plot and overall is damn close to the two movies it is based on, Quantum of Solace and Casino Royale.
That been said, Quantum of Solace isn't exactly a bad game, it's just not that different from other shooters on the market. It captures the over the top action that is expected from a Bond game, but does it in such a way that feels like every other game you have played before.
Standard Call of Duty style controls, aiming is concise and it's easy enough to get your shots on target. There is a great variety of weapons and explosives, and the number of environments keep the game from getting stale.
The issue with QoS isn't exactly what it has done wrong, it's more what does it bring to the table. The cover system is a point that the developers are trying to really push as a selling point, but it is seriously flawed. The number of times you will be trying to gain cover behind an object but you weren't looking directly in the middle of the screen and you end up being riddled with bullet holes. This is rather frustrating, especially as you get further in the game. When you do manage to get into cover, the camera moves to a third person perspective. While this works well, it's as if it was lifted directly from Rainbow Six Vegas, except not executed with the same finesse.
Stealth missions aren't that important to the game flow, if you are discovered it just turns into a gunfight, there seems to be no real incentive to go for the stealth approach as there are no real consequences.
Quick button action sequences make an appearance here, and work well but are not challenging at all. More often than not it's a simple press of three buttons and it's all over. Same can be said for the "take down" moves, simple, boring and repetitive.
The game does feature a multiplayer component, filled with your standard deathmatch, man with the golden gun type modes. It boring, it has no online players, it might as well have not been included in the game.
QoS is running on the Call of Duty 4 engine so you can imagine that it is a fantastic looking game. It gives us a chance to see what this engine can do in totally different environments that we wouldn't get to see in a CoD game, and it does it well. Buildings and player models all look great, draw distance is fine and sunsets over the water look amazing. The main thing to mention here is Daniel Craig's likeness in the game is SIMPLY AMAZING. The developers have created the perfect virtual Daniel Craig without a doubt, a lot of the time you will find yourself staring at his face rather than the firefights you are involved in.
QoS features some of the best voice acting you are likely to hear in a game, featuring the voices of the actual actors out of the feature film. This certainly does a lot to draw the player in, shame the same can't be said about the rest of the soundtrack.
Music fits the Bond style, but isn't very memorable, and all the guns feature a seemingly arcade sound to them. Explosions are weak, and the constant "I've found him" cries heard from the enemies are draining after the first few hundred times. Simply put, the voice acting is what saves the game in the audio department.
The big question is do you want to spend $100 on this game. The single player is solid, but is unoriginal and is over rather quickly. The game features a rather lackluster multiplayer component, and the lack of players in the online servers doesn't mean it has much value at all.
The Final Verdict
6.9/10
It's not so much that QoS isn't a fun ride, it just doesn't do enough to put itself at the front of the FPS pack. If you want a solid shooter that represents the Bond franchise well, this is it, just don't expect too much from the title
Gameplay
6/10
It's solid, it's fun, but it's unoriginal and becomes stale after a few hours.
Graphics
8/10
Running on the Call of Duty 4 engine the environments and enemies look fantastic. Daniel Craig's likeness is UNBELIEVABLE
Audio
7/10
Voice acting lifted right from the movie draws the player in, yet tinny explosions and rather average sound effects let it down
Value
6/10
If you are a fan, the price tag won't annoy you, but most people won't find value for money here. The single player is over in a few hours and multiplayer is pretty much nonexistent
Overall
6.9/10