Mini Review – 007: Blood Stone 

Shooter/Driving

No, Bizarre Creations.  I expect you to die.

Rich

James Bond games have always been a bit of mixed bag but after the reasonable Quantum of Solace there may have been high hopes for Blood Stone, especially as this is the only Bond fix you’ll be getting since MGM canned the latest film.  Unfortunately, the game – Bizarre Creations’ last – fails to deliver despite attacking on two fronts.

On a boat.

You see, Bizarre have crowbarred in everything they’ve learned about driving games from making the PGR titles whilst the rest of the game is a third-person shooter akin to The Club (albeit without the nifty scoring mechanics).

The shooter bits are bland, with little use of gadgets – aside from the now mandatory enhanced view you get from your smartphone – and new weapons.  Instead it’s just a trawl around the usual Bond locales – casinos, embassies, construction sites – as you shoot henchmen and respond to the odd QTE.  Sure, the game doesn’t get much wrong during these sections but it doesn’t do anything that you’d describe as interesting either.

The driving sections are a bit curious.  You get that hardcore realism that you’d associate with a dev team that have produced driving games for several years now but mixed with Hollywood-style stunts and effects.  So wrestling with the stiff steering of your car while explosions send bins flying at you can become a bit hateful.  Also, a lack of camera view options mean that the hardest part of the driving missions is seeing where you have to go.

If none of this sounds like fun, that’s because it’s not.  Graphically it’s pretty average, the authentic cast deliver a weak voice-acting performance (with Daniel Craig sounding nothing like Daniel Craig), the shooting bits are dull and the driving bits are overly frustrating.  Add to that a plot that is pretty much a scene-for-scene retread of Quantum of Solace and you’re left with something that’s more 005 than 007.

5/10