Quantum of Solace will inevitably be compared to GoldenEye like all other Bond games have been and will be.  I believe it is a fair comparison to make.  GoldenEye was an inspired experience all the way around and since then we haven’t seen another Bond game come even close.  I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but Quantum of Solace isn’t on that level, but it is a good first effort by a worthy developer.

The game’s plot revolves around both Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace.  The game begins with Bond capturing Mr. White and bringing him in for interrogation.  In no time, Mr. White escapes because of an act of betrayal and Bond is sent around the world trying to figure the entire mess out using story lines from Casino Royale along with Quantum of Solace with a few story additions for added gameplay.  The voice acting, as expected, is great.  With Daniel Craig, Judi Dench, and most of the cast of both films, it’s pretty difficult to screw this part up.

If I were to try to describe Treyarch’s first Bond game in one word, it would be lackluster.  The game is the standard FPS affair clocking in around 6-7 hours of total single player gameplay.  I had actually played the game on the second most difficult setting and I was still able to breeze right through it.  The gameplay has some of the best qualities of other great AAA titles combined well enough to make you feel more like you are a special agent this time around.

Bond is able to take cover behind most objects and blind fire, a nice addition to the series.  The cover system works Gears of War style.  If the reticule is placed on an object a fair distance in front of your character, you can hold in the “A” button and Bond will slide into cover.  The blind fire works very well in the game because the A.I. is lacking the intelligence portion of it’s name.  Most of the time the A.I. is too aggressive and just runs right at you.  Unload a blind fire clip and most of your enemies are taken out.  The A.I. is required to come directly at you because the grenades they throw to flush you out are completely useless.  Your character can be standing over an enemy grenade without any repercussions.

The linear gameplay takes away from some of the interesting locations you travel to.  You really don’t have a choice on where to go and how to clear out enemies.  When it looks as if you have an alternate route, a sequence of events is triggered or an invisible wall is in place which forces you to follow the path the developers want you to take.  This is probably put in place to help the action sequences in the game move along fluidly, but Treyarch could have used a little more creativity to at least mask the linear gameplay.

The stealth portions of the game give Quantum of Solace a little more variety.  Don’t forget, you are a special agent, not a super soldier.  The A.I. once again is severely handicapped.  A.I. characters walk around as if they are on rails, so just time the take-downs by watching where the enemy has been.  The close combat fighting is a refreshingly simple single press of a button.  When Bond is close to an enemy, just depress on the right thumbstick and the game goes into a combat animation.  Here you will be asked to press a single button as quickly as possible for the take-down.  If you miss, the enemy breaks away and you must finish the job without losing all of your health.

This close combat system also is implemented to fight the final bosses for a few stages except for an added twist.  Instead of just pushing a single button, you are asked to participate in the entire fight sequence.  As Bond is falling down stairs and taking blows, you are required to either press or constantly mash buttons to finish off the boss.  You are allowed to fail on your button press timing as long as your health bar allows it, fail and you must replay the boss battle.  A nice addition to the gameplay instead of mindless shooting or sitting back and just watching a cut-scene.

While playing Quantum of Solace, you may get that feeling that you have seen this all before.  Treyarch has used a version of the Call of Duty 4 engine and it shows.  Some of the textures look fine but most of the game looks pretty dull.  The biggest downside to the average graphics displayed in Quantum of Solace is what could have been.  The game has such a variety of locations it would have been nice to see them more fleshed out.

The multiplayer portion of the game is actually quite expansive.  There are eight different game-types included with a slew of maps inspired by locations in the campaign.  At the time I took part in online multiplayer there was still a large community of players, games took no longer than a couple of minutes to gather and play.  The multiplayer system is simple and extremely quick, not a lot of load times here.  You can also earn credits towards purchasing new weapons, gadgets and anything else to assist you in taking down the opposing team by winning matches or killing enemies.  The gameplay takes on a much quicker pace than the campaign, so the use of cover is diminished.  I could definitely see most Call of Duty players enjoying this online experience.

Quantum of Solace is better than most games that are inspired by films, so I wouldn’t mind seeing Treyarch give it another shot for the next Bond film.  Only time will tell if we will ever see another groundbreaking Bond experience like GoldenEye.  Quantum of Solace just isn’t it.

Overall: 6.75 out of 10

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