007: Legends - New Bond video game?

Rory Kinnear's Tanner? Noooo...Kitchen dashed again.

I'm surprised nobody noticed the "David G. WIlson" in the credits. I'm assuming he's Michael G. Wilson's son. A Google search lists him as having done script work on QOS, some production work on CR, and other film jobs. A Google Image search turns up a picture of a guy who could pass for MIchael G. WIlson's son. He's the right age, and he's certainly psychotic. Are we looking at the next heir to the de-Broccolichamp fortune?

Here is '007 Legends' in action, don't worry for the first couple of minutes, the game soon translates into English. More-or-less what we expected really but still an interesting watch if you don't mind spoiling it a bit for yourself:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6iff9Eoe55g&feature=player_embedded

Ugh, that looks so lazily written. Once again, Feirstein goes in for the whole Bond's-life-being-in-jeopardy-at-the-start-of-the-game-and-then-flashing-back-to-the-very-beginning-of-the-story plot device. And even then, the chapters appear to be only loosely connected, with the linear COD-inspired "walk to this objective to trigger this event" gameplay function.

Which is a shame, because I would have loved to have seen a PULP FICTION-esque approach with the chapters told out of order and the player trying to figure out how all the pieces fit together.

I don't have a problem with the 'flashback' structure.

The sunlight through the bridge arches as Bond falls looks great on the 'long shot'.

Prisoner Monkeys wrote:

Ugh, that looks so lazily written. Once again, Feirstein goes in for the whole Bond's-life-being-in-jeopardy-at-the-start-of-the-game-and-then-flashing-back-to-the-very-beginning-of-the-story plot device.

I doubt Feirstein had much to do with that decision.

It's still lazy.

And the story seems like a loose ribbon to tie together remakes of five films.

I'm disappointed.

The first part of the GOLDFINGER mission has been uploaded to YouTube.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

The enemy AI does look pretty good in places - when they're not just running straight at you - but the game is really let down by such a linear pathway. You go to this point to trigger this event, then you go to that point to trigger that event, clear a room full of enemies and when the music stops, you open the doors on the far side of the room and lather, rinse and repeat. I think the game really would have benefited from a larger, non-linear level layout, with mutliple pathways to the objectives. One of the objectives is to obtain photographic proof of Goldfinger's gold smuggling, so to my mind, the best way forward would be to say "Obtain the evidence - you'll know it when you see it" and go from there instead of having the game hold your hand the entire way. That would actually encourage the player to use a variety of tactics when and where they wanted to, rather than forcing them to be stealthy through certain parts of the stage.

Based on this and this alone, it feels like half a game. Eurocom have apparently just cut and paste parts from the Bond canon over the Call of Duty gameplay mechanics, tied it up with the ribbon of remaking various films, and shipped it out as quickly as they could.

The first reviews are in - and they're not good:

http://au.ign.com/videos/2012/10/16/007-legends-video-review

The short version is that the Bond canon has been crushed under the weight of a cheap and poorly-implemented COD clone.

There's more of the same from GameInformer, who call it "uninspired at best and nearly broken at worst":

http://www.gameinformer.com/games/007_legends/b/xbox360/archive/2012/10/16/007-legends-review.aspx

The Globe and Mail is even more savage about it:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/technology/gaming/game-reviews/new-bond-game-is-not-the-007-legend-youre-looking-for/article4615622/

The niceest thing they have to say about it is that the developers chose five of the worst films to "pay tribute" to Bond with.

Overall, it's disappointing - but not unexpected.

No shit. Activision like all the other labels are lazy about Bond because they believe all the need is a 007 logo on the cover and it's a done deal.

With Mendes and Craig trying to make the best Bond film possible with Skyfall, it would be nice if the game developers would try adopting that sensibility. I always say this, but either do something like METAL GEAR SOLID or an open world format. Take advantage of the world of Bond! They need to be more innovative!

They need to make a GTA-style Bond game. James Bond isn't a popular character because he runs around firing thousands of bullets. These FPS plonkers they drop every couple years are generic shyte.

I don't play video games anymore so I don't why I'm giving 'em advice, but they'd be wise to heed my words regardless.

Last Bond game I ever bought was QOS. It was more half-assed than the film version.

Python wrote:

Last Bond game I ever bought was QOS. It was more half-assed than the film version.

I surely enjoied the QoS game more than the movie.

I don't play the Call Of Duty games, so this being a knock-off doesn't bother me much ... I doubt I'll even notice.

Saying that they picked the 5 worst films is a bit harsh ... if nothing else, I'm amused by the prospect of playing as Craig's Bond in the OTT likes of Moonraker and Die Another Day.

Walecs wrote:

Python wrote:

Last Bond game I ever bought was QOS. It was more half-assed than the film version.

I surely enjoied the QoS game more than the movie.

I wish I hadn't thrown out my PS2 by then, since from what I've seen the PS2 version of QOS is much more entertaining than the Xbox 360 one. At least if feels like you're actually playing Daniel Craig as Bond, not some random bloke in a tux.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=AopqJceas3o

Was Blood Stone any good?

Never played it.

BLOOD STONE is terrible.

I can believe that when I read this.

Quote :

"Written by Bruce Feirstein"

Shit. Oh well, there is the Tuxedo mode on METAL GEAR SOLID.

I liked Blood Stone a lot.

Yeah, me too.

Bought this, been playing it ... maybe I'm easily pleased, but I'm enjoying it.

I've been playing through 007 LEGENDS. Even with low expectations, it's a big disappointment.

What are its biggest problems?

I haven't experienced any glitches, like some have claimed, but it's biggest problem is that it's just incredibly tedious. Everything about it is underdeveloped, so you feel like you're playing a bare-bones test version of the game without any of the fun extra touches thrown in. When it actively attempts to break up the standard FPS gameplay (like during the OHMSS sky section), the gameplay mechanics are so poorly designed that it's annoying rather than enjoyable.