Project 007

Looks like EON is jumping back on the video game medium.




Still hiring people at the moment. Supposedly the game is about earning your 00 status.

I couldn't think of anyone better to be handling this franchise. IO makes the Hitman games which are kind of what it would be like if someone made James Bond videogames and took the concept seriously. If you aren't familiar with Hitman it's a series about an assassin codenamed 47 who works for an organization called the ICA who travels the world taking out high-profile and particularly dangerous targets such as terrorists or crime bosses. The games favor stealth over action as you often have to use disguises and covers to infiltrate locations and get close to your targets and eliminate them in an almost endless variety of ways. The most recent series of games have a particular Bond influence as recently 47 has been going after a very SPECTRE-like organization called Providence trying to cause chaos across the world.

A brief video of what the Hitman games are like. A preview for the Dubai level in the upcoming Hitman 3.



If IO makes the games anything like the Hitman games then this could be something very special.

I'm probably not going to go out and buy a console but good to know the option is there. Also, if the idea that stealth will be prioritised over action sticks then hopefully that's something Eon will want to explore moving forward in the film series.

With Craig stepping away from the role, it's unlikely he'll return for the game. Which means it will be a generic face. Further, this might mean they're preparing us for a wait between films. It's doubtful they'll cast Bond actor #7 for the films and have him debut in a video game.

Or it could be Nomi's origin story.

Interesting that it's an origin story. Maybe they'd make it a 50's period piece, but doubt it.

Hmm ... while Bond on consoles is always tempting, I have noticed how I've barely touched my PS4 even during the increased time at home this year and my half-century is rapidly approaching ... I'm really not sure that I can justify shelling out the price of a PS5/whichever console just to play this at my time of life.

At least some game news is promising. I've never played a Hitman title but will now do so. We've been without a great Bond game since the nd of EA's tenure with EON/FRWL.

The new game is supposedly not going to feature any of the Bond actors' likeness. Which cements the idea we're finally done with Craig ( ) but highlights that perhaps Eon really isn't even looking at their options for a new actor for the series.

Also, apparently Babs herself thought the most recent Bond games were not "worthy enough" and "violence for the sake of violence"... I thought they captured the mediocrity and the un-Bondian spirit of the Craig era very well. Can't blame the game designers from drawing inspiration from her trashy output (SF excluded. That was a classy affair).

Well, Blood Stone was a blast to play IMHO.

They went down the 'generic appearance' Bond route before with Agent Under Fire, it wasn't bad. And with Brosnan's likeness but not his voice in Nightfire, which was ... a little odd.

I played Bloodstone once and it just didn't spark at all for me. I think the last games to really be worthwhile were EA's EON and FRWL which used the same game engine. EON had the better story but FRWL had the more polished gameplay.

Blunt Instrument wrote:

Well, Blood Stone was a blast to play IMHO.

They went down the 'generic appearance' Bond route before with Agent Under Fire, it wasn't bad. And with Brosnan's likeness but not his voice in Nightfire, which was ... a little odd.  

To be honest, I did think Bloodstone was the best Bond game since FRWL and the only highlight of the Craig era. I put that down to Feirstein's contribution.

The generic Bond appearance doesn't really bother me. In fact, I'd prefer it to Craig's face.

I had pedantic little niggles that bothered me about FRWL ... mostly the DB5 and jetpack being in it ('too early' (strictly speaking) in the timeline there). And SPECTRE having to be called 'Octopus' because of all the McClory crap.

Connery's seventysomething voice coming out of the game's faithfully reproduced early 30s Bond was a little jarring, too.

Those little niggles didn't bother me; the jetpack stuff was great fun. I wasn't fan of Grant becoming invincible and some of the more OTT levels like that final(?) confrontation with Red.

I don't think I made it past the level on the train, such was its unreasonable difficulty level .