In this globetrotting adventure you'll come to realise that it's not only the typical Bond plan that doesn't go smoothly
Contains: Strong Violence and Moderate Threat
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James Bond 007: Blood Stone is a third-person, action adventure spy thriller that sticks to the tradition of James Bond's abilities with futuristic gadgets, chase sequences and stealth action.
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STORY - 3/5
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British Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) agent James Bond is once again out to foil the plans of persistent villains intent of world domination or something related to power and greed, and while the story is standard and predictable for a James Bond spy thriller, a really good script and some inviting locations from around the globe make the story worthwhile for all the death and destruction Bond will inevitably cause as he progresses constantly to stop the bad guys and thwart their evil intentions that threaten the world and it's resources.
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CHARACTERS - 2/5
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Daniel Craig portrays the womanising-style spy protagonist James Bond in this standalone story irrelevant to any of the movies as he done in the last couple of films, but lends his voice with a constant drone showing little emotion despite such a good script and some crafty lines available to be punctuated with witty humour, and overall isn't as influential in the main role as he maybe should have been in the popular movies he stars in.
Other characters, some recurring ones from previous games and movies, are also lacklustre in their input to the espionage-style action, and it doesn't help that facial expressions in cutscenes are poorly animated.
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GAMEPLAY - 3/5
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The prologue starts off with a bang, some punches and a barrage of bullets, showing off what's to offer within a short entertaining segment before the credits roll. After this dramatic opening, the pace slows considerably, focusing a lot on stealth and the use of gadgets to bypass through inaccessible areas and hack important, documented information that will aid in your next objective. After these slow segments intermittently spaced with some shootouts and car chases, the pace of the action quickens, and the last half of the game has lots of third-person shooting that utilises a cover mechanic to keep your hope of thwarting your enemies. Typically, Bond will find himself in predicaments that appear, at first glance, inescapable, and the pressure of a time limit or impeding environmental obstacle that could certainly prevent you from saving the day make for some tense sequences filled with enemies where you must rush to the exit or navigate away from danger to save your life and continue in a similar manner that is expected of you by your superiors.
Exotic espionage equipment and vehicles are very popular elements of James Bond's literary and cinematic missions, and these items often prove critically important to Bond in successfully completing his missions. In this case, the Smartphone is your gadget of preferred choice throughout the game, and utilising it is important to hack through secured areas, disable security cameras, highlight items of interest within the area such as weapons and intel, and even show your enemies whereabouts so you can time your stealth tactics to perfection without anyone being the wiser. Brutal close quarters combat is how you succeed in incapacitating enemies during stealth sections, with you able to perform specific takedowns relevant to their position and yours aswell. Sneaking up behind someone will grant you a stealth takedown, a brutal hand-to-hand move that is effective at stalling your opponent, potentially killing them in certain scenarios that include high falls and suffocating. Effectively taking down your enemies without raising the alarm is rewarding, and the strong violence inflicted in a variety of combat moves is worth every takedown you perform. Constructively using the environment, working out patrol patterns and utilising the advanced technology of your Smartphone all helps in successfully completing a stealth scene, and tactically working out when to strike and cautiously observing your foes from cover all aids in a successful invasion of their territory for necessary answers to proceed. Takedowns can also be performed during normal gameplay when enemies are well aware of where you are and are shooting desperately to prevent your progress towards your objective, and more variety of brutal moves here make running towards the enemy whilst evading fire a momentary adrenaline boost that is even further increased with the focus aims you collect for doing a takedown. A focus aim is a one-shot kill move that maximises your ability to kill quickly and efficiently, and when you have up to a possible three focus aims, you can chain together these devastating kill moves in a row, establishing authority and taking down multiple opponents with ease in a matter of seconds. Running towards your enemies is a risky move however that could end your success in a brisk, accurate blast from gunfire, and to save the struggle of hand-to-hand combat constantly is Bond's ability to wield many different kinds of weapons that range from silenced pistols, to shotguns and even grenade launchers. The shooting mechanics are alright, nothing special, but nothing negative about it. What makes gunplay appear more quality than it really is however, is the death animations from your falling opponents that look natural and correspond very well to where they were shot.
Throughout the steady list of spy objectives, you'll notice that the technical and fun factor side of Blood Stone doesn't go smoothly in much the same way that Bond's plan typically goes awry. All of the driving sections induce too much trial-and-error to succeed or luckily scrape through fine margins, and when you're in top-quality vehicles that sadly don't handle well, your view of the unfolding carnage and mayhem from high speed pursuits is intruded because you need to focus far more on your car to try and not crash than you are allowed on the spectacular scripted events that are explosive and done in signature bond style. On foot gameplay also feels relatively stale and weak at certain points, and finding an action section that feels completely free-flowing is rare to find, encounters often prove repetitive towards the end despite the frequent third-person shooting, with you constantly doing the same thing over and over. Enter an area, take cover, cautiously and patiently dispatch all foes, then repeat. It still offers some thrills, but it's clear that Bond's style relies on similar traits that, within this game, eventually take their toll after a while.
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GRAPHICS - 3/5
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First impressions of Blood Stone's graphics are a quick disappointment. Poor cutscene graphics that include character models with weak facial expressions that don't highlight the cutting edge technology you now expect in Playstation 3 games diminish expectation right from the start. But thankfully the varied locations you travel to throughout the plot offer some appealing scenery and well done lighting effects in certain environments that compliment the areas of the graphics department that earlier let it down. Though, despite some redeeming visual delights, there are some technical dampers that present themselves occasionally, such as presentational issues that effect your character and his interaction with some of the environment.
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SOUND - 3/5
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A rather clichéd but sometimes effective musical score imposes itself in some of the more intense action events and implies drama, more so during the sporadic driving sections, and clearly takes inspiration from the many Bond movies released before it. And the similarity trying to be produced is evident right from the opening credits and the concluding theme tune, whether you like it or not, it certainly represents James Bond. Some hard-hitting sound effects from melee takedowns are well integrated to make the strength of the actions enforced, and some dialogue is spoken decently, but there are still some aspects in all areas of the sound design that lack pure quality and uniqueness for what it's trying to represent.
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CONTROLS - 2/5
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Some awkward controls, a problematic camera and reluctant responses are a few of the prime drawbacks from Blood Stone's gameplay design, and getting to grips with the control configurations for each action/move isn't something that will be grasped immediately, but gradually over time from excessive use of each button effectively in the correct situation. The camera isn't always compliant to what you wish to see, making navigating down tight corridors more awkward than it should be, and to round off this really disappointing section of the review is the inconsistent vehicle handling that causes some frustrating restarts or fails when trying to estimate speed and braking distance to avoid a solid wall or evade oncoming traffic.
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ATMOSPHERE - 2/5
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No sustained suspense through the plot or the gameplay relinquishes much of your motivation to see Bond successfully through to the final cutscene, and while there are some tense and exciting scripted scenes that occur during the game, no sustained tension during the action set piece fights makes for a weak atmosphere that doesn't justify the characters and the predicament they're trapped in. The locations you find the confident spy protagonist traipsing through are in some spots nicely detailed, but it isn't enough to generate an atmosphere that separates that area from the last place you were in across the other side of the world and not even the foreign features in level design can compliment your globetrotting journey through perilous locales.
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ENEMY AI - 3/5
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Enemies mostly stick to the basics during stealth sections and shooting segments by following simple principles that in the end cause them to lose the battle they're fighting. But the intelligence is acceptable considering the wide amount of opportunities they attempt during combat. They take cover frequently and purposefully, remaining behind cover until an opening emerges to shoot, blind firing on occasions and even bravely (but stupidly) progressing forwards towards your cover position to flush you out or distract your attention for the rest of the hostile forces (though that clearly isn't intentional as they risk and end their life for their allies who will inevitably suffer the same fate). They react well to wounds you inflict and respond with near misses where you weren't quite accurate enough, and while their intelligence is questionable, you cannot argue that they show some glimmers of hope and optimism when battling you in their outnumbered groups. During stealth scenes they patrol in predictable patterns, standing in positions that encourage you to move in for a quick close-quarters kill, and inconsistently detect your presence even if you aren't within eye sight, and similarly these action sections leave a question mark over the intelligence bracket, but in conclusion it isn't anything to complain about.
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LENGTH - 1/5
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James Bond 007: Blood Stone is a very short action experience that clocks in the mission complete time in about 5 hours, with some chapters within a foreign setting taking less than 45 minutes to finish.
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REPLAY VALUE - 1/5
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After completing James Bond's latest action adventure around the world there isn't much reason to replay the campaign unless you strive to collect all intel or amp up the difficulty for some trophies, since not only is the game short, but going through it again takes even less time than the estimated 5 hours set on a first playthrough.
Signature bond moments, fast-paced chases and brutal close quarters melee combat allow you to relish in the short playing time taking on the role and stepping into the shoes of the famous spy James Bond, but negative points are common and noticeably placed throughout the game, whether technical annoyances or gameplay hindrances, Blood Stone clearly proves that stepping into Bond's shoes is never smooth and doesn't quite go to plan just like the spy thriller-styled plot of the movies it emulates.
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OVERALL SUMMARY - 7/10
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Good Points: Globetrotting adventure story with a good script, The odd explosive action scenes arise, Smartphone is a neat and handy gadget, Some appealing locations, Takedowns look and sound great.
Bad Points: Weak character facial expressions and graphics in cutscenes, Presentational issues, Driving sections don't handle too well, Sporadic camera problems, Some awkward controls.