James Bond: Quantum of Solace Q&A - Movies, Gameplay, and Final Thoughts
Treyarch executive producer Garrett Young discusses this soon-to-be-released action game. Exclusive trailer inside.
The silver-screen secret agent known as James Bond has been quashing evil conspiracies, using cutting-edge gadgets, and getting all the girls for decades. And he's headed to a video game console near you in the form of James Bond: Quantum of Solace, a new action game based on the upcoming motion picture starring the latest Bond actor, Daniel Craig. We sat down with Treyarch executive producer Garrett Young to discuss the game from top to bottom as we prepare for its release next week.
GameSpot: We understand that the game is being built using the powerful Call of Duty 4 engine. What has using this technology let you do with the character, setting, and game?
Garrett Young: Yes, the COD4 engine from Infinity Ward served as the basis upon which we built Quantum of Solace. Their game was looking so good early in development that we leapt at the chance to utilize its technology as the foundation for our game.
The COD4 engine gave us a huge head start on development, allowing my team to get our build and test levels up and running very quickly, and allowing us to focus our development time on gameplay iteration rather than the underlying plumbing behind the game. We then created a completely different experience with different characters, all-new environments, AI, and new features like "cover combat" and our "takedown" system. We would not have been able to do it in time without their help.
GS: James Bond is a legendary motion picture character, but he hasn't always done well in the video game world. How are you making sure the game does justice to the reinvented Daniel Craig version of Bond while remaining an enjoyable video game?
GY: James Bond definitely has a long, rich history, and we were all excited to have the opportunity to build the first-ever Bond game for Activision. We've seen all the movies, read all of Fleming's books, and discussed with the filmmakers at length how to most effectively portray this new "rebooted" Bond in our game.
I loved GoldenEye, but I'm not sure why the other Bond games may or may not have achieved great reviews. James Bond is the ultimate secret agent--"the man every man wants to be, and every woman wants to be with." In short, he is the perfect character for a video game.
To me, it comes down to prioritization and focus. We as a team believe in getting the core gameplay experience right first before expanding out. Tactically, that means we knew we needed to nail down controls (shooting, reticule speed, button layout), camera, enemy AI, level design, cover combat, weapons, and the other action gameplay elements before we expanded onto the other features of the game.
Game developers are creative people--we always have ideas, and we always want to implement them all. This team had great discipline in choosing the right things to focus on in this first Bond game from our company.
GS: Give us an outline of the story we'll play through in the game--it's not just a direct translation of the movie, correct? We understand, for instance, that the game will feature areas from the Quantum of Solace motion picture as well as from Casino Royale.
GY: The movie Quantum of Solace is the first true sequel in Bond movie history, as it picks up 15 minutes after Casino Royale ends. Our game covers the story of both movies, so we had a lot of interesting scenes and beautiful environments from which to create great gameplay experiences for the game.
One interesting anecdote: You may have heard that we include a scene in our game that got cut out of Casino Royale (the fight on the train to Montenegro). Since they didn't use that scene, we were able to take "creative liberty" with the actor we used for the boss at the end of this level.
GS: The Call of Duty 4 engine did a fantastic job of rendering intense firefights in a smooth, fluid manner without a hitch, but that game was all about a full-on war. Tell us about some of the gun battles Bond will get into in the game. How big and crazy will they get?
GY: James Bond is an action hero, and this is very much an action game, so yes, our gun battles are pretty intense. As Bond, you are almost always outmanned and outgunned with no squadmates for help. At the hardest difficulties, battles are a serious challenge. You learn to use cover combat pretty quickly.
A large chunk of our team is made up of people who not only love first-person shooters, but also have direct hands-on experience building them. This experience led our team to focus on creating engaging combat gameplay: great reads, solid cover spots for targeting and hiding, interesting engagement spaces with smart AI, beautiful weapons, and of course, big explosions.
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