James Bond 007: Blood Stone is a fantastic modern, third-person, stealth-shooter that really shows 007 at his very best!
James Bond 007: Blood Stone is one of the best games I have ever played! It is exciting, gripping, action-packed, and intense. It also brings back chase sequences (on-foot, boat chases, and car chases), third-person action, and the glamourous gadgets! Best of all, as well as being the only Bond game/film for a while, it has absolutely no connection between a film or game within the Bond franchise. Therefore, this game has been given plenty of development time.... and Activision and Bizarre Creations have really made use of it! This also means that any new-comers to the James Bond world of gaming and films can settle in nice and easily!
You play Agent 007, or James Bond, (as voiced by the current James Bond, Daniel Craig) who is tasked with finding (and potentially killing) the person or people who are responsible for the capture of Dr Malcolm Tedworth, a scientist working on flu vaccinations that would be able to be turned into a lethal toxin if used correctly. Only he had the codes but, when he was tortured, he gave the codes to his torturers who shot him afterwards anyway! The codes, along with the buyer (they were selling them on to a Russian business-man named Stefan Pomerov), got away. This leaves Bond traveling around the four corners of the world trying to find them and anyone else involved, alongside this game's Bond-girl, Nicole Hunter (as voiced by singer-songwriter, producer and actress, Joss Stone).
This fabulous Bond game has a lot of upsides to it. Here they are:
1. The story has a lot of twists, turns, and shocks waiting around every tiny little corner!
2. The characters and cars are incredibly detailed, especially Daniel Craig and his Aston Martins!
3. The action sequences are fast-paced, exciting, and unbelievably gripping!
4. The weapons are varied and also well detailed, especially Bond's original (silenced) Walther P99.
5. The takedowns are brutal, quick, stealthy, and lethal!
6. You can easily use the environment to your advantage.
7. The cover system works really well and allows you to pass a map quietly and, more importantly, quickly!
8. The gun sounds are realistic.
9. The textures of everything are just right.
10. The chases (on-foot, boat chases, car chases) are a great new addition to Daniel Craig's Bond gaming franchise, as well as being engaging, edgy, and exciting.
11. The return of some brand-new Bond gadgets are original, discreet, and fantastic!
12. Most of the sounds are in sync with what is going on in-game.
13. The voices are brilliantly spoken and are timed just right!
14. The controls are simple and not very sensitive.
15. The menus are really simple to navigate through!
16. The scripts are well written and all tie in well.
17. This game features an all-star cast!
18. The 'Focus Aim' mechanic works really well and is just like "Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction"'s (see one of my previous reviews) 'Mark-and-Execute' tactic!
19. 007: Blood Stone has no connection whatsoever to any previous films or games in the Bond franchise. This means that any newbies to the world of 007 can relax and just play the game without any confusion or frustration!
20.The graphics and sound effects on James Bond's Aston Martin DBS and DB5 are brilliant!
21. This game has a great, and also shocking ending!
22. Bizarre Creations (Blur and Spilt/Second Velocity) and Activision (Spiderman and 007: Quantum of Solace) have worked together with Bizarre Creations on the explosive driving side, and Activision on the on-foot sections!!
A game like this does have a few little faults! Here they are:
1. The graphics aren't great for a new, 2010 game.
2. The mouth is sometimes not in sync with the voice (on some characters) (in-game only).
3. The multiplayer is very basic and and unimaginative. Unfortunately, it is also quite repetitive and boring!
4. Some of the weapons look like they are completely weightless in Bond's special hands!
5. The facial expressions can sometimes not match the dialogue.
6. There is no button at all that allows you to crouch. I mean, what kind of secret agent doesn't crouch?!
I would seriously recommend this game to the people out there who love stealth-shooters and are fans of the Bond gaming/film world!
Thank you for reading my review of James Bond 007: Blood Stone! If you have any questions or comments/complaints about my reviews (or this one!), please send me a message (justcool2)!