Written by: Ian

 

 

 

Bond games have had a chequered past, with all of them trying to emulate the success of Goldeneye. Last year’s Goldeneye Reloaded came close to replicating that effect, so can "007 Legends" utilise the power of all 5 Bonds to create a legendary game?

 

 

OMG 5 films! 5 Bonds! Eurocom& Activision’s entire marketing scheme has been based around quantity over quality, and when you play the game, it shows. Goldfinger, despite its fame, isn’t really suited for CoD style action, whilst other ‘classic’ films include Die Another Day and License to Kill, the worst films their respective actors had the misfortune to star in. Mashing them together is done with the utmost carelessness, thrown together not even in time order, with short, illogical cut-scenes.

 

 

The game is also supposed to end with a SkyFall mission, but despite the film being out, the game just rolls credits, leaving you totally in the lurch. Given the care given to the other films, I don’t even have any great hope that the new missions will really add much anyway.

 

 

007 Legends really wants to be Call of Duty in the way it plays for the vast majority of the game, with the exception of a very few poorly done mandatory stealth sections. The stealth in Goldeneye Reloaded was ok, but here guards can see you from miles away, are inconsistent in their actions, and have very set patterns that your distractions and actions often fail to change.

 

The gunplay is very basic COD style, with a fast-pace, respawning enemies, grenade spam, and lots of people you need to follow with the word ‘follow’ or ‘protect’ above them. Unfortunately this sounds (and is) very much like COD from 3 or 4 years ago. The action is slow and plodding in comparison to the latest COD games, but still fast and light compared to any strategic shooters out there. Legends therefore sits uncomfortably in the middle ground, feeling neither like a true action shooter nor having any real tactical significance.

 

 

Bond gadgets, cars and girls are, of course, thrown in to try and spice up the action. The gadgets are pretty limited though and mainly used to find collectables or in the mandatory investigation sequences which can be pretty dry. The Bond girls rarely do anything, and having the original actresses play them makes it sound like you’re playing with a bunch of pensioners. The car sequences are extremely linear, dull affairs, and whilst the ski chase adds a bit of spice, it’s the only innovative highlight in an otherwise fairly average 5 hour campaign that just doesn’t know quite where it belongs, whilst never being offensively poor.