A week goes by, and all I did was game.
The new Xbox dashboard sucks, thanks a lot Kinect adaptability.
Know what doesn't suck? The new Bond game. Yeah, you heard me right, the new James Bond game.
Let's review what other Bond games have been released recently (I'm not counting Goldeneye Wii since it also just came out). Quantum of Solace and Casino Royale. Both obvious movie tie-ins, both were released to mixed reviews. Everything or Nothing, a poor attempt at a combination of games with an original Bond storyline. Of course this game came out around the time the Gamecube was ruling the world and not much made sense. From Russia With Love? A decent, albeit aged ps2 game.
There's a fine line that anyone attempting to make a 007 game has to straddle. On the one hand Goldeneye made it that much harder to make a successful 007 game. They came out with Tomorrow Never Dies which was your standard 3rd person action/shooter. Don't remember it? Most people don't.
Then they came out with The World is Not Enough for the N64. It went back to the shooter days, and felt like Goldeneye in some ways, in others it just felt too linear. Was Goldeneye the first 007 game? Oh my no. There were quite a few released on the older systems as well.
The Wikipedia Link of James Bond Games
History lessons aside, most Bond games released were movie tie-ins. (I still actually own the James Bond 007 gameboy game, it's strange but really fun, almost MGS-like)
The games that weren't movie tie-ins were usually huge flops, well hell, for that matter the movie games were flops too. People tend to forget all of this when they simply think of Goldeneye.
The original storyline games were inventive to say the least, Agent Under Fire and Nightfire (both original stories), were strong on gameplay, had an amazingly diverse set of equipment and gadgets, strong shooter elements, and a decent story. Blood Stone, the most recent original 007 game, stays true to this concept. Original Story- Check. Strong Shooter Elements- Check. Gadgets- Check.
It plays somewhat like Gears of War mixed with Mafia and Splinter Cell: Conviction. The focus aim element of Blood Stone is an exact rip from Conviction, but I doubt anyone will mind. Shoot from cover, press A to move from cover, slide to cover: it's all gravy baby.
Is anyone even listening? Nah. Will anyone play this game? Probably not. With Fallout and Fable already out, and Black-ops soon to come, this game will just slide under the radar. Fine by me. It's games like this that make me a gamer. Mafia 2 is another example. Will these games stay on my shelf forever? Ok probably, but will they stay on the shelf of the average gamer forever? Doubtful. But, for the time it's there it will be extremely enjoyable. They don't do anything too flashy, or too strange. There are driving elements, but good thing the people who made the game have heavy experience in making racing games, so it never feels strange ("From Russia With Love", I'm looking at you....). A good solid game that is worth a rental at least.
So that's it? A huge gamer fan and a huge 007 fan has that much to say about the newest game? Well, yes and no. You see, as I was playing my only complaint (yes, my ONLY complaint, I complain often, but this game was just so enjoyable and simple that I didn't have any real problems with it except...) the screen was so damn dark.
Am I the only gamer who instantly turns up the brightness on a game? Am I just getting old? I know in todays games they show you a little picture and have you turn up the brightness to match it, but then I turn the thing up like 3 more places. I mean, I understand wanting the game to have a creepiness to it, but I felt the same thing when I was playing Fallout:New Vegas. It's dark for the ambience, but almost too dark when you're faced with someone. I guess this would be the line between realism in a game and a game. Still, I dunno. I like being able to see. Sure it washes out some of the game textures, but it makes the damn thing easier to play.
And what's all this about the internet nowadays? Haha. I'm gonna go back to being screamed at by 12yr olds. I mean playing Black Ops. Same diff.
No comments:
Post a Comment