007: GoldenEye/Blood Stone 2 for 1 Review

For a year that doesn’t have a new James Bond movie, retail shelves sure are full of brand new 007 content. With that said, the Techpedition editors recently spent some quality time with the two new Activision published Bond shooters. I’ll be back for a review of Blood Stone, but first up, being a seasoned veteran of the original Goldeneye game, James will give his opinion of the new suedo Wii-make of the classic N64 title.
-Sergio

GoldenEye: 007 Review By: James Knots
Most of us older gamers have a lot of fond memories of the original Goldeneye on the N64 back in 1997. Now jump to the present here in 2010, 12 years later and FINALLY we have a new Goldeneye game. Fans have been clamoring for a sequel to the N64 hit for the past decade with a passion.

Unfortunately we don’t get a direct sequel here. Goldeneye 007 for the Wii is a complete retelling and reinterpretation of the N64 classic that got many of us into the FPS genre. Out is Brosnan and in is Craig as the invincible spy. All of the main characters from the Goldeneye game are still here. Some are in the same roles, while others are not.

The first thing to talk about, of course, is the controls. Goldeneye Wii gives you the option for three different control paths. First is the Wiimote/Nunchuck with the Gamecube and Classic controllers following right behind. The Wiimote/Nunchuck controls are responsive and tight and allow you to point to your target and get off quick shots. The only drawback to it is that it causes slower turning speeds. If your curser exits the screen due to the wii-mote being too far left or right, you are quickly alerted by an onscreen warning. During these frantic adjustment dances your characters simply remain facing in one direction. Once you get the Wiimote back on track its easy to lose fine control of the curser for a split second which you right yourself.

The Gamecube controller is tight, responsive, and completely familiar to any console FPS fan. It’s only drawback is that it is one button short of the total required. So, to compensate for this, melee attacks have been mapped to a Z+B button combo. The Classic controller seems to be the best one of the bunch. It has enough buttons for melee to have it’s own button, and the analog sticks work great. In both the single player and multi-player you’re stuck to only 3 weapons, so no more hording the cool guns till later. You’ll have to pick and choose what you want.

For the single player campaign there is a nifty auto aim feature built in, much like the Call of Duty games. In single player, when you press the sites aim button you will lock on to an enemy if they are in your on screen crosshairs. Then you will auto track that enemy, with your character actually turning to follow their movements for a bit. This will help out at times because you WILL need to lead moving targets. For multi-player the auto aim function is still present to an extent. You just don’t follow the locked on targets. Also, you will be making use of Bond’s smart-phone, ALOT. You’ll use it to communicate with MI6 by having to raise the wii-mote to your ear to answer a call. This seems like a missed opportunity though since the call doesn’t play through the wiimote speaker. The smart-phone also takes pictures of documents, and hacks things, everything from computers to auto turrets.

Speaking of the multi-player, this version of Goldeneye is loaded with extras. Split-screen was a must for the title and online play was also added. Both versions have many game modes to choose from. Classics like Conflict (Deathmatch) and team Conflict are here with the split-screen mode allowing teams of 2 on 2, or even 3 on 1 for the truly badass. Golden Gun lives again and with the auto aim, can be deadly indeed. On the split-screen there is literally over 50 characters you can choose from: Bond, Alec, Natalya, Jaws, Hob-Job, generic soldiers, etc. Any character that was in the original is here with Hob-Job having the ability to throw his hat instead of a grenade.

With the online multi-player you’re going to play as either MI6 or Bad Guys without the ability to choose your character. You can have up to 10 people in a room, so 5 on 5 games are the norm, unless of course you’re playing Conflict or Golden Gun. Newly added is Heroes, a game mode where a person on each team is allowed to be a hero character. The hero has better guns and equipment, but on the flipside you will earn bonus points by killing the hero. I say points because in multiplayer, kills you earn XP. XP allows you to level up. Here Call of Duty really makes its nuances felt. As you level up you will unlock more weapons and equipment, and perk abilities. Unfortunately, the graphical quality when playing online takes a bit of a plunge. It reminds me of better Syphon Filter graphics, but I have yet to get into a game where it didn’t run as smooth as butter. So, I’ll take a hit on graphics if it keeps the gameplay up.

Overall, this is a great FPS for the Wii. There were some things I miss from the original and other than the split-screen; the sense of lighthearted fun is missing a bit. That’s to be expected in the Daniel Craig “Bond” era. Don’t get me wrong, I think he’s a fantastic Bond but Goldeneye originally came out with a sense of fun, and I feel this one should have kept that a bit more. Also, don’t go thinking you’ll just run and gun this game. It’s a challenge. It really pushes you to use stealth over force most of the time. Many of the times you have to fight, feeling frantic, and seriously desperate.

Verdict: For Wii owners looking for a FPS with solid controls, challenging single player, and damn good online its a must buy. To original Goldeneye fans it may not be a must buy, but its definitely close.

007: Blood Stone Review By: Sergio Lugo II
Ah, doesn’t everyone have fond memories of the first time they watched Blood Stone starring George Lazenby in 1969…wait…what? Oh that’s the wrong…wait…so when was the Blood Stone movie released? It wasn’t…what do you mean? So what’s this game based on? Oh nevermind!

Blood Stone, the most recent Bond game for the 360 and PS3, isn’t based on anything. Basically, the writer of Goldeneye, Bruce Feirstein penned an extra Bond script and Activision bought it. Since Nintendo probably had the Goldeneye name locked down, hoping for a virtual console release of the much loved N64 game, Activision, who had recently bought the rights to make Bond games, was forced to create a completely different game on the big boy consoles (360 and PS3). However, they had no Bond movie to exploit since the 23rd 007 movie was delayed until 2012. Instead, they chose to go rogue. The Feirstein script is laced with typical 007 action sequences, British spy quirks and predictable plot twists. So, despite not having a base in the actual cannon of the character, it feels close enough to the real thing to get the job done.

Bizarre Creations (Blur, Project Gotham Racing, and Geometry Wars) were given the task of banging out a bond game by the 2010 holiday season, at least that is my assumption. It being released the same day at Goldeneye doesn’t help its image in the least. Everything about Blood Stone drips of cheap tie-in game. Everything from the release timing, to the lack of promotion, to the fact that the third Daniel Craig Bond movie was supposed to come out this year, makes this feel like a hastily thrown together shell of a game.
The good news is that its not…yet it is.

Blood Stone feels like a solid shooter developed by a team dedicated to its product, but anyone with any knowledge of the development process may have their opinions irreversible effected by what they know. Those of you looking for a decent carefree Bond romp will love Blood Stone. Its remarkably easy to play through, the game mechanics work well, and there is a great sense of action throughout. The combination of intense vehicle chases and frantic 15 to 1 gun fights fits right in with the franchise. Casual gamers can stop reading the review there. That is really all you need to now. If you continue to read you are endanger of having your rose tinted glasses crushed by the reality of the Activision corporate business model.

Technically, Blood Stone is just a 3rd person cover based shooter. Just like games before it: Gears of War, Uncharted, Infamous, Army of Two, 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand, Dark Sector, etc. Blood Stone has an endless supply of chest-high walls to hide behind. If you have played great 3rd person cover based shooters, Blood Stone probably won’t do much for you, but that doesn’t mean it’s a bad game. Activision went out of their way to make Blood Stone feel authentic.

Hiring Daniel Craig, Judy Dench and Joss Stone to provide voice work (although Craig and Dench were already in office for Goldeneye voices) and having Joss Stone write and perform a song specifically for the game, makes Blood Stone feel like it belongs in the series. Bringing in Craig’s stunt double to do mo-cap work for 007 seems unnecessary, but shows an odd commitment to a game that Activision is barely promoting. Its easy to see the holes in Blood Stone, but its hard not to enjoy it. It may not be a great game, but at least its fun, which in the end, is all that matters.

As previously stated, this game was developed by Bizarre Creations. They are great at making driving games; therefore the half dozen or so driving sequences are thrilling and top notch. The problem with the driving parts is that they are heavily scripted, trial and error based and dumbed down enough for non-driving gamers to be able to get through them. Bizarre also made a game a couple years ago named The Club. It was a third person shooter, whose engine was used to make Blood Stone. So, in essence Blood Stone is Project Gotham Racing glued to The Club, with all of the art assets replaced. This brings me back to my original point, in that its easy to see Blood Stone as a hastily thrown together game with no heart behind it.

P.S. CGI Daniel Craig is a funny looking mother effer.

Verdict: Ignorance is Bliss