2.5/5 ★ – danbremner96's review of 007: Quantum of Solace.

Quantum of Solace (2008) (PS3) (Replay) My journey through the Bond games continue with a game just as mediocre as the film it is based on. The first 007 game released by Activision and developed by Treyarch, this is yet another Call of Duty clone that fails to be anything close to a James Bond experience. A mix of a first and third person shooter, Quantum of Solace takes you through the events of the titular film and Casino Royale via flashbacks. There are moments from both films lifted quite well throughout. The chase through Madagascar into the construction site is still a lot of fun, although not as great as it was within the film. The issue is we play through missions that vaguely represent the scenes from the films, but pad them out with hundreds of bland enemies for Bond to kill as the bodycount goes into the hundreds. It's almost comical how high the destruction and killing is. The train on the way to Casino Royale is annihilated by Bond and Quantum henchman, yet is never mentioned with any consequence. It's so outrageously silly and laughable how in the gaming space Bond continues to be just the worst spy in the world. It's a competent shooter all throughout with decent enough shooting mechanics, although lacking anything close to variety when it comes to weapons. The golden briefcases littered throughout do give you special weapons that spice things up, but everything else is a standard roster you'd expect from a Call of Duty clone from the PS3 era. You are given some stealth sections to keep things different, but unfortunately these all come brief and quick as it is Impossible to stop this from turning into guns blazing action. I definitely would have preferred some actual choice in being able to do missions in stealth from beginning to end, as quietly snapping henchmen's necks and disabling characters was simplistic, but far more enjoyable that shooting 100 people in the space of a few minutes. While not enthusiastic in the slightest, Daniel Craig does return to voice Bond with a solid likeness in a game that still looks mostly pretty decent in the most part. The chore really came in with the lack of different henchmen. You really are killing the same looking people from the first mission to the last. Judi Dench also reprises her role, as does a few others from the films and environments from the films are recreated to a solid degree. At just 4 hours, Quantum of Solace never outstayed its welcome, which is still just so refreshing in the day and age of 100-200 hour empty grindfests. While within the campaign there isn't really anything worth going back for, unless you want to play at higher difficulties or pick up the last of the mobile phone collectibles that add some detail and context to the plot, there isn't a lot here. There is a multiplayer mode, but that's very much dead and buried, leaving just the short campaign. I can't argue with the length as I only paid £2 for it, but I can imagine why someone would be annoyed paying £40 for that back in 2008. Quantum of Solace is a standard Call of Duty clone that is competent and carries the visual likeness of the films and characters well, and comes to life when directly replaying scenes, but is hampered with being a pretty soulless shooter that barely feels like a James Bond game. A mediocre game adaptation for a mediocre film. 5/10 Dans