James Bond 007: Blood Stone

After the disappointment that was Quantum Of Solace, I hoped that the next James Bond video game would surely improve on the mistakes that had made Quantum Of Solace a failure - I was not let down.

James Bond 007: Blood Stone is a game that will please all Bond fans and gamers alike. The game-play is very exciting and manages to satisfy those who enjoy a good thrill or two - or in this case 10 or so. The story sends 007 across the globe as he chases down leads regarding 'Bio-Weapons' ... or something. The plot isn't exactly made clear. Which is where Blood Stone seems weakest. You are dragged around to all these different locations and are at some points unsure why. You find yourselves in situation where you are asking "Wait, so why are we in Siberia?" "Why are these men trying to kill me?". This continues throughout the game until eventually it doesn't really matter anymore. The game levels are enjoyable enough without a purpose.

The game-play revolves around shootouts (Expected of a 3rd Person shooter ;). James Bond is either sneaking about a building, trying to escape or is chasing someone - All of which faces Bond against a series of enemies which he must dispatch by shooting them or using a take-down. The shooting is very straight forward and familiar but it's the take-down system where Blood Stone shines. When Bond is close to an enemy, the player can press a button to perform a special melee attack that dispatches an enemy in one go. It sounds pretty dull in theory but when you are playing, the take-down system is very ...how do you put it..AWESOME! I just love running up to an enemy and hitting 'square' (PS3) to beat the crap out of some goon. Performing a take-down earns the player one focus aim which can be used to shoot an enemy, killing them in one shot. A maximum of three focus aims can be obtained at a time.

Now onto the other game-play system of Blood Stone – the driving. These levels are chases. Bond must race after and enemy through an environment that is so chaotic, you can't even see! Explosions, debris and out of control cars block your line of sight and cause you to crash and get game over. Honestly, it seems as though sometimes the civilians in downtown Istanbul are trying to kill you. Cars come out of nowhere. On top of that, the person you are chasing often has help. White vans or oil tankers block your way and try to stop you from catching up - Most of the time they succeed. Game over again. Oh well, I'm sure a few more goes I should get it. Asides from the beautiful graphics of these chaotic driving sequences, this area needed improvement.

Overall Blood Stone is a good game. With some flaws such as the unclear plot and impossible driving missions, this is a worthy title to the James Bond games. A must have for all Bond fans. (Which I happen to be.) 8/10

This game is the bond game we've always wanted it's absolutely incredible i love the 3rd person aspect and this amazing original James bond story this would have totally worked as a movie it would've been great because you know spectre and skyfall and no time to die wasn't Based on any of the books they were made for screen with original stories so original James bond stories totally work all the time seriously if James bond hasn't have died in no time to die they should've made blood stone with Daniel Craig and joss stone in live action but playing this game is literally like watching James Bond feature it is simply the best we are still yet to see what the new James Bond game that was announced by IO Interactive has to offer I suppose it'll be a little like hitman since hitman is a secret agent but he has a target to assassinate so James bond is quite different but itll still be like hitman in a sense with the spy espionage but this game is meant to feature an original story possibly with a 3rd person POV and for the time being this will always be the best bond game we cant say the new one coming will be the best because we havent had any information from IO Interactive since that gunbarrel teaser id possibly say may releese next year or possibly 2025 maybe if this game turns out to be a pile of ass then blood stone is the best.

When I saw the announcement of Blood Stone, I thought it was going to be like Quantum of Solace, fun but not worthy. Well I played the game and I was impressed.

The story is very well done, all you have to know it's like a movie plot and not a game plot (the cut scene's aren't short but are long, enjoyable and show the true Bond movie spirit).

The game play is very well done, simple but effective. You have incredible take down attacks, Slow Motion (Bond Vision) and a very well done cover system:

Takedown attacks - The Takedown attacks work perfectly, all you have to do is approach to your enemy, simply press "F" (PC) and Bond does the rest. The animations are very well done and it's so fun to do it that sometimes (in Easy difficulty of course) I get out of cover just to do a take down attack.

Bond Vision - The Bond Vision it's very easy to earn and to use. To earn it you have to do take down attacks, each take down attack gives you one focus point (you can store up to three focus points) and you spend them, by pressing "Left CTRL" (PC), then Bond will auto aim to the head of the enemy, then press button 0 of the mouse (PC) and fire.

Cover System - The cover system it's very well done and very easy to do. When you are near a wall press "Space" (PC) to cover, but the best thing of the Cover System is the ability to go cover to cover.

The driving it's really nothing special, all you have to do is accelerate and dodge the obstacles. The driving missions are the one of the things that I hate from the game, the amount of times that I loosed due to the exaggeration of the destruction making me sometimes unable to see anything, turns the driving levels annoying.

The graphics are really nothing special, they give me the impression that the game was made in 2007/08. The characters model don't seem real and the moods are very unreal (sometimes I can't tell if Bond is angry or is neutral).

The sound it's good but not impressive, the dialogs are good and the music gives a true feeling that we are playing a Bond game.

In general, comparing to Quantum of Solace, the game is very impressive, it has some flaws but gives the impression we are watching an interactive James Bond movie.

It took me a decade after this game came out to finally pick it up and give it a try and boy am I impressed and angry at myself for not getting it sooner. If I had to justify myself I would say its because I played Quantum of Solace and while it was cool for what it was, it was just a little too close Call of Duty for my liking so I thought Blood Stone would be the same causing me not to rush to play it but boy I couldnt have been more wrong.

A welcomed change is the return to 3rd person as it really compliments the chase sequences and takedowns and just he overall fast pace that a Daniel Craig Bond game needs. And although it is a faster paced game it still has some strong stealth elements that are not exclusive to this game. Take downs and silencers are your main tools to staying silent so if you've played any other Bond games you are familiar with the stealth in Blood Stone which im not gonna say its a bad thing because I'd rather that than shitty forced stealth sections that go on for half an hour with little or no checkpoints in between.

I would certainly rank Blood Stone among the creme of the crop in the Bond games simply for the way it captures the feeling of the Craig films and as I play this game I cant help but feel more and more excited for IO Interactive's upcoming Project 007 which I hope will breathe new life into the James Bond video game market with recent game technology and developers that we know actually care about the quality of the games we could be in for perhaps the best Bond game since Goldeneye or the biggest letdown since the Goldeneye remaster. Only time will tell.

Finally a game without being adapted from a movie first. I think its a pretty solid action game in a fantastic world of James Bond even if the story is pretty classic: we see all characters in the james bond movies and i enjoyed to finish the game and wanted to know how it will end. Enjoyed the fight scenes too. The "mise en scene"is pretty good too. I recommend it.