007 Legends
Developer: Eurocon
Publisher: Activision
Release Date: 19/10/2012
Format: PC, PS3, Xbox360, Wii U
When discussing a James Bond property, it’s very irresistible to throw in a barrage of puns to illustrate how one feels about the medium. 007 Legends for example could go with Die Today, Dr No Thank you, Licence to sigh, Tomorrow Dies, Blunderball and the World is More Than Enough. Suffices to say 007 Legends is a hackneyed rush job, that really does rip from more esteemed first person shooters.
007 Legends doesn’t have an overarching story, instead you relive classic Bond moments whilst Bond is in an underwater comatose state. The base of the game’s structure is ripped from a sequence in the new film Skyfall, and gives a superficial backdrop reliving scenes from the five (six with Skyfall dlc) blockbuster releases. You take a time machine through Goldfinger, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, License to Kill, Die Another Day and Moon Raker, but you are thrown in without any sense of context. Each mission doesn’t aim to give you any background information, and once you’re done with one mission, you are smashed into another Bond film with no elaborate set up. This means that you will not care about who you meet or what you do in the game. You are simply Daniel Craig’s Bond reliving a shooting gallery with a few sparse but totally nondescript boss battles which serve as rudimentary quick time events.
The groundwork for James Bond couldn’t be more simple or boring. A monumental portion of the game has you shoot many foes in the face, whilst occasionally exploding a barrel, searching rooms and offices for Intel and collectibles, and engaging in the easiest boss encounters known to man. Each mission is a strictly linear affair through barren, vanilla environments and you’re always pointed in a predetermined path that you cannot diverge from. Missions give you primary and secondary objectives to complete, which may have you scanning for clues with your Smartphone, shooting your way from point A to point B and completing a handful of tedious minigames. There are also stealth sections and driving sections to breeze through and they too are utterly abysmal.
Publisher: Activision
Release Date: 19/10/2012
Format: PC, PS3, Xbox360, Wii U
When discussing a James Bond property, it’s very irresistible to throw in a barrage of puns to illustrate how one feels about the medium. 007 Legends for example could go with Die Today, Dr No Thank you, Licence to sigh, Tomorrow Dies, Blunderball and the World is More Than Enough. Suffices to say 007 Legends is a hackneyed rush job, that really does rip from more esteemed first person shooters.
007 Legends doesn’t have an overarching story, instead you relive classic Bond moments whilst Bond is in an underwater comatose state. The base of the game’s structure is ripped from a sequence in the new film Skyfall, and gives a superficial backdrop reliving scenes from the five (six with Skyfall dlc) blockbuster releases. You take a time machine through Goldfinger, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, License to Kill, Die Another Day and Moon Raker, but you are thrown in without any sense of context. Each mission doesn’t aim to give you any background information, and once you’re done with one mission, you are smashed into another Bond film with no elaborate set up. This means that you will not care about who you meet or what you do in the game. You are simply Daniel Craig’s Bond reliving a shooting gallery with a few sparse but totally nondescript boss battles which serve as rudimentary quick time events.
The groundwork for James Bond couldn’t be more simple or boring. A monumental portion of the game has you shoot many foes in the face, whilst occasionally exploding a barrel, searching rooms and offices for Intel and collectibles, and engaging in the easiest boss encounters known to man. Each mission is a strictly linear affair through barren, vanilla environments and you’re always pointed in a predetermined path that you cannot diverge from. Missions give you primary and secondary objectives to complete, which may have you scanning for clues with your Smartphone, shooting your way from point A to point B and completing a handful of tedious minigames. There are also stealth sections and driving sections to breeze through and they too are utterly abysmal.
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Shooting works as you expect it to, you blast mindless fodder with whatever weapon you have, whilst occasionally taking cover and doing it all over again until a cutscene arrives or something else breaks up the monotony. The biggest problem is that the guns feel like plastic toys most of the time. There’s no sense of feedback, and the AIs will constantly suck up bullets, making the repetitive encounters all the more insipid. It seems like the shotgun is the only weapon to give any sense of ferocity, but even that feels weaker than your standard FPS weapon fare. The predictability of it all is also a huge sour grape-like those found in Bond’s martinis. You can tell when entering a large hall, that there are going to be insurgents who got the call in their droning dozens to come and put an end to the memories. In this way 007 Legends tries its laziest to be a COD knockoff, and having experienced the unequivocal lack of ideas and memorable moments its mission accomplished.
Occasionally there are nods to the films, though none of the occurrences take place in the respective films. For instance mowing down a bunch of henchman in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service or fighting a laser tank in Goldfinger, or even shooting lasers in space in Moon Raker. The attempts at setpiece moments are bad because they aren’t inspired ideas. The vehicle sections are awful too. The handling is far too loose, there is no sense of weight. They feel more like driving a kids buggy than feeling like genuine Bond road beasts. Action sequences are further condensed by the limits to which you fall behind during a sequence. Prepare to thump your PS3 (or the 007 Legends case if you’re so inclined) in frustration, as obstacles get in your way constantly and sets your target forward several valuable metres at a time. There’s no excuse for such shoddy design anymore, with Eurocom’s experience on the franchise, you thought they’d know better.
Stealth is the other side to the action coin, but unfortunately this is handled miserably too. Entering stealth is always a case of catching your enemies unawares and taking them out with familiar looking stealth moves. Familiar because they are rather identical to Goldeneye Reloaded’s stealth takedowns. There’s a stealth metre which you will spot that will allow you the knowledge of where the rank and file are compared to you. White means you’re all clear, yellow means they are looking for you and Red means you’ve been spotted and need to gun you way out (surprise, surprise). The fault here is that once one has spotted you its game over. More infuriating is the game forcing you into stealth at points. This lack of freedom doesn’t make you feel like Bond, rather it makes you feel like an errand boy. At least Bond’s signature pen dart comes into play, it’s just a shame it wasn’t allocated to a much better game.
Occasionally there are nods to the films, though none of the occurrences take place in the respective films. For instance mowing down a bunch of henchman in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service or fighting a laser tank in Goldfinger, or even shooting lasers in space in Moon Raker. The attempts at setpiece moments are bad because they aren’t inspired ideas. The vehicle sections are awful too. The handling is far too loose, there is no sense of weight. They feel more like driving a kids buggy than feeling like genuine Bond road beasts. Action sequences are further condensed by the limits to which you fall behind during a sequence. Prepare to thump your PS3 (or the 007 Legends case if you’re so inclined) in frustration, as obstacles get in your way constantly and sets your target forward several valuable metres at a time. There’s no excuse for such shoddy design anymore, with Eurocom’s experience on the franchise, you thought they’d know better.
Stealth is the other side to the action coin, but unfortunately this is handled miserably too. Entering stealth is always a case of catching your enemies unawares and taking them out with familiar looking stealth moves. Familiar because they are rather identical to Goldeneye Reloaded’s stealth takedowns. There’s a stealth metre which you will spot that will allow you the knowledge of where the rank and file are compared to you. White means you’re all clear, yellow means they are looking for you and Red means you’ve been spotted and need to gun you way out (surprise, surprise). The fault here is that once one has spotted you its game over. More infuriating is the game forcing you into stealth at points. This lack of freedom doesn’t make you feel like Bond, rather it makes you feel like an errand boy. At least Bond’s signature pen dart comes into play, it’s just a shame it wasn’t allocated to a much better game.
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To add variety to spice up the redundant shooting, there are investigative sections to weed through. However, these also feel like a tantamount job. First you enter a code by using your Smartphone to track finger prints, then entering the right combination to open the office rooms. Then you scan around using your fingerprint or electrical vision to find clues and memorabilia to help trigger another cutscene. You will have to engage in simple minigames such as one that uses your watch to match coloured bars to the correct frequency and turning multicoloured rings to the point where each ring is matched with the same colour as the one opposite. You may also have to use the triggers to dial the right frequency for a hack job. Finding all these clues will allow you to view collectibles on the extras screen.
The boss battles are another painfully poor spot to swallow. Each encounter plays out like rock em sock em robots, albeit a lot slower. Basically, you point each analogue stick to the place on the body that the opposition isn’t covering up on either the left or right side. You then correspond with each input until the lifebar of the opponent has depleted fully. What follows are some non-interactive cutscenes. 007 Legends may be fit for purpose as a film tribute than a game due to the abhorrent refusal to let you in on these action set-pieces. Negating the existence of players in this way is interminably blemishing to the core of the gameplay.
Thankfully there may be some merit in 007 Legends as far as content is considered. The campaign is painfully short at about 4-6 hours, but the challenge modes and collectibles will keep you chipping away. The challenge mode puts you into scenarios on maps based from the campaign. You may have to attack and defend objectives or finish in as fast a time as possible. Admittedly it’s ok, but this sort of thing has been done much better before. The multiplayer is standard affair too, whilst it doesn’t do anything new or unexpected it’s still an average/mediocre offering for those looking for one.
The boss battles are another painfully poor spot to swallow. Each encounter plays out like rock em sock em robots, albeit a lot slower. Basically, you point each analogue stick to the place on the body that the opposition isn’t covering up on either the left or right side. You then correspond with each input until the lifebar of the opponent has depleted fully. What follows are some non-interactive cutscenes. 007 Legends may be fit for purpose as a film tribute than a game due to the abhorrent refusal to let you in on these action set-pieces. Negating the existence of players in this way is interminably blemishing to the core of the gameplay.
Thankfully there may be some merit in 007 Legends as far as content is considered. The campaign is painfully short at about 4-6 hours, but the challenge modes and collectibles will keep you chipping away. The challenge mode puts you into scenarios on maps based from the campaign. You may have to attack and defend objectives or finish in as fast a time as possible. Admittedly it’s ok, but this sort of thing has been done much better before. The multiplayer is standard affair too, whilst it doesn’t do anything new or unexpected it’s still an average/mediocre offering for those looking for one.
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If it hasn’t been made Clear that 007 Legends is a mess, then the presentation is influence enough of its inferiority. The visuals are bland, lacking a sense of life and spark which make most FPS games exciting and engaging. Famous Bond locations such as the ice bar and the space station look underwhelming and lacking a sense of awe. The soundtrack is to be expected, with the classic tones
of GoldFinger giving way to nostalgia and that vital Bond feel. The voice acting is terrible, totally bereft of emotion and believability. The fact that Daniel Craig doesn’t voice Bond this time out is a direct reflection on the poor production values of the game. Furthermore, having each bond girl blurt out the same instructions time and again illustrates how dire the game is at making you feel like the titular MI6 agent. The animations are recycled and the game looks even less appealing than Eurocom’s previous efforts. Technical bugs are also rampant such as frequent clipping and unbearable slowdown. The loading screens are a frequent necessity too. Other than taking a painfully long time to load up, they always waste our visual space with irreverent and nondescript lines of text.
Much like Jaws, 007 Legends is one ugly monster of a game. The frequent repetition, the abrupt intros to each mission and the inexcusable lack of new ideas paint a debacle in the making. 50 years Bond has been around on the big screen, 50 years we have seen delights of British cinema revel in action and intensity. 007 Legends takes this legacy and spits right on it. Bond needs a serious attitude adjustment, if he ever hopes to succeed and win over his videogame fans. Just pass this abomination up.
James Davie 3/10
of GoldFinger giving way to nostalgia and that vital Bond feel. The voice acting is terrible, totally bereft of emotion and believability. The fact that Daniel Craig doesn’t voice Bond this time out is a direct reflection on the poor production values of the game. Furthermore, having each bond girl blurt out the same instructions time and again illustrates how dire the game is at making you feel like the titular MI6 agent. The animations are recycled and the game looks even less appealing than Eurocom’s previous efforts. Technical bugs are also rampant such as frequent clipping and unbearable slowdown. The loading screens are a frequent necessity too. Other than taking a painfully long time to load up, they always waste our visual space with irreverent and nondescript lines of text.
Much like Jaws, 007 Legends is one ugly monster of a game. The frequent repetition, the abrupt intros to each mission and the inexcusable lack of new ideas paint a debacle in the making. 50 years Bond has been around on the big screen, 50 years we have seen delights of British cinema revel in action and intensity. 007 Legends takes this legacy and spits right on it. Bond needs a serious attitude adjustment, if he ever hopes to succeed and win over his videogame fans. Just pass this abomination up.
James Davie 3/10
