Quantum of Solace: The Game

Publisher: Activision Inc.
Developer: Treyarch
Category: Action
Release Date - 11/04/2008

Official Game Website

Also available on: NDS, PC, PS2, PS3, WII

Treyarch added an element of the Bond world with the build-up to the Activision event, held at the Viceroy Hotel in Santa Monica. A car, chauffeured with a “Bond” girl, whisked journalists – two at a time – to an obscure parking lot to pick up their 007 metal attaché cases. Inside was a tuxedo t-shirt, passport, plastic handgun and instructions for the evening.

Then it was on to the Viceroy for vodka martinis (shaken, not stirred, of course) and a look at the multiplayer elements of the Bond world, as well as two new single-player levels.

Back in July, Activision had an event to show off a little bit of the new Bond title, but during the September event in Santa Monica, the media was allowed to get some hands on time with the title. QoS is slated to release in early November.

Of the single-player game, one was a deleted scene from Casino Royale, with James Bond (who looked amazingly like Daniel Craig) working along the length of a train while facing a lot of opposition. The other took place inside the science lab, with Bond working through enemies to eliminate the main target. This involved not only some stealth aspects, but puzzle solving, gun battles against a large group of foes and even a Tony Hawk-esque balancing act (like grinding) across piping.

The nice thing about the Bond game is that players can, for the most part, play the game the way they want to. Certainly, there are times when you cannot avoid the big gun battles, but generally, you can sneak up on enemies and mash down on the right thumbstick to enter a melee mode where you match the prompts on the screen to perform one of several disabling/killing moves. You are also tasked to access terminals to unlock doors and gain access to other areas. Clues are obtained through picking up cell phones.

The multiplayer was a six-versus-six team deathmatch event. There were several maps involved, including the construction area from the Bond film Casino Royale. Weapons are scattered throughout the maps and players can upgrade simply by running through the weapons. This is a run-and-gun battle, so the timid need not apply.

Quantum of Solace, the game, combines the story from Casino Royale as well as from the new Bond film, Quantum of Solace. The story of Quantum of Solace takes place right after the events in Casino Royale, marking the first time in the history of Bond movies that the timeline has been adhered to. The Activision title pays homage to both Craig films by bridging between the two films.

In the past, Bond films have suffered from less-than-stellar gameplay. Quantum of Solace is definitely shaping up to set the new benchmark for the franchise.

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