Quantum of Solace - Previews - The Armchair Empire


	Platform PC, PS3, 360, Wii, DS Genre Action Publisher Activision Developer Treyarch (PS3, 360), Eurocom (PS2), Beenox (PC, Wii), Vicarious Visions (DS) ETA November 4, 2008
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Quantum of Solace

Don’t let the name fool you. Although primarily focused on the latest Bond film, the latest James Bond video game, Quantum of Solace, covers two movies at once. Making up for the absence of a previous Casino Royale game, Quantum of Solace will feature flashback missions to the events of Casino Royale as well as missions in between the two films that tie them both together.

Like any Bond game, a large part of the action revolves around stealth and gunplay. Starting off with just a pistol and a grenade, Bond can pick up over a dozen

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different weapons and gadgets from Uzis to silenced automatic weapons. However you need to be cautious when taking those guns to town, there are no health packs in the game. When Bond loses too much health, the game goes into slow motion. Lose more health and the familiar gun scope envelopes the screen. Die, and it all fades to red.

Stealth is the operative word here. What separates this game

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from past iterations is the close quarters combat. When you approach the enemy, you have the option of entering into a quick time event scene that requires fast twitch button presses. If successful, you might disarm and disable your enemy or simply throw him off a building. The less noise you make, the better your chances of saving the world.

Primarily a first person shooter, for various actions the game switches to a 3^rd person view. When Bond takes cover or performs close-quarter actions, Daniel Craig’s baby blues and golden hair become visible as he hides behind a barrel or snaps a thug’s neck. The gameplay seems to flow without a glitch while performing actions, keeping the flow of the game quick during a firefight or a stealthy infiltration.

Putting every bit of current-gen technology to use, Quantum of Solace features incredible true to life likenesses and the real voices of the handsome Daniel Craig and Dame Judy Dench among others. Levels are large and have a great amount of depth and if Quantum of Solace were to look any more realistic, I may start feeling guilty about all the anonymous goons that I will be throwing off buildings. The game also contains a 12-player online multiplayer with modes from straight death matches to “Bond Vs” mode, which challenges you to complete objectives before your opponents.

From the streets of Austria to the jungles of Bolivia; Quantum of Solace takes you all over world in service of Queen and Country as well as Bond’s own personal revenge motives. As the movie has yet to be released, details on what your missions might be in those locations are classified. For now, all we can only hope that they can faithfully re-create the amazing opening chase scene from Casino Royale.

- Karol Kudyba

(September 24, 2008)