James Bond 007: Blood Stone

Preview - Harder, better, faster, Bonder

Previously, I wittily described Activision's choice of Bizarre Creations to develop the next new Bond game as - wait for it - bizarre because of the studio's lack of shooter experience. Today I retract that statement, and not just because it wasn't funny, but because Bizarre do have the pedigree.

For one, the team is as English as Bond himself. In fact, Bizarre is based in Liverpool and it was on the streets of Merseyside that Daniel Craig grew up to become the superstar golem he is today. More important than this shared history, though, is the studio's 16 years experience and top track record.

Wisdom is evident in the approach to Blood Stone. While Eurocom tries to mix Craig's no-nonsense Bond with GoldenEye's histrionics, Bizarre can simply ensure Blood Stone reflects the secret agent's new, grittier direction. The Bond of Blood Stone is all action and gadget-light, just like his filmic self.

Well, apart from the Smart Phone. It's the only real gadget in Bond's armoury, but as gadgets go it's quite gadget-y. It can be used at anytime to displays its digital overlay which shows the location of all nearby enemies, as well as their weapons and how aware they are of Bond's presence. Other elements like intelligence, objectives, and explosives are also highlighted. It's more than a little unrealistic but if you're going to have just one gadget in your game, why not go full hog?

Unrealism aside, the Smart Phone heavily leans Blood Stone towards the stealthy end of the shooter spectrum. Of course, we already knew about the Splinter Cell: Conviction-like physical takedowns and how they translate into Focus Aim mark-and-kills. Like Conviction, it seems Blood Stone won't be prohibitive to Commando-style confidence but will likely be more fun if you sneak your way through missions and perform as many of the 70 contextual takedowns available. And watching Bond slam his back full force into an unfortunate's diaphragm, even in virtual form, produces a full-on cringe.

Talking of Conviction, I once again put the question forward to Bizarre about any inspiration for the Focus Aim mechanic. Where studio art director Neil Thompson was coy, associate producer Michael O'Donnell was open and happy to bring up the similarity to Ubisoft Montreal's shooter. O'Donnell revealed that, while Focus Aim bears heavy similarity to Conviction's parallel mechanic, it was just two teams separately coming up with the same way to evolve a shooter, but Conviction just beat Blood Stone to the chase. The latter has been in the works for some time (as has the former), but you make of that what you will. Either way, it doesn't really matter if the stealth is fun enough.

Watching on as England's finest tore through the golden glow of the Burmese jungle, viciously dispatching one thug after another, I have to admit that nothing honestly struck as truly distinctive about Blood Stone's gameplay. That's not to say it didn't look fun or slick, but beyond the features outlined above Blood Stone appeared quite typical as stealthy shooters go.

Of course, not every game has 007 at the centre and there's a certain intensity the stony-faced commander can bring with him, especially if the drama's tuned in just right. Hands-off, I watched on as Bond ascended a construction yard tower, the climb reminiscent of his brutish take on free running in the opening scenes of Casino Royale. He got to a crane up high, this triggering a cut scene where he manoeuvred it to drop a load of pipes onto an enemy helicopter which subsequently spiralled to an explosive doom. As a spectacle it had that inventive, bold Bond set piece feel.

It may well prove that those 70 very physical takedowns and the nifty mark-and-kills provide that same spectacle and sense of Bond too. After all, not every shooter has to reinvent the wheel and in Bond himself the team already has a strong USP. Frankly, given 007's recent games-based outings, truly capturing the feel of the modern Bond will be a job well done by Bizarre. The involvement of veteran Bond screenwriter Bruce Feirstein should go some way to ensuring that happens.

Of course, there's a whole other side to this Blood Stone, or a whole other thirty percent to it as Bizarre put it on the day: the driving. Dramatic and engaging action behind the wheel is the studio's forte, so it's unsurprising that this part of the game that strikes as having the most potential.

I got some hands-on time behind the wheel of a sleek Aston Martin DB5 as I guided Bond and new acquaintance Nicole Hunter aka Joss Stone through the fragile frozen lakes of Siberia in a frenzied chase sequence. Bizarre openly compared Blood Stone's driving sequences to Split Second upon the game's reveal. Playing through this level, the similarity was clearly evident. There were tankers exploding left, right and centre - there always seems to be tankers exploding - and the ice unpredictably sank around the car as I dodged through the surrounding chaos. There wasn't any time to breathe; caution, steering, and awareness of the environment were needed at all times.

The car handled great as one might expect; tricky but not unreliable to manipulate on the ice but with the oomph and weight the Aston Martin should bring. This coupled with the intensity of the surroundings and the thrill of the chase made for an impressive sequence.

I had a couple of concerns, though. At times it was tricky to know where to go and what to avoid; the water was a little difficult to distinguish at high speed. A more pertinent concern, though, was the in-sequence dialogue between Bond and Hunter - Craig and Stone, respectively. What concerned was that there didn't seem to be too much of it, and what little was there was delivered a little dryly.

This was just one sequence from an unfinished product, of course. If Blood Stone is to capture that cinematic feel that it should then it needs to ensure the action has that cinematic feel - and not just in cut scenes. Craig's Bond is a man of few words so some brevity of dialogue is forgivable, but with talent like Craig involved it's important it's used effectively. We've seen games like Uncharted 2 prove that the extra bit of thought and creativity in the script can provide all the difference.

Actually, Uncharted 2 is a great example of game that didn't try anything revolutionary with its basic play mechanics, but did so much more with everything else. I don't think Blood Stone quite has the potential to match that game's quality - very few games do - but by trying to recreate the filmic spectacle and sensibilities of the modern reimagining of Bond, Bizarre Creations may just do with Blood Stone what very few developers have ever managed to: deliver a decent Bond game.