Friday 19 October 2012

Games: 007 Legends review (via Hit-Reset)

007 Legends game review logo
GAME REVIEW 
   
Review Scoring Chart - 10: Masterpiece; 9: Outstanding; 8: Very Good; 7: Good; 6: Above Average; 5: Average; 4: Below Average; 3: Bad; 2: Awful; 1: Reprehensible; 0: Non-Functional.

007 LEGENDS
Platforms: XBOX 360 (version tested), PS3, PC, Wii U
Developers: Eurocom
Publishers: Activision
Players: 4 (plus 12-player online)

The final mission in 007 Legends is not included on the disc, but will be made available later as free DLC. Why, you ask? The official answer is to avoid spoiling the movie, which itself only raises the question of why the game wasn't released at the same time. A quick glance at the Call Of Duty: Black Ops II release date should provide your answer. In short, Activision have rushed out an essentially incomplete game to avoid a full version either cannibalising or getting lost in the wake of its flagship title. As it stands now, the game just stops at the end of the Moonraker mission, immediately cutting to credits from a cutscene which apparently leaves Bond floating in space without so much as attempting re-entry. If that weren't bad enough, XBox 360 owners will have to wait three weeks longer than PS3 owners before being able to finish the game, as Sony have exclusivity rights on the free DLC providing the game's proper ending. Sigh.

Unfortunately, that's pretty much the game all over, evidently rushed and showing few signs of being properly thought through. Replaying classic Bond missions in video game form isn't a bad idea, and while a little odd to see Daniel Craig using (obnoxiously branded) smart phones in the middle of Goldfinger, it shouldn't be an issue for anyone who played Eurocom's very respectable previous effort, GoldenEye Reloaded. More problematic is how little effort the game makes in tying its six scenarios together, despite spending an interminable amount of time plodding through the stories of each. The framing device is a scene from the pre-credits sequence of Skyfall, where Agent Eve (Naomie Harris) accidentally shoots Bond off the top of a train, rather than the enemy agent he's grappling with. As Bond plummets into the river below, his mind flashes back to past adventures.