James Bond Blood Stone - First Look Preview

During the first half of the last decade, EA made a habit of releasing Bond videogames that were based on unique storylines rather than those dished out by the films - Everything or Nothing, Nightfire, and Agent Under Fire are the best examples, although GoldenEye: Rogue Agent was so far away from any specific Bond movie that it may as well be counted anyway (regardless of its title and pathetic attempts to roll out classic Bond villains like an all-star cast). It makes sense really... if, like EA and now Activision, you forked out what was undoubtedly millions of pounds for the right to exclusively publish Bond videogames, you probably don't want to sit around twiddling your thumbs until Metro Goldwyn Mayer actually manages to produce a new film (let's not forget that MGM has been particularly bad at that recently).

Fortunately for Activision, it decided to put one of its most talented studios to work on a new Bond game a couple of years ago. Bizarre Creations, the developer of such third-person action games as The Club and driving game masterpieces PGR and Blur, has been crafting a heavily cinematised take on an original Bond storyline that's been penned by renowned Bond movie scribe, Bruce Feirstein (Tomorrow Never Dies, The World Is Not Enough). However, the Liverpool-based studio hasn't undertaken this without remembering to put in plenty of what it knows best (Blood Stone is roughly 70% on-foot action and 30% racing) - indeed, Bond's particular brand of action does seem to suit the developer rather well. At last week's worldwide reveal of James Bond Blood Stone in London, we got the chance to see the game's opening sequence based in Athens, Greece where Bond is on the trail of a guy called Grecko, the game's principal villain.

As with all Bond movies, this opening sequence is heavy with action and plays-out as a preface of sorts before the opening credits and title track are introduced. It's a Bond trademark, and Bizarre nails the mood perfectly. Once Dame Judi Dench's 'M' provides the initial intel to Daniel Craig's Bond, he promptly drops out of a plane at low altitude and pulls a parachute at the last moment to swoop down onto a frigate where Grecko is known to be concocting nefarious plans. This intro ploughs straight from one lavishly created cut-scene into a tailored gameplay sequence, which is a trick used a lot during the level by Bizarre. At times you almost forget that the cut-scenes aren't gameplay until the HUD and third-person camera angle put the sections into context.

That's not to say that the combat attempts to be overly cinematic though. Once Bond gets down to the rough and ready business of his killing license, the visual style is as tuned to gaming as much as it is a cinematic spectacle. Hand-to-hand combat gets dished out with heavy camera shakes to denote the kind of brutal blows and fast action of fighting in the Bourne movies and, indeed, the Bourne Conspiracy game. Stealth kills are also on the menu, as well as a cover system that allows Bond to peer around corners to survey the landscape. Using the fighting system to kill opponents then effectively fills up slots in Bond's FocusAim meter, which is similar in style to Splinter Cell: Conviction's Mark & Execute system although far from identical.

Using FocusAim essentially causes time to slow down around Bond and assists his aiming a little more, allowing him to string together a few kills at once. It's obviously a system that's been designed to encourage players to mix-up the ways in which they attack enemies, thereby keeping the cinematic style of the cut-scenes flowing throughout the gameplay. Modern Warfare 2-style 'breach' moments are even thrown in for good measure, allowing Bond to kick down doors and empty the ensuing henchmen-filled rooms in slow-mo. Predictably though, even with his plethora of fighting skills, Bond isn't able to catch Grecko on the frigate. He escapes on a motorboat and promptly fires a rocket back at Bond, who jumps off the frigate onto a second motorboat in the nick of time.

The first of Bizarre's racing sections then commences through a harbour of luxury cruise ships akin to Monte Carlo, with destruction at every turn of a rudder. From the hundreds of bullets that plummet into the water around Bond's boat and throw stalagmites of spray up around him, to the wooden jetties that splinter into innumerable bits as Grecko steers through them, this is one Bond game with noticeably higher production values than Treyarch's Quantum of Solace (a game that may well have been affected by time constrained development as is often the case with film tie-in projects). Given the long development period that's been afforded to Bizarre though, this obviously isn't an issue and it shows in the finer details.

The boat chase climaxes explosively as Bond takes the opportunity to bring down one of Grecko's pursuing helicopters that's flown a little too close to a large gas canister. This canister then explodes into a ball of flames large enough to engulf the helicopter and bring it down mercilessly. It's one of numerous examples in the demo where it's hard to tell if the event is scripted or dynamic, and Bizarre assures us that there are plenty of examples of both design styles on show. The action returns to land and, after a brief fire-fight, the chase resumes in a couple of handily parked cars. Bond, as per usual, is driving the latest in Aston Martin chic and it's here that Bizarre's real expertise begins to shine.

As hard as it is to tell from a first look, the handling certainly appears more advanced than we're used to from the vehicle sections of most action/adventure games. Also noticeable is the violent roar of the Aston Martin's engine, which has clearly had a lot of love and attention dedicated to it in terms of pure sound engineering. Bond eventually catches Grecko though and has him pinned down with a gun to his head at the intro sequence's conclusion... cue the credits and title music ('I'll Take It All') which, incidentally, is written by the voice actor and likeness for the principal Bond girl in the game, Joss Stone (who plays the role of Nicole Hunter). Perhaps it makes sense that she'd make the jump into voice acting eventually, what with her proven ability to liberally mix together both American and English accents.

Considering Bond's tendency to globe trot in his movies, it'll come as no big surprise that other locations in the game beyond Athens will include Bangkok, Siberia, Istanbul, and the south of France to mention but a few. The real barometer of success for Blood Stone, though, will not be in air miles but whether it manages to galvanise interest from gamers without being tied into a film release. The history of Bond videogames certainly indicates that it can be, while Bizarre Creations has clearly had the time and resources to develop a level of production sheen that goes above and beyond the slapped-together feel of most film tie-in games. At this stage, James Bond Blood Stone certainly appears to have the potential to put itself among the upper-echelons of Bond videogames.