007 Legends
Score: 50% ESRB: Teen Publisher: Activision Developer: Eurocom Media: DVD/1 Players: 1 - 4; 2 -12 (Online) Genre: First Person Shooter/ Online
Graphics & Sound: 007 Legends flew far under the radar until its release, and I was excited to play it, considering the fact that it comes to us from the folks who delivered last year's Goldeneye 007: Reloaded. A great 007 title, and a great game in its own right. If the advertising is to be believed, 007 Legends takes a handful of earlier Bond adventures and gives them the same treatment. So it has to be good, right? Well, no. Not so much. This game leaves behind the elements that make a Bond game, rendering it just another Call of Duty clone. If you liked the way Goldeneye 007: Reloaded looked, you'll like the way 007 Legends looks. Stylistically and technically, they are almost identical to each other. It still uses Daniel Craig's likeness, even though none of the available missions are from movies starring him. But that's okay; Goldeneye starred Pierce Brosnan and Sean Bean, and neither of them were in last year's remake. That being said, the villains of yesteryear are visually represented appropriately, and that includes Robert Davi, Gert Fröbe, and Richard Kiel. While Eurocom was able to secure a handful of Bond veterans to reprise their roles, not all of them are back (a given, especially considering that some of them are no longer with us). Daniel Craig may have voiced Bond in Goldeneye 007: Reloaded, but there's a replacement this time around. At least we still have Dame Judi Dench, who is, quite frankly, irreplaceable. As far as sound effects go, 007 Legends gets the job done, and that's about all that can be said of them. The best part of the sound design is the soundtrack, which modernizes many of the older films' themes.
Gameplay: 007 Legends is essentially the gaming equivalent of a clip show. But where people generally hate them in television, they have potential in games. Interestingly, Eurocom finds a way to tie it all into the upcoming film Skyfall. If you've seen the trailers, you've no doubt seen the clip of M instructing a friendly sniper to take out a target, who Bond is actually fighting on top of a moving train. The sniper takes the shot, and the bullet hits Bond instead of the bad guy. Bond falls hundreds of feet into a body of water below. Cue the flashbacks. In his coma, Bond relives moments from five of his past adventures: specifically from the films Goldfinger, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, Moonraker, Die Another Day, and Licence to Kill. And if you still have your copy by the time Skyfall comes out, you'll be able to get your hands on a handful of missions. This is a fantastic idea in theory that is horribly let down by gameplay that is staler than petrified hardtack. Multiplayer might salvage some of the experience for competitive players, but if that's what you're looking for, Goldeneye 007: Reloaded is a cheaper and nearly identical alternative. Just about all of the game modes return, from Legends to Heroes, and from Black Box to Golden Gun. It's still a fun and engaging multiplayer experience, but definitely not a good reason to pick up a brand new copy for.
Difficulty: 007 Legends isn't a difficult game on its default difficulty. That being said, there is really only one way to play the game, and anyone who's played a shooter in the last fifteen years will know exactly what to expect. Enemies will take cover every now and then, but most stand right out in the open, just waiting for you to introduce them to their maker. That's not to say that you won't experience any moments of failure. Some sequences are pretty frustrating. An early sequence has Bond escaping a series of rapidly closing blast doors while enemies fire at him from every conceivable direction. You may risk biting the dust if you take the wrong path, but taking a breather to get some health back is not an option. And some of the watercooler moments are interesting in concept, but ultimately end up frustrating the gamer.
Game Mechanics: Goldeneye 007: Reloaded was a success largely because of its flexibility. If you wanted to approach each situation with stealth, you could. If you wanted to go in guns blazing, you had that option as well. 007 Legends doesn't afford you that luxury, instead opting to force you through a series of chaotic shooting galleries that feels more like Call of Duty than James Bond. When you're not shooting, you're engaging enemies in fisticuffs by way of quick time events. These sequences take you out of the action and look unbelievably awkward. Enemies block certain areas of their bodies and wait for you to hit them where they are vulnerable. If that's not insulting enough, an analog stick prompt tells you exactly which stick to flick and where to flick it. Additional objectives are available for players who want a bit of variety to their gameplay. However, most of these are very simple, offering little in the way of depth; many of them involve going to an indicated area and interacting with something. The cellphone searches from Goldeneye 007: Reloaded are back, but they aren't used enough -- this lessens the feeling that you are a super spy, and reinforces the feeling that you're just a lone wolf soldier. 007 Legends could have been a great game. If they transposed the entire gameplay formula from Goldeneye 007: Reloaded, I would have been satisfied. Instead, they chose only to keep the gunplay, which was merely decent instead of top of class. In the end, 007 Legends is a subpar plain Jane shooter that just isn't worth your time or money.
-FenixDown, GameVortex Communications AKA Jon Carlos
Related Links: Official Website of 007 Legends Buy 007 Legends on Amazon
Dragon Ball Z for Kinect XCOM: Enemy Unknown