Alt-Controls Reviews Quantum of Solace

Now I would imagine that a number of you are putting this one on hold for the time being, or possibly skipping it altogether in favor of your Gears 2, COD: World at War, Left 4 Dead, Mirror’s Edge, Resistance 2, etc.

But, if you are a fan of GoldenEye 007 for the N64 and the COD series, you really need to play this game. I’ll be as bold to say that it is the best Bond game since Rare’s N64 masterpiece. I did enjoy Everything or Nothing and From Russia with Love, but those were third person games of course. Quantum of Solace is without question the best FPS Bond experience we’ve had in over a decade.

Treyarch has outdone themselves with this title, and hopefully it will help their company earn back some of the respect they lost from the FPS crowd after COD3. Now, I’ve said before that I did enjoy COD3, but I definitely preferred 2 and 4 by Infinity Ward. I think though, that gamers were perhaps a tad harsh on Treyarch for their work on COD3. But make no mistake, they have put together an excellent game in Quantum of Solace.

Its first strong points are the controls and overall feel. The first person combat and navigation feels nearly identical to Call of Duty 4, thanks to the use of its engine. So if you’ve played any of the COD games, you’ll be at home right away with this game. It’s nice to jump into a game that feels solid, where you don’t have to worry about the learning curve of a wonky control/aiming system.

Where this game differs from its COD brethren is obviously that you’re in the Bond world, so this leads to some interesting settings and mission objectives that just aren’t applicable on the battlefield. They have also added some stealth elements, and a third person cover system.

In an early interview with Garrett Young from Treyarch, he mentioned that he believed their cover system would revolutionize the way FPS games were played. I was skeptical. Third person cover systems had been utilized in FPS games for a while now (the RVS series, Brothers in Arms, etc). So I recall thinking that this would be a nice feature, but far from revolutionary. Well, I can honestly say that in my opinion, the cover system offered in Quantum of Solace is arguably the best that we’ve seen in an FPS to date.

Think of it more as a system similar to Gears of War, rather than RSV. You’re able to lock on to a cover point, and dash towards it to automatically take cover. Once in cover, you have the option to dash forward to another cover point, or you can rotate to another position at your side, much like the swat turn in Gears of War. The best part, you’re able to aim by holding down the trigger button, rather than using an analog stick to lean forwards or to corner around your cover point, as seen in RSV and BIA.

This is a much more practical and intuitive system, and I also found it significantly more comfortable as a Legacy player. Cover systems can often be a pain for Legacy guys… however this one is fluid, smooth and responsive. I can definitely see the COD games offering a system such as this in the future; I think I will miss it when I return to the battlefields of that series.

Another new element that has been added is the take down. Walk up to an enemy, or sneak up from behind, click the analog stick and Bond will perform a take down move, which differs depending upon your angle and approach. You’ll be prompted to press a button in the nick of time to properly execute these moves, but this is fairly easy. It provided some nice variety to the melee elements of the game, rather than a simple swipe of a knife, etc. In my opinion, this is another feature that would work nicely if adapted to in the COD series.

They have also added some “boss fights” of sorts. Though these are more like an interactive cinematic than anything else. You’ll watch Bond duke it out with an enemy, and every so often you’ll be prompted to push or mash a certain button. It’s not difficult at all, though it’s a bit more interesting than just passively watching a cut scene.

My only (minor) complaint is that I felt the graphics could have been a bit better. They aren’t bad by any means, but I felt that there is room for improvement with the follow up game. Although, generally games that utilize graphic engines never look quite as polished as what the proprietary company produces. Much like how titles that utilize Epic’s Unreal Engine look nice, but never quite as polished as the Gears or Unreal games. However, the interesting gameplay elements, locales, and implementation of environmental killers more than make up for this point. They’ve even added some “flash back” missions from the Casino Royale film, which will be a nice bonus for fans of the series. There is a lot to like about what Treyarch has put together here.

Overall, this is an excellent title and I can’t say enough good things about it. It’s definitely the FPS Bond title that I’ve been waiting for since Rare held the franchise back in the day. Once you need a break from Gears 2, Resistance 2, insert high profile game title here, you need to play this game. Especially if you loved GoldenEye 007 and the COD series as much as I do.