We've now come to the part of my ranking of 007 games I like better than the previous four, but don't love either. These aren't bad games; I just don't enjoy them compared to the others on my list.
Did you ever play a game that you remember having fun playing but hardly remember a thing about it? That's my experience with Blood Stone. I didn't think the game was terrible or a waste of time when I first played it. The experience just left me feeling empty as the weeks went by. As bad as the previous 007 games were, I still remember them. After replaying it a second time for this list and awhile after, I enjoyed it more than I did the first time, but I can see why it didn't leave as much of an impression as it should have.
The primary part of the reason is the story. I'm not implying that story was ever the video game's best quality. If classic games like Agent Under Fire and Everything or Nothing were adapted to film, they would be as well-received as Die Another Day and Diamonds Are Forever. The story's point in the games was to tie the missions together while still giving it a bit of a cinematic appeal. There was still a clear focus as dumb, over the top, and nonsensical the stories to the games are. Players understood the villain's grand scheme in the end, who the main villain was, understand why Bond's allies betrayed him, grieve a bit for a character's demise, and know the long-term stakes when completing a level and story to feel accomplished when succeeding.
The game's first level plays out as a pre-title sequence from a Bond film, nearly using all the game's features such as stealth combat, shooting, and driving various vehicles while stopping a bomb. I love the pre-title levels in Nightfire and From Russia with Love more, but I can't objectively deny that this is the best first level to a Bond game for offering so much gameplaywise. After getting a highly interactive first mission, and a solid title sequence, the story is as easy to follow as the games before it. Bond goes to look for a missing scientist, discovers the villain behind the kidnapping, meets a woman, finds the villain's lair, and foils his plans. Just when I think the game is reaching its end, I realize that I'm only halfway through, which is where the game's story starts to get complicated.
It turns out the villain Bond killed isn't the game's main villain and that the real villain is a black merchant selling stolen information and technology. Bond is taken to a prison camp by the person he's after, failing to capture an assassin, leading to the game's climax. Since many of the levels are just Bond chasing, escaping, shooting, and running, I began to forget why I should care about the goals I'm achieving. I find the villain Rak to be horrifically menacing, but there's nothing really at stake for me to see him as a greater force than the criminal Bond was initially after. All this second half of the game is Bond trying to eliminate what the game suddenly claims to be the real mastermind, who was never seen nor mentioned in the first half. You can tell that the makers were throwing in another villain only to give the gamers more playtime.
Just as the level is wrapping up, it is revealed that Zak is not the real mastermind behind the plan. The game's real villain is the woman Bond was with during the first half of the game. And the odd part is, Bond claims he knows who it is before the reveal. Bond notices that the jeweled knife is made from the same jewels in Nicole's fashion-line hence how he knows; however, this critical plot point is so vaguely established that it's easy to miss and wind up confused. Come to think of it, when I think back to this game, the only time I think of diamonds or stones is during the title credit sequence. The game is called Blood Stone, and there's so little focus on the jewels that it's not even worth titling the game after it.
The twist that Nicole is the fiend amounts to absolutely nothing because she's not the boss! She's actually working for an organization bigger than anything else in the world. Before she can name who and what she works for, she gets killed by a drone spying on her, and the game ends. Originally a sequel was going to be made, only to be canceled, leaving the mystery of who the film's actual criminal mastermind was the whole time unresolved, thus making the game's story feel incomplete. I would not at all be surprised if the criminal organization is Spectre, run by Blofield. But since we never see what the game was building up to (all of a sudden), there's no real distinct villain or plan in the long run since the game keeps spontaneously changing foes. Because of the story's inconsistencies, the game sidelines any importance of why Bond is after these criminals in the first place. The game is so busy trying to throw so many action set pieces and new villains just for the pay-off to be a tease for the next game that it refuses to tell a self-contained story with a clear and intriguing mission worth accomplishing.
From a character stand-point, outside of Bond and M (Voiced respectively by Daniel Craig and Judi Dench), they all come across as forgettable. Before this game, there were great original characters designed for the games, who left impressions. While I remember enjoying some of the performances fine, I tend to find the characters as memorable as the characters in the film Quantum of Solace. The chemistry between Craig and Joss Stone as the bond girl Nicole feels natural. However, the character herself is one of the weakest and less intriguing Bond girls in the game franchise. As an ally to Bond, outside of her piloting skills, she is practically every step backward a female character can get in the series. She's only comfortable with a man and is a terrible driver despite serving as a skilled pilot. The Bond girls in the Sean Connery era were more progressive than her. As a twist foe, hoping her anti-feminist qualities were just a ruse, she is vulnerable and incompetent, never serving as a deadly force. The final confrontation Bond has with her is a simple car chase rather than a climactic shoot-out with her having a greater strength than the game's protagonist.
If I'm supposed to accept all the villains in the game as top henchmen working for Nicole and the organization she works for, they're still pretty bland. The game's prologue villain Greco doesn't have much personality, a unique design, or anything interesting about his character. He's a stock henchman, where aside from his plan, the only thing I remember about him is he gets away, never reappearing after that point. If he were to be eliminated from the whole mission, nothing would be missed. If anything, the opening would play out similar to Nightfire's pre-title mission. We don't know who is trying to assault the agent or why they want to blow up the Eiffel tower. All we need to know is they are terrorists, and Bond needs to stop them.
The mobster Bernin has a brutal interrogation scene, but before we can sense his personality or see what else he's capable of, Bond kills him cold-bloodily. He could have fallen under the less is more case of villains, except there's nothing that stands out about his appearance or personality, almost coming across as an older watered-down version of Franz Sanchez. At least I do find him more memorable than the first main villain red herring Stefan Pomerouv. Thinking back to the game, I couldn't remember one single thing about him until I rewatched the cutscenes he's in, realizing how little he appears in the game for him to leave any impression. The only villain who is memorable is Rak. He is the Bond villain who I wish was the focus. He's a rich and feared criminal who runs many illegal rackets, savagely tortures people at a prison camp he runs, and has a vicious presence complete with a scar across his eye. Given how much power and intimidation this foe has, he would have been perfect as the game's primary villain. It makes no sense why the game wishes to focus on villains as interesting as Dominic Greene from Quantum of Solace than a villain who could be up there with Le Chiffre from Casino Royale?
By mostly having villains who are too grounded to fit the Craig era, the game suffers from similar problems most Craig Bond games have. The gun-carrying capacity is limited, and Bond's cellphone is the only gadget he needs. Gadgets were always a staple to use in Bond games. What kind of Bond fan would not wish to use the gadgets in a game. Well, since the Daniel Craig era at the time was more about containing gadgets on a cellphone than carrying various physical belongings, the game decides to go that same route. I understand the change for its accuracy to the Craig films, but it's not very exciting in video game form. I would prefer that the Daniel Craig games took the same liberties with gadgets as in 007 Legends; I at least had fun using some of them, particularly the dart pen. However, I can't fault the game entirely for lack of variety in gadgets since the Quantum of Solace game started this trend.
I don't want to go as far as to say that just because the game has foolish limitations, that doesn't mean some fun can't be had within the game's constraints. The best example is the driving levels this game contains. After getting one driving level from the previous Craig Bond game Goldeneye 007: Reloaded, I expected Blood Stone to let me drive around and destroy enemy vehicles with weapons. Forgetting that the game wants to be as close to "realistic" as possible, I discovered that the cars I drive have no gadgets or weapons. Restraining me even further is that I couldn't drive around and explore the sights since all driving missions involve me chasing after someone. I was disappointed, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't find myself having any amusement. Bond fans would prefer to drive a gadget-filled vehicle but thinking back to the past Bond games and even future ones, having gadgets didn't always mean excitement. 007 Legends was boringly simplistic, and no number of gadgets could fix the many problems that 007 Racing has. By judging the vehicle missions for what they are, they're not half bad. They are some of the best thrills I had driving Bond vehicles, for how exhilarating the chases are forcing the player to think fast. I can't use gadgets to cause destruction, but the pursuits still lead to enemies and Bond's vehicles destroying public property and causing cars to explode while performing stunts. Some of the chases do lead to some inventively intense situations. My personal favorite is chasing after a train while on a frozen pond that's breaking as an enemy helicopter attacks me. I'll take driving a traditional weapon-loaded Bond vehicle any day, but these missions weren't timewasters either.
As the Craig era of games was going back to its first-person shooter roots after the Ps2 release of Quantum of Solace, it was refreshing to see the franchise return to a third-person shooter. For the lack of using Craig's model in Goldeneye 007: Reloaded in these battlefield-like environments, it didn't look or feel like a Bond game as much outside of the cutscenes. Watching and controlling Daniel Craig's model in the game was a real sight for sore eyes. It helped fully bring back the illusion that I was playing a Bond game the entire time. The shoot and cover mechanics are as exciting as how another third-person shooter Bond game's handled them after Tomorrow Never Dies. As much as I enjoy shooting, crouching, and blowing things up, my absolute favorite is the hand-to-hand combat system. It's not the most challenging I've played. They're single-button take-downs, so they're straightforward to do. What I enjoy about it is how taking down three guards will allow Bond to build up adrenaline and fire at the guards in matrix-style slow motion. On top of it, the cut scenes of Bond hitting the guards never gets tiring to watch. It all looks as spectacular as watching Bond taking down guards in the films.
If you can get past the overlong convoluted plot, visually, it's one of the game franchise's strongest. The camera work gives the game a gigantic cinematic film from the angles, movement, and close-ups. These techniques make the locations seem huge, the action grander, and the chases intense. The majority of levels designs are visually distinct as well. The best-designed levels are typically for when Bond is sneaking around or rendezvousing with another agent. I love exploring Pormeouv's factory building both inside out and outside. The outside is filled with snow, and monuments, while the inside has a fancy cooperate sociable exhibition vibe with a lounge, models, and a theatre room. My absolute favorite level design is the Aquarium for how spacious and gigantic it appears, that's so beautiful to look at it that it wouldn't be bad as a screen saver for how much detail it has. These designs are so appealing to the eye that it almost makes the dull concept of using Bond's phone for most of the time when spying forgivable. Actually, there's a feature on the phone that can scan certain items and provide further detail of the environment Bond is exploring to give these locations more personality. Some of the information is useless, but I still admire the game's attempts to world build.
When a level does call for gun fighting and chasing, the environments usually make the most of it. When fighting through the catacombs of Istanbul, the set carries an ominous feel from its eerie dim green lighting as Bond passes by the dead bodies of prisoners. As Bond fights against guards on a speeding Hovercraft ship, despite Bond not operating it, the boat's speed is always felt whether the waves splash the camera or the rooms shaking and rumbling when Bond is below deck. And though there has already been a game in the franchise that involves jumping from rooftop to rooftop in a neon-lit city, the city of Bangkok is still lovely to gaze at, almost giving the level of a Neo-Noir feel.
Overall Thoughts
Thinking back to the enjoyment I had from the game from a visual and gameplay standpoint; it was a thrill to play. Visual-wise, the locations are nicely designed and filled with atmosphere, and the camera work is phenomenal. I know I talked little about the gameplay during the review, but that's because it's pretty similar to successful Bond games before it. It has nearly all the joys the other third-person shooter Bond games have. The cover shoot mechanics are easy to use, the weapon selection is fun (my favorite is the stun gun), and the adrenaline builder never gets old. The game even proves that having limitations isn't always necessarily a bad thing. For instance, the game's driving levels show that quick thinking and concentration can be as exciting as using gadgets. And I will give the makers props for trying to create an original Daniel Craig Bond adventure rather than playing it safe to tell an existing story. The convoluted incomplete story and characters in Blood Stone may leave a blank in my mind, but everything else in the game (outside of a few dumb changes carried over from previous games) makes up for it, creating a dazzling theatrical actioned pack gaming experience.
Least Favorite Mission: Monaco: Epilogue: Meeting Adjourned
The game has an exciting final boss battle with Rak on a set-piece reminiscent to the climatic fight in Goldeneye. Just as I'm ready to see the rest of the game end with cutscenes, the game's welcome officially wears off when Nicole is revealed to be the true mastermind. I was hoping to have a level or two with a stronger boss fight. What I'm reduced to is a car chase, and not a very riveting one. I was able to drive on a frozen pond breaking apart, drove a tow truck after a giant dump truck, and as my last ride, I'm just chasing after Nicole with no new challenges? It's a level that's so easy, that it could be used as the first driving level of the game. It's as anti-climatic as it sounds, and to end everything on an unresolved cliffhanger makes finishing the game unfulfilling.
Favorite Mission: Siberia: Any Means Necessary
If the game were to end at this level, despite lacking a proper boss battle, it would have been a satisfying enough conclusion. Bond is on a high-speed hovercraft shooting goons and releasing cargo to make it go faster to catch up to Pomerouv's plane. Bond may not be the one operating the hovercraft, but the thrill of the chase is always felt from the waves crashing, the snow flying towards the camera, and the boat rocking. Every time I revisit this level, I always feel the weight of fighting aboard the hovercraft. The hovercraft setting also takes advantage of its possibilities by shooting guards into its propellers, having guards firing inside tanks down below, and activating the ship's gun to fire at the Pomerouv's plane while avoiding missiles. Just when thinking the on-rails portion of shooting at the sea plane is enough, Bond jumps aboard fighting against goons on the wing of the craft, and a deadly gas leaking inside the plane forcing the player to quickly reach Pomerouv before the gas consumes the plane. Like I said, there's no boss battle with Pomerouv, but killing him in classic Bond fashion instead of just shooting him makes for a rewarding confrontation after all this mayhem.
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