Review: Blood Stone 007

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Nintendo-toting Bond fans got a slick remake of classic FPS Goldeneye that was just as engaging as the ground-breaking original. But on the next-gen consoles Bond fans have been left with a much lesser game in the ultra-short and uninspired Blood Stone 007.

This is an original (although screamingly derivative) James Bond story developed for gaming, no book, no video. Daniel Craig and Dame Judi Dench voice Bond and M respectively, and Brit songstress Joss Stone is Nicole Hunter, the obligatory Bond girl - but it's missing many vital ingredients that make a 007 yarn.

The very short tale sees you chasing biochem weapons across Asia and Europe, through a predictable roll-call of locations, and some of the environments and big set pieces look fantastic.

There's a sweet boat chase and various average driving missions, including a seemingly pointless run in the Goldfinger Aston Martin DB5, but there's no classic Bond villain, no Dr Julius No or Auric Goldfinger, just Greco. Take one packet of Generic Terrorist Bad Guy and just add water.

Blood Stone does feature some of the dumbest civvy AI you'll see in any shooter - when a gun comes out, they just squat on the ground with their hands over their heads regardless of whether the action is moving towards them or away. Enemy AI isn't much better, and foes may as well be on rails. The aiming system is shoddy, with simple CoD-style two-click kills in easy mode and then in high difficulty levels it gets quite unwieldy.

This does make killing crooks harder, but the challenge should be in the gameplay, not in overcoming control problems. Focus Aim is useful, although just a rip off of Splinter Cell Conviction's mark and execute feature. You aren't particularly bullet-proof - a nice change from some recent titles - so making the best use of the cover system becomes very important.

Verdict: Blood Stone 007 is worth renting for a stealth action one-night stand; it's entertaining, but it has flaws that mean it'll never be more than an okay shooter that happens to be part of the iconic Bond brand. You don't even hear the Bond music in its full glory until the end. Some might call that - and the lack of a memorable super villain - 007 heresy.

2.5/5 stars

Rated: R16
Classification: Xbox 360 (also PS3)