James Bond: Quantum of Solace
Preview
Bond, more ruthless than ever
by Marko Susimetsä
previewed on PC
And action!
The main focus of Quantum of Solace seems to be on action. The materials that we've seen thus far do not seem to indicate that much attention will be paid to the story. So, naturally, our biggest concern will be how the action will be realised. From what we've seen thus far, there seem to be areas where more attention from the developers is still needed: walking and running are both too fast at the moment and feel pretty unrealistic and hearken back to some older FPS titles that we'd rather not think of any more in the post-Crysis world. The fast movement is even more unrealistic when you move through narrow underground corridors with apparently uncertain footing.
The enemy AI will also need some further work before the release date: now it seems that you are moving through a shooting range with enemies popping up from behind cover here and there that you have to aim and shoot at. There's only a minimal amount of smartness in the enemy actions and they really don't seem to be able to try and surround and overwhelm you in numbers, let alone throw grenades at you when they have them.
The cover system is familiar from some other third-person shooter titles and here Quantum of Solace actually offers an interesting hybrid gameplay: normally, you play it as a FPS, but when you get behind a cover, you are suddenly in a third-person mode which allows Bond to remain hidden while you as a player can have a careful look around and place the aiming reticule on top of your enemy's head before letting Bond out of his cover and killing the enemy with a single shot. Very unrealistic, and a let-down to those who appreciate more realistic mode of action, but serves well in a title which is not aiming higher than being an all-out shooter.
No solace here
As it seems now, the title Quantum of Solace may be the most unfitting name for the game that the developers could have chosen. It doesn't seem that there will be any sort of comfort or solace to be had in a game title that aims to offer nothing more than action. Of course, we hope that we'll be proven wrong and that there will be more than non-stop action for us to enjoy. Nevertheless, for a fan of fast action, Quantum of Solace might be just what they are looking for. We will have to wait for the release date to be sure, however.
