The next James Bond film is on indefinite hold but fans of the legendary spy needn’t despair. The next installment, developed by Bizarre Creations and set to be published by Activision, has been officially revealed as James Bond 007: Blood Stone , and it should satisfy the long-time followers. Both Daniel Craig and Dame Judi Dench will lend their voices to this new authentic production, actress and vocalist Joss Stone will place her pretty face squarely in the limelight as the new Bond girl, and a blend of action and racing elements should be wholly entertaining. The production basics first: Stone is also recording the theme song (co-written by Dave Stewart of Eurythmics fame), and the game’s story has been penned by Bob Feristein, who wrote “Tomorrow Never Dies” and had a part in producing the scripts for both “GoldenEye” and “The World is Not Enough.” And where will you be headed in this slick new action/adventure? Well, just about everywhere under the sun, of course.
Although the game starts in Athens, you’ll also travel to many exotic locales, including Bangkok, Siberia, Istanbul, and the illustrious South of France. In other words, you can expect that same flash and panache with a heavy dose of class that is synonymous with James Bond. Tossing in a robust 16-player online mode with what should be an engaging single-player campaign is a good idea (especially in this day and age), and although the visuals aren’t overly impressive from what we’ve seen, they’re more than passable. And besides, the team has some time to tweak, adjust, and fine-tune. The gameplay, as you might expect, is a definite mix; one minute, you’ll be racing along in a high-speed chase, and the next, you’ll be involved in a deadly gunfight, which may result in an up-close-and-personal melee confrontation. The shooting aspect utilizes the now-standard third-person cover mechanic and is helped along by the addition of the Focus Aim system. It has an ulterior motive, too…
This new mechanic encourages the player to sample every available element of the gameplay. You know how you might not bother with hand-to-hand encounters when you can just blast your way through…? Well, Bizarre Creations wants to counter that: with each successful melee takedown, you will receive a boost that’ll charge up a neato mode akin to the classic bullet-time mode, where everything slows down, foes are clearly highlighted, and you can dispose of them almost as you see fit (I’d strongly suggest quick, ammo-saving headshots). Another cool part of this whole production is that Bond stuntman Ben Cooke has been tapped for the choreography and animations in Blood Stone . Therefore, when battling an opponent, not only will you be using Daniel Craig’s obvious likeness, but it’ll also look a lot like his movements in any of the recent films. Clearly, the designers have opted for a believable, faithful game incarnation that accurately mirrors the movies.
As for the racing, one would have to assume it’ll be implemented with great skill, primarily due to Bizarre’s proven talents in this particular realm. Responsible for the critically acclaimed Blur and Project Gotham Racing series, we’d be quite surprised if the driving parts of this game turned out to be flawed. However, this being said, it has been confirmed that the driving parts of the adventure will sort of be few and far between, which may or may not disappoint Bond fans. The bottom line is that we should get a game with good pacing, plenty of action, a solid storyline, and an undeniable appeal in regards to the target audience. So whether you’re piloting that very capable Aston Martin DB9 about or laying the smackdown with guns or fists, James Bond 007: Blood Stone will likely keep you immersed for the duration of the quest.
Can't wait. This holiday season is gonna kick @$$.
I don't plan on picking this up. the last time I played a James bond game was on the gamecube and once b4 that on the old N64.
O dang. You missed out on all of the PS2 Bond game action.
Last edited by Danny007 on 7/19/2010 10:08:35 PM
Holy terrible graphics James!
You click on the Wii video by mistake?
I hit play on whatever was embedded. I hope it's just early video, the character models look on par with SH Homecoming.
Last edited by WorldEndsWithMe on 7/19/2010 10:56:08 PM
Ok aside from this article, I got a question for you guys at PSX Extreme. Now I read your articles and you guys's reviews and they are fantastic. You guys are much better than other sites that have reviews and I never feel that they are as good as yours. But here's my question: Have you guys ever thought of making your website larger than it is now by like bringing your reviews on youtube and as well are your articles? To simplify this question: Will you guys ever at some point make videos on Youtube?
A thing to keep in mind is that this site's small size allows for a strong(er) community.
I'm not sure what videos we'd put on YouTube, but you never know.
But thanks. Feel free to tell others that. 🙂
Last edited by Ben Dutka PSXE on 7/19/2010 11:44:01 PM
I could always cut watermelons with my sword for ya Ben 🙂
@ world
Rofl, honestly I'd pay more to see that than for the new crap they're pawning off as a MGS.
Strong community FTW!
High five! What're we called here? Extremists?
Playstation Extremists 🙂
Awesome
I'm in, full fledged member of PS EX
This looks fantastic. I liked the QoS single player and absolutely loved the multiplayer. Despite it's faults there is a ton of fun to be had there. BS looks to be even better and my anticipation is up. I mean, did you see the javelin?? That's going to be some good times.
i thought it was ok…..but could kinda tell it was trying to be a bit like cod u know using the engine an all.
i did enjoy the everyone hunt bond mode tho 😀
I miss the old character-driven Bond stories. Oh well. I always have Ian Fleming's original stories to go back too.
If this game is done right, it could be super awesome. Love me some good bond game, well at the least the one good bond game that was ever made, if only this one were to be done right.
However this one got started out all wrong, it's got activision's name on it, so automatically expect it to be buggy and to never see a patch for those bugs.
Cross your fingers and wish for miracles, because as much as I'd love a great bond game on ps3, I have a whole lot of doubt that this one will be good for much of anything.
i loved playing 007 on ps2 and gamecube but there are other games out there that are more interesting
a bond game with no spy elements?
what is this world coming to?
soon we will have a GOW game with no violence, or a halo game with no guns!
come on people for crying out loud who do i have to kill to get a proper stealth game!?
please, o please developers stop taking games and turning them into different games.
JB was created as a stealth game, so it should stay a stealth game.
MGS was created a stealth game, so it should stay a stealth game,
GOW was created a puzzle / action game so it should stay a puzzle / action game.
Yes the thing I remember most from those James Bond movies was the stealth.
see they need to mix everything or nuthing which was brilliant…..with nightfire and goldeneye mp!
Not too shabby looking. I've been waiting for a decent 007 game for years now. First 007 game I loved was Goldeneye on the N64. I didn't fully enjoy another one until Everything or Nothing on the PS2. Every game after that, I didn't care for at all (ESPECIALLY Quantum of Solace… that was horrible). Hopefully this will regain some Bond gaming glory.
I'll keep an eye out, just for the fact it has potential
I like me some action adventure. Drake has had a strangle hold on that this generation so far. I don't anticipate him losing his crown as the best of the generation, but he could stand some competition. Besides I love the idea of a bond-like action adventure. I just hope this is done well. too many promising games have fizzled out in the cold hard light of reality when released.
Drake-lovin FTW! That game really left an impact on me. Few games have done that for me. Uncharted 2, MGS4 and Heavy Rain hit home for me.
On-topic: Bond games have always been enjoyable for me. I never missed on on the PS2. Missed the ones on PS3 though since i was late to jump into the Sony wagon. And with so many good games, I wonder if I can still catch up on that backlog…