Wednesday 26 Nov 2008

Quantum of Solace has no place in the current holiday line up of action games. It’s not an all out blockbuster, it’s not a focussed stealth game and there’s no pretence of strategy or thoughtful, tactical gameplay. The identity pieces it could have claimed are the inclusion of the very protagonist you control (James Bond) as well as the fact that the game spans the duration of the two most recent Bond movies, Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace, but these hooks are squandered on poor implementation of the stories from the movies and what seems like downright amnesia on the part of the developers, never taking advantage of Bond’s assumed access to all manner of skills and gadgets.

We need to forget these things, however, as assumed knowledge is a dangerous thing. The game presented and the content provided is the extent of the experience and thinking about what’s not in the game will always give us a poor impression of the final product. Instead, we can focus on what is included on the Quantum of Solace disc, such as the solid, visceral first-person and over-the-shoulder gunplay, reliable cover mechanics and what amounts to a pretty fun, 6 - 7 hour adventure through a diverse selection of locations. Not without its qualms, Quantum of Solace won’t be remembered beyond the end of the year, or even the end of the credits, but it’s the kind of game you could easily dip back into once you’ve finished it, with multiplayer options to add a bit of longevity.

First, you should simply forget that this is a ‘Bond’ game. Despite the theme music (and the fact that everyone calls you Bond… and the original voice cast) you’re never given proper indication that you’re anything more than ordinary. This could be a game about an everyman that merely happens to be in a unique situation, which is a good assumption to make. While it could be pointed out that this is indeed a theme of the newer movies, attempts at convincing you that no-one other than Bond could complete the tasks in the game would come up short.

Second, it would probably be a good idea to ignore the story completely, as it’s so confusing and haphazard that if you had never seen the movies, you would think the story writers were ‘using.’ The story serves as context for the types of things you’ll be doing (such as chasing down a bomb maker) and the places you’ll be visiting (behind the scenes at an Opera house, for example), but nothing more involved than that. For an illustration of how badly the story has been implemented, it would suffice to say that, at one point, an entire action sequence is told through voiceovers and blips on a satellite map. Not convincing. A clever workaround by the developers? No. Just lazy.

Instead you should focus on the action sequences that Quantum of Solace provides and the mechanics that the developers have granted players, enabling you to effectively control your in-game self with confidence and power. A case in point would be the cover mechanic in the game. While it may seem in vogue at the moment to include such an ability in games nowadays, the cover system is Quantum of Solace doesn’t seem superfluous and tacked on in the way you may expect. As soon as you run into cover, the camera pulls out to a third-person perspective, with a familiar over the shoulder camera when you pop out to shoot at your enemies. Ducking from one cover point to another feels responsive with the only complaint being you can’t directly vault over your current cover while in cover. This is understandable as the resultant camera change might have been a bit disorientating, but it’s still a little clunky to have to move out of cover (into first person view) and then vault the cover that way.

The majority of the game is played in first person, even if that majority is a factor of 5 or 10 percent. Other than the times you’re using cover to dispatch entrenched enemies, you’ll be catching individual guards unawares by hitting them with a melee combo (with a very pleasant to use Quicktime Event system - more on that in a minute) as the camera pulls out to a cinematic, third person angle, or you’ll be edging yourself across ledges, narrow walkways, or over ‘tightrope walking’ sections, again resulting in a third person camera angle to give you more information on your surroundings.

Whether you’re in first person or third person, however, the gunplay and melee combat always feels powerful and visceral, as the wide variety of guns, from sniper rifles to shotguns to silenced pistols and sub-machine guns, give you that satisfying feedback required from death-dealing weaponry, even if some of the encounters feel like backyard sessions of cops and robbers, with seemingly stray bullets finding their victims via some sort of pre-arranged contractual obligation. An element that can rob you of your shooting delights is the presence of objects in the world that are able to explode if a bullet happens to make contact with it. While it can be fun to use these objects in a pinch, they’re usually a ‘kill all enemies’ option, which isn’t much fun unless you really enjoy tons of explosions.

Melee combat, too, delivers all the crunches and snaps you’d want, with an exceedingly forgiving Quicktime Event system - that time-honoured mechanic by which you’re required to input a variety of button presses in time with the on-screen prompt to continue the action. These Quicktime Events, however, don’t require split-second precision, the required button presses aren’t presented in isolation and, if you mess up, you can try again immediately. If developers in general insist on using this system in the future, this is probably the best way to do it.

While Quantum of Solace is a primarily linear experience, moving from room to room, or area to area without much else to do except pick up ringing cellphones (cluing you in to advantages you may use while simultaneously adding some semblance of a backstory to the game) and mow down all in your path, you’re still likely to run into extremely frustrating ‘kill all enemy waves to unlock the next door’ types of objectives, with these objectives sometimes not being presented as explicit goals to achieve. Instead, you may kill a few enemies in an area and run ahead to what is obviously the exit point, but will be denied progress because some fool is hiding in some part of the level you hadn’t seen yet, meaning either you run around looking for another exit point, unaware that there’s a fool concealed in the scenery, or you have to go hunting for him. Granted, this only happened a handful of times, but it was enough to discourage progress.

The problem with Quantum of Solace is that there is no focal point for players to latch onto - no office water cooler talk will result from ‘this great weapon’ or ‘that exciting set piece.’ Treyarch, however, know how to deliver great feedback, resulting in a game that is satisfying and fun to play, meaning it’s not beyond the realm of possibility that you could finish the game in one or two sittings and then pick the game up again for another play through. The action is provided on a blank canvas, though - this could be any game, with any protagonist in any setting and it would be the same. It would be unfair to call the game bland, but the term ‘featureless’ does come to mind. Quantum of Solace could quite easily be enjoyed alongside the films and is the perfect companion piece if you’re looking for an interactive component to your Bond experience. Just don’t expect Bond to be there.

Pros: Great combat feedback; graphically adequate; multiplayer component; forgiving Quicktime Event system

Cons: Confusing story; scripted ‘kill all’ progression; mediocre voice acting; disorientating use of camera shake during intense explosion scenes; can go from full health to dead in a matter of split-seconds

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Contributor:	Oliver

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