Alternative to Bond Games
yoyoyojo
Posts: 46MI6 Agent
As I posted here before, and many agree, the James Bond franchise has not produced to best games recently. Legends doesn't look too promising either, let's hope I'm wrong.
On another forum I asked for help in choosing a game that conjured up the espionage feelings I would expect from a James Bond game. I asked for a game that was innovative, had diversity in game play and just felt different. I got a lot of responses and tried a few games. Here are the games that were most often suggested and I tried:
Batman: Arkham City (PC) - Probably the best of the games that I tried. I got it on Steam for $14.99. This is a game done right! They took the Batman IP and instead of pumping out a ho-hum product that cashes in on the name, they decided to make a really great game. There is a lot of stealth, the gadgets are fun to use and offer a variety of challenges and options while playing. Great fighting system. Superb graphics and a great story. It felt like watch a good CGI movie. In fact my 9 year old son would love to just watch me play, he couldn't even believe how remarkable this game looks. There is the main story line and a lot of side missions which are optional. The presentation is well done.
Why is it not "Bond-like": Being a sandbox style of game it takes place entirely in one city. Since Bond is a world traveler it presents a problem: how do you have sand box style of game play yet offer a variety of locations. There are no vehicles to drive in this game. And Batman never uses a gun.
L.A. Noire (PC): I was surprised that this game was suggested, but it actually has a lot of the elements I was looking for in a Bond game. The setting is late 1940's Los Angeles, you are a detective. I got this on Steam for $4.99. The best way to sum it up: this game make you feel like you are there. The set pieces, clothes, cars, style of talk and music.
Even though it at first appears to be a skin of GTA, it plays nothing like GTA. It's the same graphics engine and that's where the similarities end. This is a much more stream line game. It is an open world but I would not consider it a sandbox. There are a few side missions, but for the most part you are playing the main story line, one mission at a time. You have the option of driving around on your own or you can go to your destination instantly. This takes out a lot of that down time you might experience in GTA.
The action takes a back seat to the investigations and interrogations, which is where the game really shines. You search a crime scene for clues, many of the clues are interactive (look closer, open them up, find a name in a guest book, etc). In addition to finding clues you get clues from witnesses or suspects by interviewing them. As you ask them questions you have to look at their faces closely, there is always a tell. Are they lying? Hesitating? Telling the truth? Pick the correct choice and you are given a clue, pick the wrong choice and you will not get a clue. These clues are used when trying to solve a case, where you prove a suspect is guilty. There is also action in this game, foot and car chases and the occasional shootout. The graphics are faithfully done and there is an awesome soundtrack. It is a game where I am not looking at a score so much as I simply exist in this world. I have to think about the clues and their connection to the crime and suspect. The presentation is awesome. Rarely do I break this game to it's mechanical parts, instead I just play it and feel like I am in a 1948 detective movie. The story lines are interesting as well. Each crime has it's own story which in turn relate to a larger story arc.
Why not a Bond game? - Like Batman the entire game takes place all in L.A. Also there is limited use of guns. But man if they could use the investigation system in a Bond game that would be new and exciting.
Metal Gear Solid (PS3) - Got it used for about $10. Popular series for stealth on the PS3. I liked the use of gadgets and choice between stealth and combat. I have not played this through yet so I have yet to form a complete opinion. Apparently MGS has not had a true PS3 game, it's more of a port from PS2. So MSG has yet to really shine on PS3, but a new version is coming out this fall. With that said I won't knock the graphics too hard, except to say on MGS 4 they are just so-so and look a bit dated.
Why not a Bond game? The main character is artificially created soldier by the name of Solid Snake. Sort of Million Dollar man / cyborg. I have never really been into this premise for a character.
Well that's all I have. Another game that was suggested, but I have yet to play, is Hitman. In my post to the forum I had mentioned how much I enjoyed the Assassin's Creed 2 series and how I wished they would use some of those elements in a Bond game.
What say you? What games have you played that made you think "if only they would do this for a Bond game?"
On another forum I asked for help in choosing a game that conjured up the espionage feelings I would expect from a James Bond game. I asked for a game that was innovative, had diversity in game play and just felt different. I got a lot of responses and tried a few games. Here are the games that were most often suggested and I tried:
Batman: Arkham City (PC) - Probably the best of the games that I tried. I got it on Steam for $14.99. This is a game done right! They took the Batman IP and instead of pumping out a ho-hum product that cashes in on the name, they decided to make a really great game. There is a lot of stealth, the gadgets are fun to use and offer a variety of challenges and options while playing. Great fighting system. Superb graphics and a great story. It felt like watch a good CGI movie. In fact my 9 year old son would love to just watch me play, he couldn't even believe how remarkable this game looks. There is the main story line and a lot of side missions which are optional. The presentation is well done.
Why is it not "Bond-like": Being a sandbox style of game it takes place entirely in one city. Since Bond is a world traveler it presents a problem: how do you have sand box style of game play yet offer a variety of locations. There are no vehicles to drive in this game. And Batman never uses a gun.
L.A. Noire (PC): I was surprised that this game was suggested, but it actually has a lot of the elements I was looking for in a Bond game. The setting is late 1940's Los Angeles, you are a detective. I got this on Steam for $4.99. The best way to sum it up: this game make you feel like you are there. The set pieces, clothes, cars, style of talk and music.
Even though it at first appears to be a skin of GTA, it plays nothing like GTA. It's the same graphics engine and that's where the similarities end. This is a much more stream line game. It is an open world but I would not consider it a sandbox. There are a few side missions, but for the most part you are playing the main story line, one mission at a time. You have the option of driving around on your own or you can go to your destination instantly. This takes out a lot of that down time you might experience in GTA.
The action takes a back seat to the investigations and interrogations, which is where the game really shines. You search a crime scene for clues, many of the clues are interactive (look closer, open them up, find a name in a guest book, etc). In addition to finding clues you get clues from witnesses or suspects by interviewing them. As you ask them questions you have to look at their faces closely, there is always a tell. Are they lying? Hesitating? Telling the truth? Pick the correct choice and you are given a clue, pick the wrong choice and you will not get a clue. These clues are used when trying to solve a case, where you prove a suspect is guilty. There is also action in this game, foot and car chases and the occasional shootout. The graphics are faithfully done and there is an awesome soundtrack. It is a game where I am not looking at a score so much as I simply exist in this world. I have to think about the clues and their connection to the crime and suspect. The presentation is awesome. Rarely do I break this game to it's mechanical parts, instead I just play it and feel like I am in a 1948 detective movie. The story lines are interesting as well. Each crime has it's own story which in turn relate to a larger story arc.
Why not a Bond game? - Like Batman the entire game takes place all in L.A. Also there is limited use of guns. But man if they could use the investigation system in a Bond game that would be new and exciting.
Metal Gear Solid (PS3) - Got it used for about $10. Popular series for stealth on the PS3. I liked the use of gadgets and choice between stealth and combat. I have not played this through yet so I have yet to form a complete opinion. Apparently MGS has not had a true PS3 game, it's more of a port from PS2. So MSG has yet to really shine on PS3, but a new version is coming out this fall. With that said I won't knock the graphics too hard, except to say on MGS 4 they are just so-so and look a bit dated.
Why not a Bond game? The main character is artificially created soldier by the name of Solid Snake. Sort of Million Dollar man / cyborg. I have never really been into this premise for a character.
Well that's all I have. Another game that was suggested, but I have yet to play, is Hitman. In my post to the forum I had mentioned how much I enjoyed the Assassin's Creed 2 series and how I wished they would use some of those elements in a Bond game.
What say you? What games have you played that made you think "if only they would do this for a Bond game?"
Comments
If you own a PS3 you can download Chaos Theory for $10 as its probably the best Splinter Cell game from the last generation of hardware remastered for current consoles. Double Agent and Conviction are two current-gen Splinter Cell games available for the Xbox 360 and PS3 and the upcoming Blacklist (also for PS3 and 360) is a reintroduction to the character.
The first is Metal Gear Solid. I'm not sure which one you played, but MGS4 is definitely a PS3 game and not a PS2 port, so I'm assuming you played one of the older ones (1, 2, or 3), maybe as part of the recently released HD collection? I could wrong, anyway doesn't really matter. And I'd also like to mention that there will not be a new one coming out this fall. The newest game (MGS: Ground Zeroes) probably won't be out until fall 2013. (EDIT: I just realized I'm assuming you mean Metal Gear Solid: Revengence. While the story is canon, the gameplay is much different and more like Ninja Gaiden. The next main game will be Ground Zeroes though). That being said, it's a great (although confusing) series if you stick through it all the way. The overall story that spans the entire series definitely isn't really Bondian though, as it deals more with the idea of controlling information and people on a global scale to create order. And also giant mechs with nuclear missiles on them. Well I suppose that description actually sounds like Bond, but it really isn't. A great series though, one of the best, and a good alternative to Bond.
Splinter Cell is the second. Probably more Bond than MGS since Sam Fisher is more of a government secret agent type rather than a soldier like Snake, and the stories are a little more grounded in reality. I've only played Conviction on xbox 360, but I'd highly recommend it, it's a really great game. Lots of sneaking into enemy compounds and shooting people from the shadows.
The third is Alpha Protocol. You should be able to find this one pretty cheap since it wasn't that popular, and while it definitely had some big flaws, it was still a lot of fun. It might be the most Bondian since since the story is a little more over the top "spy vs spy" and you get to travel to different locations around the world like Europe, Russia, Asia, etc. It's a third person shooter but incorporates RPG elements like branching conversations/decisions (like in Mass Effect) skill points, special abilities, upgrading weapons/gadgets, etc. Like I said, it's not the most refined experience, but worth it for a Bond like game, which is exactly why I decided to try it in the first place.
All that being said, three or four years ago, Rockstar announced they were making a game called Agent for the PS3. It hasn't been mentioned or shown since, so mostly likely it got scrapped. However, it would without a doubt be the most Bond like game to be released. This is because it was described as an open-world globe trotting spy adventure set in the late 70s. And considering how much Rockstar likes to take influence from movies and other popular culture from the genre they're working within (GTA games, Red Dead), there's no doubt it would be largely influenced by Bond, and in extremely overt ways too. But like I said, with each year it seems less likely this will ever happen, maybe they're saving it for next gen, I'm still desperately holding out hope for this one.
Splinter Cell is also great. The last one up until now, Conviction, changed the formula dramatically, encouraging a 24/Jack Bauer/Jason Bourne approach that is more fast-paced and simplified over the more stealth-based predatorial style of the games before it. They are all good though, and Blacklist, the newest entry, is in development now.
I started it three times between 2008 and 2012. I only got past the two hour mark to finish the game this year, after playing the HD collection and the original MGS first. You just have to go for it and stick with it. It helped me to play the first three (and I had surround sound this past attempt), but if you don't feel like it, just give the fourth one a full playthrough and I don't think you will regret it.
Meh. I wouldn't recommend this one if you've already played two or more other Call of Duty games this console generation. If you are unfamiliar with them, it is pretty good, but it is very unimpressive when you come to recognize the formula and lack of changes between entries in the series.
I've never been much of a Call of Duty fan, but I liked Black Ops because it felt pretty different from the prior games and most of levels focused on one character (Mason), making it feel more cohesive than the prior games. The CoD games are all about scripted set pieces, funneling the player down a set path towards memorable moments like the motorcycle escape from the gulag or taking out the Soyuz spacecraft with the rocket launcher. From that perspective, I thought Black Ops had the best set pieces yet in a CoD game; its actually the only game in the series that I still own and pop in my 360 every now and then.
I agree, Black Ops is one of the best CoD games, only getting beat by CoD4 because of nostalgia and the fact that 4 felt so new and fresh at the time.
I also agree with the Bondish feel to it (at least parts of the game), especially towards the end. I remember playing the level where you start off by attacking the freight ship from the helicopters for the first time and feeling like it was something straight out of the old Bond movies where they attack the bad guys hideout like in YOLT, OHMSS, TSWLM, etc.
I agree with what both of you have said, but I also stand by what I've said. I think it is perhaps the best behind Call of Duty 4 (that's not counting the original Call of Duty and Call of Duty 2, which I'd probably rank tied behind 4 but they are in a rather different category due to setting and different consoles).
It was a good attempt to change the story approach to something more film fiction inspired. But again, if it is the 3rd, 4th, or 5th Call of Duty game you have played on this console generation, there's a good chance you won't be wowed by the game and will have to try and look into what the story is attempting separately.
I still own Black Ops and Call of Duty 4, and I recommend both so long as you can approach them with a fresh attitude.
My problem with COD is I actually get very tense. The games are so action packed that I keep wishing there was a bit of stealth thrown in just to slow it down.
Do agree that BO had a lot of Bond-esque momement. While playing, several times to myself I though "why couldn't this be a Bond game?")
Bond games are often cheaper and faster to make and just happen to use the Call of Duty engine to save money.
Starting with Modern Warfare 2, the series has received criticism for shorter and shorter single-player campaigns which are loaded with more and more action set pieces, all coming at the cost of losing dimension in the stories.
They rely heavily now on something going wrong with explosions and mass shootouts. Call of Duty 1, 2 , and 4 really had a great set of character relationships and attempted to have moving dramatic scenes in the missions, often recreating or inspired by the struggles of real squads.
Now the series is all over-the-top action and fiction.
More of a spoof of the 60s bonds, and very much worth playing.
British spy in the 60s. Fighting against an organisation known as H.A.R.M. Globtrotting storyline. And so on.
Very good time for fans of that kind of thing.
These are both great games and there is still lots of people playing them online too.
I like to match the music to the level that I'm playing. So for the building site I play to the Madagascar free running track from CR.The snow base that I play music from Goldeneye. There is also a level that is EXACTLY like the monastery from FYEO that I play with the FYEO sountrack.
Or play some of the stealth challenge missions by yourself. There is one where you drive a snow mobile being pursued by baddies. You then break into an underground facility and plant and bomb. Then it's a mad dash to get out before the time goes. Again play this with the Bond theme going and it's brilliant.
The most fun I've had since Goldeneye on the N64.
My playstation name is: TimelordTen if you would like to add me.
Snake Eater? Even the title sequence was one huge Bond rip off
I'm currently in the throws of playing the new Tomb Raider. May I just say what a brilliant game it is! This is how any Bond game SHOULD be done!
Nope not being snarky. MW3 with Bond music is brilliant! Get it and add me.
But both are big in the spy game and dabble in sci fi, that trait is a bit even for both. Here is brief text from it's wikipedia page, I know not the best source, but for this is very accurate:
Perfect Dark is set in the year 2023 against the backdrop of an interstellar war between two races: the Maians, who resemble the stereotypical grey aliens, and the Skedar, reptile-like extraterrestrials who can disguise themselves as humans, bearing similarities to Nordic aliens. On Earth the megacorporation dataDyne has developed in secret Dr. Caroll, the world's first sentient AI computer. Feeling that dataDyne has betrayed ethical and moral standards, Dr. Caroll contacts the Carrington Institute, an espionage agency founded by Daniel Carrington, with the hope of revealing dataDyne's sinister dealings. He is recovered by Joanna Dark, the Institute's top agent, but is later recaptured by dataDyne at Carrington's private villa. Joanna is then sent to Chicago to once again recover Dr. Caroll and uncover dataDyne's plan. She learns that dataDyne and their conspirators plan to kidnap the President of the United States in order to get access to a deep sea vessel which will allow the conspirators to steal an alien megaweapon buried on the ocean floor.
The original Perfect Dark was also on the N64, it was made by the same team that did GoldenEye for N64. As is Timesplitters, but under a different company called Free Radical Design the first in the TS game is Playstation 2 only but 2 and Future Perfect were also on Nintendo Gamecube and Xbox.
Here is the text for Timesplitters:
As a first-person shooter game, TimeSplitters bear several gameplay and presentational similarities to GoldenEye 007 and Perfect Dark, including a similar aiming system and unlockable options through quick level completions.[1] The game's story mode can be played alone or co-operatively with one additional player. Every level in story mode can be played on three difficulty settings; several aspects, such as the enemies aggressiveness and the addition of new areas, can vary in function of the chosen difficulty.[2] Taking place at nine fictional locations between 1935 and 2035, the story follows 18 characters' individual attempts at defeating their own foes and the "TimeSplitters" with whom they have sided. In each level, the player can choose from one of two characters specific to each mission, and must kill enemies as they move through the level to retrieve an object and then carry that object to the exit portal. After a player picks up the object, TimeSplitters, evil mutant creatures, spawn endlessly throughout the level and attack the player.[3]
and TS 2 as the first one is vastly different from 2 and 3
The main single player portion of TimeSplitters 2 is divided into ten levels.[5] Each level is in a different time period and contains a series of objectives that must be completed. Some objectives are present at the start of the level, while others are added during play.[6] A few levels have secondary objectives, which are not required to complete unless on the normal or hard difficulty setting. Each level includes a single checkpoint in the middle where the player can restart if they die or fail to complete an objective (with the exception of the last level on any difficulty and the fourth level on easy).[7] For each level, the player must choose from three difficulty levels. These difficulty levels not only change the strength of the enemies, but also increase the length of the level by adding additional objectives; for instance, in both easy and normal levels, there are optional secondary objectives, whereas in the hard levels, all secondary objectives are now primary and must be completed. At the end of every level, a time crystal must be recovered. After it is picked up, a time portal will appear which must be entered in order to complete the level. However, this is sometimes made more difficult by TimeSplitters that teleport to the player's location. In secret places of certain levels, there are cartridges of old school arcade games such as Snake, that can be picked up and played on the player's Temporal Uplink, the device that normally shows the map of the current level.[8]
1: Brosnan 2: Craig 3: Moore 4: Dalton 5: Connery and 6: Lazenby
I just finished the new Tomb Raider game last night; great game with beautiful visuals, great control, a nice weapons upgrade system, a real cinematic feel and some nice setpieces to it. I agree, Square Enix / Eidos would be a great company to take over the Bond license.
I was so pleasantly surprised by that one. Lara Croft is a fixture in the video games hall of fame, but she certainly wasn't categorized there in conversations of this gaming generation. Tomb Raider brings her back to the A-list and the team did such a tasteful, fitting, thrilling, emotional, and gorgeous game. The combat, events, and atmosphere were very satisfying and full. I so thoroughly look forward the sequel.
They would certainly do a classy Bond game.
I have yet to play Hitman but I can say Just Cause 2 so far has been fantastic! An open world game, lots of dramatic cinematic moments and some unique game play elements. I never heard much about this game nor the developer but it got me thinking again about how under served the Bond gaming community has been.
I mean Just Cause 2 looks to be from a relatively small game developer, doesn't seem to get a lot of mainstream press yet here we have a game that is rich, robust and super deep. It makes me realize a lot of the complaints about Blood Stone, for example, are spot on. As much as I like Blood Stone the core of the game play was just not that interesting nor innovative. Passable enough for me to enjoy the other aspects of the game but not enough for a hard core gamer who is not really a Bond fan to enjoy.
So back to Just Cause 2 ... it has a lot of the elements i would like to see in a Bond game:
- a good diversity of guns, explosives and gadgets
- 3rd person
- espionage story line
- lots of destructible buildings
- dramatic cinematic moments
- open world, a lot of choice in how you do missions
- shooting from the bottom of a helicopter while being flown away ... I mean how cool is that!?!?!?!?
What I say is lacking is the fact that the entire story takes place in one location, rich as it is Bond needs to globe trot around the world. This is a challenge of the open world design. In the GTA series they put other cities nearby the main city which is still limiting, basically just a huge map of open world-ness, not bad but limiting. In Assasin's Creed they attempt to be open world yet have different regions to travel two. Here they basically make the space between the regions not to scale by making them really small (they encourage you to fast travel but you can do it the long way). Both implementations leave something to be desired in getting to that "around the world" feeling.
Thanks for the suggestions. Just Cause 2 is a definite thumbs up for this Bond fan.
Oh another game I've been playing that gives me a Indiana Jones meets Bond vibe is Uncharted Drake's revenge. Thoughts?