Creating a Bond title bears a hell of a lot of responsibility for the developer. The reverence of the license, together with an ever-growing fan base demands that the end product does the series justice. As history will tell us however, Bond games are a mixed affair, ranging from the impeccable quality of GoldenEye64 to the abysmal attempt to recapture that audience in GoldenEye: Rogue Agent.

Cheer up Bond

Rather than ride the coattails of Rare’s classic shooter and cash in on the nostalgia of gamers, Blur developer Bizarre Creations has taken it upon itself to create a unique Bond iteration that breaks free from expectation and delivers an exhilarating take on the franchise on its own terms.

The result is Blood Stone, a gritty, modern attempt at recapturing the dark tones and stark brutality of Daniel Craig’s Bond in Casino Royale, with a healthy does of Quantum of Solace-inspired action thrown in for good measure.

Like Bond films before it, Blood Stone opens with a pre-credit prologue that sees 007 attempting to stop a gang of terrorists from gate crashing a G10 summit in Athens. While this opening stage lasts 15 minutes, the action is non-stop, delivering a constant barrage of gunplay, searing explosions and destruction. The scene opens with Bond parachuting onto the deck of the terrorist’s yacht, stealthily making his way around the surface, taking out goons one by one.

Ejector seat?

Rather than an all-out shooter, the action here is comparable to Metal Gear Solid or Splinter Cell: Conviction. Bond can take a stealth approach, using his swift, brutal takedowns to dispatch enemies and earn ‘focus aim’, which is essentially a replication of Conviction’s ‘mark and execute’ mechanic, which allows for instant kills and a sparse window of slow-mo. This did seem to make the mission a tad easier than expected, but it captures the combat proficiency and marksmanship of Bond perfectly.

Alternatively, Bond can lay waste to the ship in a hail of gunfire, strategically navigating his environment using cover. The gunplay is weighted, brazen and hugely satisfying, particularly when the enemy starts to return fire. Although it employs a cover mechanic this is most definitely not Bond of War, or any other Gears of War pun to that effect.

After the skirmish dies down Bond reaches his mark, the terrorist cell leader Greco. Giving Bond the slip, Greco escapes on a speedboat initiating Blood Stone’s first vehicular section. Being a proficient driving studio, Bizarre Creations has nailed the tense, over-the-top atmosphere of ever Bond car chases put to film.

The chase is not on rails, but it does follow a strict path. Bond careers after Greco in his boat, weaving in and out of helicopter gunfire, while pursuing Greco’s craft and shooting his henchmen. Debris flies at Bond from all angles, multiple routes, jumps and hazards appear as the scenery shifts under the strain of the battle.

Reaching the shore, Bond jumps his boat up a pier then bails out as the gunplay kicks in again instantly. Shooting his way to a restaurant, Bond catches up to Greco again, before his getaway jeep makes off with a batch of explosives heading straight for the G10 summit. Enter vehicle chase scene number two, as Bond tears after the jeep in a flashy sports car, screaming around hairpin corners, through hazardous tunnels and over sun bleached bridges, before ramming the enemy jeep off the road in a blazing fireball.

… continued