Treyarch gets some amazing opportunities. Spider-Man, Call of Duty, and now a shot at the James Bond franchise. Aside from the random exception, their output tends to be more average than not. The Spider-Man titles have evolved so slowly over the past several years that it would require leaping releases to experience anything that might be thought of as new. The Call of Duty releases were okay but clearly inferior to Infinity Ward’s, albeit less time-constrained, yield. Now we have Bond, James Bond, a franchise reenergized by Craig Daniels and ready to take the start anew after years of slumping releases from EA. Like past releases, the franchise remains more interesting than the game, but at least now Bond is coming back to his digital form.

Playing Quantum of Solace, I couldn’t shake how familiar it all seemed to the recently released Bourne Identity games. The latter might have had greater graphical detail, but the latter lacked the abundant, monotonous fisticuffs. Both have the same kill.switch cover- and blind-fire system, healthy arsenals, numerous and possibly mildly brain-dead opponents, and…guh…quicktime sequences to disarm foes. Bourne feels like he’s skating on ice, but Bond has a better flow and level layout. They are more like really similar brothers rather than identical twins, but you get much of the same experience with either one.

With the movie not yet out in theaters, it’s difficult to say just how closely the game follows the storyline. In a move that I assume is to not give too much away, a portion of the game actually takes place during the time of Casino Royale. After going through some of the new content, a quick flashback has Bond back at the casino with a horrible looking rendition of Vespa. You actually get to play through the heart attack scene, which was pretty interesting, if a bit needlessly difficult. That scenario serves as a good example for the game as a whole. After ingesting some poison, Bond has to make it to his car to use his fancy spy deliberator, so as you make your way through a hazy view, stumbling along through the entrance, you’re stopped dead in your tracks by a couple in the doorway. What? Why aren’t they moving out of the way for the sweaty guy that’s obviously ill? Why can’t I shove them out of the way? After dying, I noticed another exit, the doorway next to them, which was conveniently free from stonewall patrons.

Throughout the game there were design decisions made that resulted in the experience coming off as overly gamey. The cellphones, for instance. Aside from collecting them to unlock an achievement, they seem to serve as a pretty cool perk for treasure hunters: you get audio, text, and images that show nearby areas, tell about the goings-on of the characters, and find out about weak infrastructure of potentially dangerous devices left about. In the end, though, they don’t serve a purpose other than for achievements. The areas seen aren’t optional as you will eventually be funneled into them, and the dangerous devices shine to draw your eye towards them. At first I thought I was getting a one-up on the enemy that less adventurous gamers weren’t, but I really just spent too much time looking for phones. The characters are minimally represented and whatever is found on the phones will be found out during mid missions briefings and loadings. There is a good bit of such perceived possibilities, when in the end the hallways are deadends, roofs collapse, and ladders are inaccessible.

Then again, most of you, aware of the disastrous history of movie-licensed games, are well aware that there were going to be problems. Or you just want to play a decent Bond game again. Or you want to blow the hell out of some nondescript clones that look seem slightly European. Well, then you’re in luck. What the game does do right is give you a large arsenal that consists of smoke canisters, grenades, shotguns, uzis, assault rifles, pistols, and heavy machineguns and a lot of bad guys to shoot them with. The AI is pretty lackluster, though, with the enemy responding only a handful of times to a grenade near their feet with there being more verbal rather than physical reactions. The enemy doesn’t so much flank as it does pour down fire from comfortable positions, awaiting your helpful round to end their shooting gallery ways, and randomly just running up to you. I would assume that had the enemy been intelligent, the game would be nearly impossible as each area is crammed with terrorists and clandestine agents. Step, die, step, die, step, die doesn’t sound too fun.

There is a bit of variety, despite the linear design. A few stealth sections are forced on you, but most of the frustration can be negated by either just shooting it out – thankfully you can just alert the guards and have it out with them instead of having to reload – hack camera to turn them off, or try to find a way around sensors by going through side rooms. It isn’t Fallout open, of course, but it does allow for a few Simon Says-style games to creep in (to unlock) or for you to feel super spy awesome as you simple hold down a button to hack the cameras. I think most will appreciate the break from the steady gunfire.

Considering the length of the game is at about three days, renting is your best option. Multiplayer is solid enough to squeeze a few more days out of it, so you’ll be returning it right as you get tired of it. Played via Live or split screen, Quantum of Solace offers a number of options and a credit-based store system. There are free-for-alls, classic (start with pistol), capture the flag, escape as Bond, track other players down, and Golden Gun, where the player with the golden gun is “it” and also extremely powerful. Despite there being a dozen maps, the same five tend to be used ad nausea; it’s not that the five used are bad, it’s that they get old being in such heavy rotation. Credits are earned throughout the bouts that are spent no guns, armor, grenades, and all kinds of goodies. Aside from weapons, you can buy accessories (e.g. silencers), the ability to carry an additional weapon, extra damage delivered per round, and also keener senses for better aiming. After purchasing the goods – including gold-plated versions of the weapons – you can then set up custom layouts to quickly choose what to use before the start of the round. Guns can be picked up during combat, so even if you aren’t great with the start submachine gun, you can even things out after a few minutes of scavenging. Being able to use cover adds a good bit to the combat, as does the healthy arsenal and abilities, making for a fairly solid experience.

Overall: 6.5/10