Review of 007 Legends

yoyoyojoyoyoyojo Posts: 46MI6 Agent
Well sadly I was NOT wrong. This review is what I sadly expected, another half-baked effort by Activision.

Too bad Blood Stone was not better received, they were really onto something fresh there.

http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/10/16/007-legends-review

Comments

  • Helpful chap77Helpful chap77 Posts: 26MI6 Agent
    This is pretty shocking to me, they couldn't even be bothered to release a decent game to celebrate 50 years of Bond?? I can't even believe I've pre-ordered this, this proves that Activision don't give a stuff about anything apart from Call of Duty. It's sad that Activision have the rights to the Bond franchise, let's hope after this monstrosity gets released, Bond is set free from Activisions evil clutches. I'll still end up playing this in the hope that I may get some enjoyment out of it, I doubt it though! X-(
    aaahhgh!...Thud..(sorts out tie) what a helpful chap
  • Mr BeechMr Beech Florida, USAPosts: 1,749MI6 Agent
    EA did a decent job compared to Activision. I hope the critical failure of this title convinces Activision to let go and let another competitor give the franchise a different approach.
  • Helpful chap77Helpful chap77 Posts: 26MI6 Agent
    Mr Beech wrote:
    EA did a decent job compared to Activision. I hope the critical failure of this title convinces Activision to let go and let another competitor give the franchise a different approach.
    Yes I hope they lose the Bond licence, but in all honesty I don't think they will. I don't think they'll let it go, they'll squeeze the money out of the franchise for as long as they can, I can't stand them.
    aaahhgh!...Thud..(sorts out tie) what a helpful chap
  • TonyDPTonyDP Inside the MonolithPosts: 4,277MI6 Agent
    edited October 2012
    I am not at all surprised by the poor quality of this game. Activision has been notorious for making these Bond games on the quick and cheap and, as was the case with every other one of their Bond games, it all looks so inferior and by the numbers compared to most modern franchises. The graphics are clunky, the backgrounds low res and bland, the facial textures positively zombie-like and the gameplay appears so pedestrian and identical to past games without any wrinkles to differentiate it from what came before - Bond should be more than incessant shooting and using your all-purpose cameraphone to snap pictures.

    I also have to say, seeing Craig's mug and hearing Craig's voice in re-enactments of scenes from the classic movies feels every bit as wrong and misguided as I thought it would be and it doesn't help that Craig's delivery is his typical disinterested monotone. If you're going to pay these actors to voice over your games, at least get a decent vocal director to coax some emotion out of them.

    EA's games (many of which I still own) were masterpieces compared to this drek. Utterly pathetic all around.

    BTW, here's a link to IGN's video review
    http://www.ign.com/videos/2012/10/16/007-legends-video-review
  • yoyoyojoyoyoyojo Posts: 46MI6 Agent
    I just had a thought, maybe it's so bad it's good. Someday I'm sure I'll pick this up for cheap and when I do I'll have zero expectations. Then when I play I'll thnk to myself, 'this aint so bad'.

    Damn those Activision guys are smart!
  • TonyDPTonyDP Inside the MonolithPosts: 4,277MI6 Agent
    Another scathing, but very well thought out review of 007 Legends courtesy of Kotaku....

    http://kotaku.com/5953642/007-legends-the-kotaku-review

    The observation I found most telling is the visage of Craig flashing back to Bond's previous adventures (the mechanism by which you play each level) ... even though Craig represents a reboot in which those adventures never happened.
  • Trigger_MortisTrigger_Mortis Posts: 100MI6 Agent
    Forgive the self-plagiarism from another thread, but my initial response seems more appropriate here. This is my response to the game:

    I hate to be negative but i've just got to get this off my chest. From what i've read and seen, they've just cobbled together a hodgepodge of gameplay styles based on popular gaming mediums but forgetting to underpin them with any context or depth in the story writing to justify their inclusion. From the beginning, the concept of "007 Legends" as a compilation style adventure just seemed odd and the reviews reflect that. I expected it to just be a clone of Goldeneye Reloaded but so far it seems to have fallen short of even that.

    007 gaming has simply lost its charm. Gaming developers like Activision need to realise there is more to 007 than running, sneaking and shooting. What about all those cool undercover moments where you need to question a suspect? Going to the bar, asking for a martini, having a believable open level where you can really look around and interact rather than be cut off by an invisible wall. Even the briefings of the missions feel meaningless in their dispassionate single-screen overview of the mission rather than walking to M's office, listening to the banter, seeing the office environment around you to really pull you into the story. The only good that can come from 007 Legends is a wake up call to the developers based on all these bad reviews that the fans demand something FAR MORE than the approach of late.

    Need further evidence of Activision's lack of innovation? Take a look at this and tell me it doesn't replicate the bar scenes from Bloodstone and Goldeneye Reloaded:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgLeleYOvhA
  • DaltonFan1DaltonFan1 The West of IrelandPosts: 503MI6 Agent
    Joel wrote:

    Need further evidence of Activision's lack of innovation? Take a look at this and tell me it doesn't replicate the bar scenes from Bloodstone and Goldeneye Reloaded:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgLeleYOvhA

    "I am so tired of all these guys thinking that a woman can't run a company."

    Seriously though, I was fairly shocked to realise that the first 50 seconds of that clip is totally out of the player's control. How difficult can it be to simply make the game playable like QOS, actually giving the player some degree of control?
    “Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to a better understanding of ourselves.” - Carl Jung
  • whiteknight86whiteknight86 MexicoPosts: 43MI6 Agent
    I´m also angry because the stupid disc didn´t even run on my xbox. Has anybody experienced this? I ordered it online with the first store that released it here in mexico, so I have to ship it back to get another X-(
    Half monk, half hitman
  • Trigger_MortisTrigger_Mortis Posts: 100MI6 Agent
    DaltonFan1 wrote:
    Joel wrote:

    Need further evidence of Activision's lack of innovation? Take a look at this and tell me it doesn't replicate the bar scenes from Bloodstone and Goldeneye Reloaded:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgLeleYOvhA

    "I am so tired of all these guys thinking that a woman can't run a company."

    Seriously though, I was fairly shocked to realise that the first 50 seconds of that clip is totally out of the player's control. How difficult can it be to simply make the game playable like QOS, actually giving the player some degree of control?

    I have to admit that the downward spiral of the 007 games actually started with the Quantum Of Solace game. In a few ways it was like Legends because it made an attempt to combine more than one plot into a hybrid story. I know, Royale and Royale were intended as "Part 1" and "Part 2" of the Vesper story, but the game just felt like a game highlighting moments from the two films. But, back to the main point, I felt that even with this game there was a lack of control. No exploration, invisible walls on the streets of Rome, linear shoot and sneak play, and short campaign. Frankly, with the exception of the middle of the road Bloodstone we got, the entire Craig era is leaving the Brosnan era as the golden age of 007 gaming.
  • ErikBErikB Posts: 7MI6 Agent
    I think Bloodstone is great.

    --

    I am pretty comfortable with Bond being a British video game action hero with more disposable income than normal. So he should be able to hold his own (win!) in a fight with Sam Fisher from Splinter Cell Conviction/Blacklist or Jason Bourne in The Bourne Conspiracy game, or anyone else in gaming.

    I'd certainly be happy to play a 'James Bond Lifestyle Simulator' as well, but I am not sure what form it would take.
    -Erik
  • WordsAndDreamsWordsAndDreams Posts: 93MI6 Agent
    Someone needs to do to James Bond what Rocksteady did for Batman. Basically, we need it to be given to a developer that genuinely cares about the franchise (and its fans) and make a game worthy of the source material. We need genuine inspiration, not more of this half-assed stuff where they just slop together a bunch of "Bond" elements.
  • ErikBErikB Posts: 7MI6 Agent
    Ideally such a game would involve at least as much playing golf and attending classy parties as beating up villains though, which is going to be pretty tricky.

    And Arkham Asylum game directly copied would involve Bond infiltrating a standard issue villain volcano lair, which would certainly be fun, but might not give one much opportunity to drive expensive cars and dress up in a nice suit.
    -Erik
  • scaramanga1scaramanga1 The English RivieraPosts: 845Chief of Staff
    Saw the trailer for 007 Legends last night when I went to see SKYFALL. Was quite astonished at how poor the graphics looked. Why also use the YOLT Blofeld in the OHMSS levels and not Telly Savalas? I will probably still buy the game eventually and no doubt at a vastly reduced price when it doesn't sell very well -but I concur -this game could be so so much better. I know there is a Skyfall level that can be downloaded - but I hope a proper Skyfall game can be produced that gives what today's gamers expect. High quality.
  • Trigger_MortisTrigger_Mortis Posts: 100MI6 Agent
    ErikB wrote:
    Ideally such a game would involve at least as much playing golf and attending classy parties as beating up villains...

    But this is precisely the sort of game I want ;(
  • AdamOmegaAdamOmega Edmonton, AB, CanadaPosts: 297MI6 Agent
    Can't remember the last time I felt so insanely frustrated with a video game; the graphics and lack of Daniel Craig's voice are the least of my problems with it... :#
    "The secret agent. The man who was only a silhouette..." -- Ian Fleming, Moonraker

    1) The Spy Who Loved Me 2) On Her Majesty's Secret Service 3) GoldenEye 4) Casino Royale 5) Goldfinger
  • yoyoyojoyoyoyojo Posts: 46MI6 Agent
    Absolutely correct!

    The Batman video game franchise is THE STANDARD for making a video game from a beloved long existing franchise. I essentially compare every effort to Batman Arkham City. They proved that a high quality game that transcends the original IP canbe done. You don't need a direct tie in with the movie either. Lets cut out that silliness right now. We just want to get our Bond on, we do not need a half baked game that is rushed to market to be in sync with a movie. Batman AC didn't do that. they just developed a kick ass game in parallel to a kick as movie trilogy. the games and recent movies are very similar but do not rely oneahc other nor even try to sync up. Who cares!

    And another thing ...

    Let's not start saying that Golden Eye Reloaded (on PS3) is now considered a good game. I swaer one reviewer writes it and everyone repeats it. Everythignthat is said about Legends I said about GER, bland, generic, not up to current standards. But one reviewer stated somethign to the effect that GER "was arguably the best Bond game sicne the original GE". No it wasn't! It was crap! Legends is just more of the same crap.
    Someone needs to do to James Bond what Rocksteady did for Batman. Basically, we need it to be given to a developer that genuinely cares about the franchise (and its fans) and make a game worthy of the source material. We need genuine inspiration, not more of this half-assed stuff where they just slop together a bunch of "Bond" elements.
  • scottmu65scottmu65 Carlisle, Cumbria, UKPosts: 402MI6 Agent
    Not played 007 Legends yet and probably won't until it's reduced to a fiver pre-owned, I used to love when a new Bond game came out, but since Acitvision took over they have been terrible, most of the reviews are bad so why don't they take heed and to what the fans/reviewers say and either hand over the reigns or learn from their mistakes?? Also why are you limited to only two/three weapons nowadays?

    Quantum of Solace was linear and terrible ALTHOUGH I am not really into online multiplayer I quite enjoyed this one

    Bloodstone was just awful

    GoldenEye 007 "reimagining" was awful, nobody asked for it, nobody wanted it, everybody got it and it didn't work at all. People wanted a straight remake of Goldeneye with awesome graphics much in the same style as Halo Anniversary.

    At least EA had a decent mix of single player and local multiplayer, Nightfire and AUF had great multiplayer. I'd sooner play GoldenEye Rogue Agent than these piles of bullcrap.

    I agree with above statements, somebody needs to do with Bond what Rocksteady did with Batman, also we need cool gadgets and exploration, stealth, choices. Look at Bethesda's 'Dishonored', a great example of freedom and choice within a video game. Yeah they don't want gadgets etc. in the Bond movies anymore but if done properly they would be awesome within a new Bond game (Anybody remember the Q-Claw in AUF/NF)

    I don't really know what to say except that my love of Bond video games is gone.
    http://www.classicbondforums.tk - Please support our community.
  • Kent007Kent007 Posts: 338MI6 Agent
    As an idea, I was excited about 007 Legends but having played previous Activision attempts at Bond games, I wasn't excited about it as a game. I haven't brought it and unless it gets reduced to a price that's acceptable for the quality that's being reported, I don't plan on doing.
    Nightfire was a brilliant Bond game but since the days of this and Agent Under Fire, the Bond games haven't developed or progressed as much as they should've done. I admit Bloodstone wasn't half bad but a big improvement is needed for if they ever bring out another Bond game.
    "You are about to wake when you dream that you are dreaming"
  • ErikBErikB Posts: 7MI6 Agent
    Gadgets are dumb.

    (Possibly I am just old enough to think a smartphone pretty exotic in itself).
    -Erik
  • Kent007Kent007 Posts: 338MI6 Agent
    I played Goldeneye Reloaded and though I found the missions of it quite good, the mulitplayer section wasn't very good. I was quite excited when they released Legends but given some of the reviews I've seen on here, and my experience of GE Reloaded, I didn't buy it. Now the price has gone down (I found it for about £18 online), is it worth buying it?

    I'd like to try it but don't really want to pay top money for it
    "You are about to wake when you dream that you are dreaming"
  • GoldenEye85GoldenEye85 Posts: 278MI6 Agent
    scottmu65 wrote:
    GoldenEye 007 "reimagining" was awful, nobody asked for it, nobody wanted it, everybody got it and it didn't work at all.

    Actually, people have been asking for a remake of GoldenEye for some time, however what they wanted can't happen because Rare is owned by Microsoft now and Nintendo still has some say in the matter as to whether or not a remake would see the light of day.

    To each their own I suppose, but I love GoldenEye Reloaded! It's one of my favorite games this generation along with Duke Nukem Forever and Bioshock series. I mean they kept enough of the original story to where you can tell it's still GoldenEye, but told it in a brand new way, using the Daniel Craig style of James Bond to drive the story. Gameplay wise it is an incredible game, the stealth is one of the finest I have seen in an FPS in a long time.

    If 007 Legends is anything like what GoldenEye Reloaded was I would suggest not listening to the reviewers and just trying it for yourself. When I get the money, that's what I'm gonna do. Eurocom, at least from my perspective has never done a bad James Bond game; the N64 version of TWINE was good except for a few things, Nightfire was just amazing for that time. Eurocom was an unfortunate casualty of these bad reviewers for this game.
    1, GE 2, CR 3, SF 4, TWINE 5, Spectre 6, TMWTGG 7, DAD 8, LALD 9, AVTAK 10, LTK 11, Octopussy 12, Moonraker 13, TLD 14, GF 15, QOS 16, Tomorrow 17, FYEO 18. TSWLM Not seen much: Dr. No, Russia, Thunderball, Twice, Majesty.

    1: Brosnan 2: Craig 3: Moore 4: Dalton 5: Connery and 6: Lazenby
  • StawazStawaz CanadaPosts: 101MI6 Agent
    edited June 2013
    I'd recommend the game. I know, it's another awful Bond game, nothing like the good old ones, but it's quite fun. At least, give it a rent, if those things still exist.

    Anyway, we need another Nightfire. And I totally agree, we need a Dev who cares about Bond, and who will write their OWN kick ass story, not just a horrible copy and paste of a movie.
  • PPK 7.65mmPPK 7.65mm Saratoga Springs NY USAPosts: 1,224MI6 Agent
    Yes video game rentals do exist still, there is a company called Game Fly that rents games to customers via the mail similar to what Netflicks does for movies and TV shows.

    I agree that its time a new publisher was sought for the James Bond series of video games. Activision has proven time and again that they could care less about the license which is a real shame considering how much time they devote to games based on Spider-Man and other Marvel Comics characters and those tend to see a lot of sales.
  • GoldenEye85GoldenEye85 Posts: 278MI6 Agent
    edited June 2013
    I realize that such a thing would cost a lot of money, but why can't Eon make a division specifically for the 007 games and go at it their own way and just release it through another company?

    Otherwise no matter who gets the license next (Rockstar, Konami or Ubisoft for a few examples) it will be molded after what those companies do best. Rockstar has been mentioned here before for a rather cool idea, I thought anyway, for an open world style game. Konami would probably go Metal Gear Solid style with it. Ubisoft would have a couple of choices, either taking the mold of Far Cry, which graphic wise would be gorgeous if Far Cry 3 is anything to go by, or the Tom Clancy games.

    But no matter who takes it, it will be the same as what Activision did. Just for what their company does best.
    1, GE 2, CR 3, SF 4, TWINE 5, Spectre 6, TMWTGG 7, DAD 8, LALD 9, AVTAK 10, LTK 11, Octopussy 12, Moonraker 13, TLD 14, GF 15, QOS 16, Tomorrow 17, FYEO 18. TSWLM Not seen much: Dr. No, Russia, Thunderball, Twice, Majesty.

    1: Brosnan 2: Craig 3: Moore 4: Dalton 5: Connery and 6: Lazenby
  • StawazStawaz CanadaPosts: 101MI6 Agent
    I realize that such a thing would cost a lot of money, but why can't Eon make a division specifically for the 007 games and go at it their own way and just release it through another company?

    Otherwise no matter who gets the license next (Rockstar, Konami or Ubisoft for a few examples) it will be molded after what those companies do best. Rockstar has been mentioned here before for a rather cool idea, I thought anyway, for an open world style game. Konami would probably go Metal Gear Solid style with it. Ubisoft would have a couple of choices, either taking the mold of Far Cry, which graphic wise would be gorgeous if Far Cry 3 is anything to go by, or the Tom Clancy games.

    But no matter who takes it, it will be the same as what Activision did. Just for what their company does best.

    About Eon making their own division strictly for gaming, I think that's a great idea. It wouldn't be the first time, either. Steven Spielberg made a division of Dreamworks known as "Dreamworks Interactive" for the Medal of Honor series. (Dreamworks Interactive later turned into EA). But I do indeed think that it would be a good way to get a good Bond game again. If not, I think Rockstar would be a good choice. It's not really like anything Rockstar has done before, which could be a good thing. I think if you used a studio (Ubisoft for example) that has done similar games in the past then they would try to make Bond their type of game, which might not work. Rockstar also doesn't push out games every year. If you look at their game library, it's not that big, but they are all really well done. I think Rockstar would be the best option, other than just getting a division of Eon to do it. Other than that, I can only think of SCE (Sony Computer Entertainment) doing it, since Sony owns Columbia Pictures, which is now producing all of the Bond movies. Whatever comes out of it, I just hope it's good.
  • GoldenEye85GoldenEye85 Posts: 278MI6 Agent
    ^

    The problem with SCE doing it, is that it would only be on the Playstation as I simply can't see them openly and willingly making a game that could potentially sell really well to it's competitors.

    Anyone else that's not owned by a console maker (Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo) would most likely go to all systems.
    1, GE 2, CR 3, SF 4, TWINE 5, Spectre 6, TMWTGG 7, DAD 8, LALD 9, AVTAK 10, LTK 11, Octopussy 12, Moonraker 13, TLD 14, GF 15, QOS 16, Tomorrow 17, FYEO 18. TSWLM Not seen much: Dr. No, Russia, Thunderball, Twice, Majesty.

    1: Brosnan 2: Craig 3: Moore 4: Dalton 5: Connery and 6: Lazenby
  • PPK 7.65mmPPK 7.65mm Saratoga Springs NY USAPosts: 1,224MI6 Agent
    Hopefully soon we will know for certain if Activision is going to hold onto the license or drop it since they removed all of their James Bond video game downloads from Steam and Xbox Live Arcade in the winter and 007 Legends performed pretty poorly sales wise across the board.

    I know I will feel a lot better if I knew for certain the status the license and what Activision was planning on doing in the near future.
  • GoldenEye85GoldenEye85 Posts: 278MI6 Agent
    edited March 2014
    Update time!


    I am finally able to play 007 Legends and I can honestly say I'm very, very happy with the purchase. The levels are solid.....a little shorter than I expected, so there is a little bit of a let down, but overall I'm really impressed with the level of difficulty in the game. The area in License to Kill where you have to sneak through the lab and not let the alarm be set off, wow that was tough.


    =Edit=
    For me, I don't even mind that the other Bond actors weren't involved in the game, in much the same way I was okay with Pierce Brosnan not being involved with GoldenEye Wii/Reloaded, since it was a retelling of the story, which is how I view the levels of 007 Legends as a modern telling of these stories, and it really doesn't do it that badly. I mean there is enough there that you can tell where they are coming from but also enough to refresh them.

    Is it a perfect game? No, but it does what I want it to, and that is to entertain me.


    Second edit:

    I would like to add now that I have finished 007 Legends and do have some negative things to say about it. To start off with the fact that they drop you in one of the missions and give you enough information to confuse this *&%$ out of you.

    For example to start the On Her Majesty's Secret Service part, you are on skis and have to follow AND KEEP UP with Tracy, however it doesn't tell you how to speed up, I had to go online to figure out that you have to press and hold the left bumper (I play on 360) throughout the entire section, I mean even GoldenEye Reloaded, made by the same studio, gave you some direction.

    The fact that there is no overarching story to even try to link the stories together leaves a lot to be desired.

    There are others too but I will leave it with this last one. The Skyfall section.....WTF? What exactly were they worried about being spoiled that they decided to make it a free DLC addon for PS3 and 360, while on the Wii U it was on disc? I mean you fight Patrice in the open glass room as sort of a final boss for the game, and then it ends. Again, WTF?

    In short, I commend them for trying, but 007 Legends does fall short for what it could have been.

    I for Connery and Dalton I think they made okay choices, however Moonraker got old REAL quick especially during the zero g section, it was neat at first, but it became quite annoying, especially trying to destroy the arms. As for the Die Another Day segment, This was one of the more solid parts of the game, in my opinion.

    The mechanics were fine. A nice, solid update from GoldenEye Reloaded in the areas I felt needed tweaking and the overall concept was great, but I expected a lot more from this game.
    1, GE 2, CR 3, SF 4, TWINE 5, Spectre 6, TMWTGG 7, DAD 8, LALD 9, AVTAK 10, LTK 11, Octopussy 12, Moonraker 13, TLD 14, GF 15, QOS 16, Tomorrow 17, FYEO 18. TSWLM Not seen much: Dr. No, Russia, Thunderball, Twice, Majesty.

    1: Brosnan 2: Craig 3: Moore 4: Dalton 5: Connery and 6: Lazenby
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