A functional if completely bland experience that never manages to take full advantage of the licence it's working with. James Bond games have really run the whole gambit over their existence, from the genre defining Goldeneye to the forgettable Quantum of Solace. So it's never a complete given that you can write off a James Bond game, but there's never a guarantee you're getting something of quality. What attracted me to Blood Stone was the fact that it was a completely original James Bond story that was completely detached from any need to bend the story around an already established plot. I figured that perhaps this game would justify it's existence by telling a unique original 007 story that only video games could tell.
I was wrong.
Turns out what you actually get is a generic maguffin to maguffin plot that I struggle to remember even after only playing the game barely a month ago. Daniel Craig sure is a real sport for coming back for this even though he probably didn't have to (unless there's some sort of contract he signed that said he had to do this), but if I'm being brutally honest I don't think he's a great voice actor. He's trying for sure but there's just something about it that feels off.
Anyway gameplay is exactly what you'd expect, standard cover based third person shooting with the occasional bare bones uncharted esc puzzle to "spice" things up. Oh and there are a few driving sections, about 3 in total I think? In all honesty those are probably the best part of the game. The driving has a certain feeling of speed and urgency that really make them a blast to play. But everything else just sort of fades into the background of my mind. There's just nothing in there I can point to that this game did better than the hundreds of other games out that are similar to it.
Why am I even writing this review? Are you even reading it? Anyone? This game has disappeared so thoroughly from the public consciousness that I'll be genuinely surprised if this ever gets read. But if you are, and genuinely curious if you should play this, then it's not a horrible way to spend 2-4 dollars. But otherwise unless you're a James Bond completion it's safe to leave this one alone.
I was wrong.
Turns out what you actually get is a generic maguffin to maguffin plot that I struggle to remember even after only playing the game barely a month ago. Daniel Craig sure is a real sport for coming back for this even though he probably didn't have to (unless there's some sort of contract he signed that said he had to do this), but if I'm being brutally honest I don't think he's a great voice actor. He's trying for sure but there's just something about it that feels off.
Anyway gameplay is exactly what you'd expect, standard cover based third person shooting with the occasional bare bones uncharted esc puzzle to "spice" things up. Oh and there are a few driving sections, about 3 in total I think? In all honesty those are probably the best part of the game. The driving has a certain feeling of speed and urgency that really make them a blast to play. But everything else just sort of fades into the background of my mind. There's just nothing in there I can point to that this game did better than the hundreds of other games out that are similar to it.
Why am I even writing this review? Are you even reading it? Anyone? This game has disappeared so thoroughly from the public consciousness that I'll be genuinely surprised if this ever gets read. But if you are, and genuinely curious if you should play this, then it's not a horrible way to spend 2-4 dollars. But otherwise unless you're a James Bond completion it's safe to leave this one alone.