• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

James Bond: Blood Stone |OT| 00-fficial 7hread

WrikaWrek

Banned
Problem with this game is...that they really should have made more shit happen in actual gameplay. Just learn from Uncharted 2 developers, come on.

Also, where are the villains? The characters? It feels like a T.V episode of James Bond.
 

Chrange

Banned
I like the driving but the shooting portions feel like a step back from other third-person games. With no targeting indicator while in cover, it can be really hard to judge where you're aiming before you pop out and with quick-trigger enemies, it's frustrating on higher difficulties.

It also started to feel like it was just more of the same. Go to a chest high wall or a corner and wait for a guy to walk buy, grab him and take him out, then move to the next wall....rinse and repeat. Sometimes you take a guy out and then focus shoot a different guy instead, but it ended up feeling kind of mundane after a bit. Enemies never did anything different and I didn't have to alter my approach at all.

As a Bond game, as a Bond fan, it's not bad. Better than most. It's not a great game though.
 

Stallion Free

Cock Encumbered
Chrange said:
I like the driving but the shooting portions feel like a step back from other third-person games. With no targeting indicator while in cover, it can be really hard to judge where you're aiming before you pop out and with quick-trigger enemies, it's frustrating on higher difficulties.
Huh? On PC there is a white dot present at all times letting you know where the reticule appear when you aim, even when you are behind cover.
 

Sew

Member
No white dot on the Xbox. In a funny/good way it reminds me of the old trial-and-error targeting in Goldeneye (64).

(I've gone straight into Agent though, which IIRC is the third highest difficulty? Maybe the lower ones have the reticule?)
 

Stallion Free

Cock Encumbered
Sew said:
No white dot on the Xbox. In a funny/good way it reminds me of the old trial-and-error targeting in Goldeneye (64).

(I've gone straight into Agent though, which IIRC is the third highest difficulty? Maybe the lower ones have the reticule?)
I was playing on Normal.
 
Just finished the game. I enjoyed it overall. I'd describe it as a good, solid game that is fairly unremarkable most of the time. It does have its moments, though. If you're interested, I highly recommend checking it out when it hits a price that's comfortable for you.

And if you're enjoying this game, check out Everything Or Nothing! I feel it's the best Bond game at evoking the feeling of being 007 by a long shot.
 

Chrange

Banned
Stallion Free said:
Huh? On PC there is a white dot present at all times letting you know where the reticule appear when you aim, even when you are behind cover.
360 on the highest available difficulty when you first start. No dot that I noticed, and I think I'd notice :D
 

Stallion Free

Cock Encumbered
Chrange said:
360 on the highest available difficulty when you first start. No dot that I noticed, and I think I'd notice :D
So it's a difficulty-based thing to make the game harder.... so you were complaining about the game making it hard on you on harder difficulties?
 
Stallion Free said:
So it's a difficulty-based thing to make the game harder.... so you were complaining about the game making it hard on you on harder difficulties?

Not only does the reticule disappear on harder difficulties but it removes the auto aim. I'm glad the auto aim goes away cause I hate that feature in games. Especially when you can't turn it off.


If your playing online objective is the way to go. You can rank up real fast. You can easily get 1000 xp per round as apposed to 300 xp for team deathmatch.
 

Chrange

Banned
Stallion Free said:
So it's a difficulty-based thing to make the game harder.... so you were complaining about the game making it hard on you on harder difficulties?

Well there's no indication it was difficulty based, it just feels like poor design. Where you're actually aiming isn't where you'd think based on the perspective, so it's annoying to have to pop out and back in to find the dot, then try and get it in the neighborhood, then pop back out again.
 

Seventy5

Member
Are any of you guys playing the multiplayer? I've been having a really good time with it, especially the objective mode. There don't seem to be too many maps for it though, and I'm guessing the game is a bomb, so there won't be any DLC. I think I'm on the last mission of single player on Agent difficulty, took me probably 4 hours total from the start of level 2 to where I am now. I will be playing on 00 Agent for sure, but I can't say I won't be trading it in next week if there aren't more people playing once it comes out in Europe. And that's a shame really, because it's a nice departure from the CoD feel of every other fucking shooter released anymore.
 
Seventy5 said:
Are any of you guys playing the multiplayer? I've been having a really good time with it, especially the objective mode. There don't seem to be too many maps for it though, and I'm guessing the game is a bomb, so there won't be any DLC. I think I'm on the last mission of single player on Agent difficulty, took me probably 4 hours total from the start of level 2 to where I am now. I will be playing on 00 Agent for sure, but I can't say I won't be trading it in next week if there aren't more people playing once it comes out in Europe. And that's a shame really, because it's a nice departure from the CoD feel of every other fucking shooter released anymore.

There's only a 1000 people total on the PS3 leaderboards. What system you playing on?
 

Sew

Member
I suddenly feel like a big man for jumping straight into Hard. I never do that. But 'sif be a GE64 player and jump in at anything less than 'Agent'. :D
 

Seventy5

Member
Rated-Rsuperstar said:
There's only a 1000 people total on the PS3 leaderboards. What system you playing on?
LOL PS3. I was 3rd on the leaderboard for objective mode earlier! Does the leaderboard score higher than 1000?
 

Choc

Banned
first two chapter spoilers

something that is really pissing me off with this game si that whenever something cool happens its in a cut scene such as the hand to hand fights and boss encounters.... they need to learn from the Jason Bourne game which had the most incredible hand to hand fights ever. It's like they didn't want to build that core mechanic
 

rallyart

Neo Member
In the PC ver, happens to someone that the game stutters every 12 seconds (from 60 fps to 53 doing nothing, like looking to floor or a wall) ?

Thanks.
 
Looks like I spoke too soon about not being anywhere near done at 5 hours....I beat the rest in a half hour. :lol The game just kinda ended and I was like, "that's it????"
and there was a cliffhanger too, which is lame because I doubt this will sell enough for them to bother continuing the story
I agree with the comments about lame characters/no real villain, but I still had a lot of fun, and would recommend it at $20 or $30 bucks. It's waaaaay too short, and it's too scripted for me to bother replaying it.
 

RedSwirl

Junior Member
I actually thought the part in Russia with the hovercraft and everything felt like it was going to be the end of the game and I was disappointed, then it kept going for two more scenarios. I'll probably finish it quickly tomorrow.

I still really like the unique intensity of the gunfights. There's always this urgent sense of forward motion but it still remains a bit tactical.
 
They should have found a way to make that hovercraft part the real end of the game, because it was more exciting than the actual end of the game, and felt more like an ending. The rest felt kinda tacked on, they should have rearranged the levels and rewrote a couple lines of dialogue to send Bond to the other places first.
 
I downloaded it from Steam yesterday and had the chance to play through the first mission and about half of the second. I tried to find a multiplayer game as well but couldn't :/ There were only 41 people on the leaderboards

What really appeals to me is the mix of different gameplay styles. I enjoy driving, stealth and shooting games but that doesn't mean I want a full game experience for each. Telling me that split second does racing better or that conviction does stealth better misses the point (IMO). Even if each part is just okay its the mix I find special.

What really makes this mix work is that the controls are never a handicap. Each part controls great and I never felt like I was stuggling to make Bond do what I need him to do.

I'm playing the PC version and is it just me or is the camera a little too close to Bond and he seems pretty far off to the side of the screen at times.

The opening through to the intro was perfect. Very "Bond" for lack of a better term. I do wish there were less cutscenes though. Theres no real reason why I can't be the one to parachute in so why make me watch it. But I'd rather have a cutscene I suppose then a shitty QTE.

Good music. I might not have noticed if it weren't for the smart phone since when you bring up smartphone vision the music fades out and I found myself missing the music

Lack of button prompts (360 pad) on the PC is more annoying then I thought it would be. Did you know that "E" is both open doors AND scanning on the PC but different buttons on the 360 pad... yeah that took me awhile to figure out. But I've got the controls pretty much figured out now. Thank god there are no QTEs in the game (so far at least).

Tonight I think I'll restart on hard though since normal seemed really easy.

Jeff on the bombcast is way off on the died to restart timing. At least on the PC it is super quick. I mean not super meat boy quick but its like 2-3 seconds
 
I just started this on PC.

I've posted some screenshots here, here and here. It's clearly not the best looking game ever, but it's the colours that annoys me. Everything is way too dark and the only option is brightness, which doesn't help. :\

It also pisses me off that despite having the 360 pad plugged in and chosen in the mens, all of the button prompts are for keyboard. Really? In 2010? It's not like the 360 pad is the standard for joypads on PC or anything...

Those issues aside, it does stay a rock solid 60 on max settings, which helps a lot.

I just don't feel that excited by the gameplay, however. The locations are dull, the shooting is repetitive and simplistic, and even the chase sequences don't feel as solid as they shold considering these are the guys that made Project Gotham Racing.

I'm about an hour in, so these are initial thoughts, however it is absolutely a mediocre game from top to bottom at the moment.
 

dark10x

Digital Foundry pixel pusher
I still don't understand the harsh reviews. I spent more time with it and am really enjoying it. I feel like people are getting caught up on stupid things and slamming the whole game for unjust reasons that would have been ignored in some other titles.

It's not a AAA blockbuster, but it's definitely pretty great. It feels infinitely better than many other 3rd person shooters released this year. Mixing up melee, stealth kills, gun fights, and focus kills seamlessly just feels satisfying. I love sneaking up on a guy, taking him out, then using a focus kill on a distant enemy before running up to a guy charging me and taking him out with a close quarters attack only to then drop to cover and take out two more distant enemies. It has a rhythm to it that is addictive. You never spend too much time sitting in one place. The game has you constantly moving and combining all of your abilities together. It's just really satisfying. It's rare to play a game that mixes up so many elements into a single package while executing all of them beautifully.

Jeff on the bombcast is way off on the died to restart timing. At least on the PC it is super quick. I mean not super meat boy quick but its like 2-3 seconds
It's super quick on PS3 as well. It's actually much faster than restarting after death in any UE3 game. The loading screen lasts for no more than 2 seconds or so and it takes no time at all to reach the continue screen. It's faster than games like Gears for certain.

The locations are dull, the shooting is repetitive and simplistic
I don't get that. How is it repetitive? There are so many ways to clear the rooms. What are you doing, just staying behind cover and popping everyone until they are all dead? That type of situation doesn't even arise very often. What makes this shooting any more simplistic than something like Uncharted (which I absolutely love)? This has a very similar formula.
 
It just doesn't feel as good to me. I point at guys, pull the trigger, and they're dead. I'm playing on hard and I haven't felt the need to engage with any tactics other than aim directly at bad guy and shoot him.

In games like Uncharted I felt the complete opposite. It's not really something I can articulate, it's definitely a "feel".
 
dark10x said:
I still don't understand the harsh reviews. I spent more time with it and am really enjoying it. I feel like people are getting caught up on stupid things and slamming the whole game for unjust reasons that would have been ignored in some other titles.

It's not a AAA blockbuster, but it's definitely pretty great. It feels infinitely better than many other 3rd person shooters released this year. Mixing up melee, stealth kills, gun fights, and focus kills seamlessly just feels satisfying. I love sneaking up on a guy, taking him out, then using a focus kill on a distant enemy before running up to a guy charging me and taking him out with a close quarters attack only to then drop to cover and take out two more distant enemies. It has a rhythm to it that is addictive. You never spend too much time sitting in one place. The game has you constantly moving and combining all of your abilities together. It's just really satisfying. It's rare to play a game that mixes up so many elements into a single package while executing all of them beautifully.

no hype = low scores lolz

Seriously though, gaming press is becoming more and more of a joke in my eyes. At least in the US
 
AgentOtaku said:
no hype = low scores lolz

Seriously though, gaming press is becoming more and more of a joke in my eyes. At least in the US

I don't know. Singularity and Blur scored pretty good with no hype whatsoever.

It is a solid Bond title, but I think people expected more coming from Bizarre Creations. They were obviously pressed for time. Could have definitely used more time.
 

RedSwirl

Junior Member
In my opinion the GameSpot review nailed it.

Shaun Mclinnis said:
The combat is at its best when you're doing just that: carving your way through enemies with a sense of urgency that deftly mimics a Bond movie's brisk action scenes. The aforementioned Bangkok rooftop level is a prime example of Blood Stone playing to its strengths. You're running after someone with ties to a figure you need to learn more about, and it's a chase that sends you leaping across buildings and quickly dropping every bad guy unlucky enough to get in your way.

Shaun Mclinnis said:
It's a soundtrack that underscores the tension of big chase scenes and establishes a more subdued feel during mid-mission cutscenes.

With the other reviews I think this is just another example of them taking too clinical an approach - looking at it feature-by-feature, and not enjoying the big picture of the game.
 
Stallion Free said:
It's why I don't read reviews. I don't have to play every shitty third person action game that reviewers do so I'm not burned out on the genre.

This this fucking this

So sick of the reception this is getting. Just got done listening to the Brocast ..err I mean Bombcast (which i'm done with anyway) and basically had the same complaints. So fucking what! not every shooter has to redefine the goddamn genre so stop pissing on titles that increase your workload just because.
Nasty ass trend that just seems to be getting worse and worse with higher budgets, more titles getting released at the same time, deadlines, hypetrains, etc.

Just bought the 360 version btw. Figured I'd take advantage of the Amazon B2/G1 sale that ends tommorow.
Picked up Vanquish and Enslaved as well.
 

dark10x

Digital Foundry pixel pusher
Played more of the game last night and I still quite like it. As noted earlier, what makes this game click for me is the thrill of chaining together kills. I love weaving around cover, stealth killing guys, using focus shots, and popping heads. I'm not satisfied with simply shooting up all of the enemies, I like taking out entire rooms silently. It just feels great. It was something I always loved about Uncharted 2 and it works well here too!

There are plenty of 3rd person shooters out there, true, but not games with this perfect blend of firearms and close quarters take downs. Sure, it's as simple as pressing a single button within range, but the variety of animations and the fact that the state of the enemies when you execute this move makes a difference means a lot. There IS a difference between stealth killing and simply knocking out that manifests itself in how the other enemies respond.

Simple little encounters can feel exhilarating as a result. For instance, let's say you have a room with three guys talking and you find yourself leaning up against the door listening in. One of them starts walking towards you. You break his neck first, then use a focus shot on one of the others, then rush forward and take out the last guy in close quarters. If you do it right, they won't have any time to fire a shot. It's this feeling of chaining together the different moves so fluidly that feels so damn good.

Oh, and the driving sections? Awesome. Gerstmann found fault with the fact that you could not simply catch up to your target immediately will skillful driving (though he also seemed to struggle with completing these sections: I finished the part he complained about on my first try). This mentality seems to stem from sandbox gaming, but the driving segments here are more in line with something like Stuntman. The object of these missions is NOT simply to catch up to your target, rather, to make it through a series of driving based challenges.

AgentOtaku said:
This this fucking this

So sick of the reception this is getting. Just got done listening to the Brocast ..err I mean Bombcast (which i'm done with anyway) and basically had the same complaints. So fucking what! not every shooter has to redefine the goddamn genre so stop pissing on titles that increase your workload just because.
Nasty ass trend that just seems to be getting worse and worse with higher budgets, more titles getting released at the same time, deadlines, hypetrains, etc.

Just bought the 360 version btw. Figured I'd take advantage of the Amazon B2/G1 sale that ends tommorow.
Picked up Vanquish and Enslaved as well.
That's a trio of kickass games right there.
 

heringer

Member
Game feels like a more polished Bourne Conspiracy.

It's a solid shooter, but not a remarkable one. 7/10 sounds like the most adequate score to me.

The bond girl is the most obnoxious female character in a videogame ever. I want to punch her in the face every time she speaks. Craig did a poor job too. Sounds like he just wasn't interested (which is most likely the case).
 
That's basically how you played the club. If this game had a scoring system it would be The Club 2 I love Blowing through area start with stealth kils Focus shots run hand to hand kill then more focus shots. Same way you play the club.
 

Kittonwy

Banned
AgentOtaku said:
no hype = low scores lolz

Seriously though, gaming press is becoming more and more of a joke in my eyes. At least in the US

Eurogamer is not in the US.

If I want to find a good game to play, how else would I know which game to buy without spending money to buy/rent the game if I don't look at reviews?

I don't fucking understand how you can avoid spending $60 on a shitty game (not saying whether this is shitty or not) if you can't trust reviews, basically very few games are completely without redeeming qualities and somebody will end up liking it or finding it "fun", everytime I listen to somebody regarding a borderline iffy game I end up getting burned. The whole "fuck reviews" mentality doesn't really help, it's like a "5" game is actually a "7", a "7" game is also a "7", how the fuck would I distinguish games that are good from the rest if I'm supposed to believe every fucking game is "solid"?
 
Kittonwy said:
Eurogamer is not in the US.

If I want to find a good game to play, how else would I know which game to buy without spending money to buy/rent the game if I don't look at reviews?

I don't fucking understand how you can avoid spending $60 on a shitty game (not saying whether this is shitty or not) if you can't trust reviews, basically very few games are completely without redeeming qualities and somebody will end up liking it or finding it "fun", everytime I listen to somebody regarding a borderline iffy game I end up getting burned. The whole "fuck reviews" mentality doesn't really help, it's like a "5" game is actually a "7", a "7" game is also a "7", how the fuck would I distinguish games that are good from the rest if I'm supposed to believe every fucking game is "solid"?

I'm not saying fuck reviews. I'll use them as guidelines in tandem with impressions from joe-schmoe gamer in the end. This works if you're not buying games day one and can wait for some honest impressions.
If I would have soley relied on the press to determine what I'd be buying, I would have missed some little gems that I was quite fond of like God Hand, The Outfit, K&L Dog Days, Lost Planet 2, Bionic Commando, etc.

But I don't know man, I'd say if you're on the fence and don't see enough to make ya hop over, then just move along. Save some money and wait for something you REALLY wanna play.
 

pakkit

Banned
FTWer said:
Are you kidding? Fur Fighters was amazing.
It a was huge non-linear Banjo Kazooie like platformer with proper 3rd person shooting mechanics.

There hasn't been a game like it every since.
I agree with this man! Get fluffed.
 

ArjanN

Member
AgentOtaku said:
I'm not saying fuck reviews. I'll use them as guidelines in tandem with impressions from joe-schmoe gamer in the end. This works if you're not buying games day one and can wait for some honest impressions.
If I would have soley relied on the press to determine what I'd be buying, I would have missed some little gems that I was quite fond of like God Hand, The Outfit, K&L Dog Days, Lost Planet 2, Bionic Commando, etc.

But I don't know man, I'd say if you're on the fence and don't see enough to make ya hop over, then just move along. Save some money and wait for something you REALLY wanna play.

This.

Not to mention how easy it is nowadays to get game footage online, there's usually full playthroughs out there day 0.
 

hayejin

Member
Just finished that Train chase.
That was pretty nicely looking and fun level. Of course it could be from the effect of playing Goldeneye on Wii for 2 hours and then coming back to Blood Stone in nice HD graphics.
 

Penguin

Member
Finally got this game, been enjoying myself.

I have some beef with the game, but as a whole been enjoying myself. Up to the level where you are chasing the train in your car.

I have to say Craig and Dench's faces look awful in this game.
 

JdFoX187

Banned
Yeah, the character models and lip syncing isn't all that great. Finished it up yesterday, and had a blast. There were a few difficult parts that made me cringe. But, overall, it was a very solid, and fun, effort. Driving sections sort of felt out of place some times though. They should have done a better job of mixing those into the game. Solid 8/10 title. And took me longer than four hours. Think I probably completed it around 8 or so on Agent, which is the next to highest difficulty.
 

Penguin

Member
Just beat the game, and I will say overall I had fun with it, but it had a lot of problems. Oddly enough, one of my biggest peeves was the driving section.

I'd say a solid 7 title. May try some online.
 
A 63 review average seems fair for a game that is competent but doesn't stand out from the crowd. Which is what it sounds like Blood Stone is.
 

MYE

Member
dark10x said:
picked up Goldeneye just for kicks along with Bloodstone. Thus far, Bloodstone is much more engaging and significantly more polished than Goldeneye. GE feels pretty low budget in comparison, though it's still a pretty good time.

wat
 

donny2112

Member
MYE said:

It's dark10x. He and the Wii don't get along.

May pick this up for cheap down the line. An "average" and short Bond game could still be worth $10-20. Really like the Daniel Craig Bond. Next movie is in 2012, and it'll surely have a game. Just leaves the question of if there'll be a Bond game next year, then.
 
I haven't played the HD bond game but Goldeneye is fantastic on Wii. Stands on it's own as a great FPS, hd or not, and pointer controls or not. I really like that game.
 
Top Bottom