Quantum of Solace (DS)
It's not for nothing that this new James Bond game is, for the most part, a first-person shooter. The good memories of 1997's GoldenEye 007 -- an FPS based on the movie of the same name -- are still fresh in gamers' minds, as evidenced by the hubbub earlier this year when rumors circulated that it might be re-released. But since first-person shooters work even less on Nintendo's two-faced portable than they do on the Nintendo Wii, the hubbub surrounding the DS version of Quantum of Solace is pretty muted for good reason. That's because this is instead a top-down, third-person shooter with some stealth combat and melee attacks -- and not a very good one.
alt="Quantum of Solace review for the DS"/>The game has some serious control issues, and no, we're not talking about the kind your mother has. It's played with the DS on its side, held like a book, with all the action on the right screen and a map on the left. Touching the stylus on the screen makes Bond move around; clicking on the circle around Bond's feet makes him crouch for sneaking around; and interacting with objects requires touching the appropriate icons, such as a magnifying glass to make Bond open a box or do his impression of Sherlock Holmes.
But while these basic mechanics work fine, others don't. Shooting someone, for example, is actually quite frustrating -- and not just because, given the small screen, you end up almost right on top of enemies before you can see them.
alt="Quantum of Solace review for the DS"/>To fire, you have to equip your gun, then hold down any button to aim, though this works best with the R button if you're right-handed and the L button if you're a leftie. Then, you tap on your target to fire. This works fine when your target is a stationary object, or suicidal, though it's hardly the least bit challenging. When it comes to a target who actually has a reason to live, though, Bond either becomes a pacifist or a bad shot, because he often can't hit them, even when he's at point-blank range.
It also doesn't help that Bond never learned how to reload his weapon. If you run out of bullets in the middle of gunfight, you have to go to the inventory and reload your ammo manually. This isn't difficult, but it is annoying and not very superspy-esque.
alt="Quantum of Solace review for the DS"/>Things work a bit better when Bond gets into a fistfight. Moving the camera behind his shoulder, you either quickly slide the stylus to the left or right, or up and down, to throw different punches. You can even block a right or left punch from your attacker by touching the right or left side of the screen. If you do block their punch, they become dazed. And no, I don't mean that Bond will automatically perform a counter-punch that dazes them; I mean that just by blocking their punch, you daze your attacker. I'm willing to suspend disbelief as much as the next guy, but this is just dumb.
You can, by drawing a circle on the screen, then toss grab and your dazed attacker. But this is only cool because the look on their face when you've lifted them up and are just about to toss them is so bad, so blocky, that it's unintentionally hilarious.
alt="Quantum of Solace review for the DS"/>There are some mechanics that do work the way they should. Obviously a fan of the Splinter Cell series, Bond can sneak-attack someone by moving up behind then while crouching, and then bonk the guy in the head. Though if you mess up, or are seen, it's a pain to have to stand back up and either go into melee mode or arm your gun.
Bond can also do a rushing attack, which is performed by quickly sliding the stylus from the aforementioned circle around Bond's feet to his target. But while this works well, and is effective, it doesn't seem like a very Bond thing to do. I may be wrong about this, but I don't think James ever played linebacker for the Buffalo Bills.
alt="Quantum of Solace review for the DS"/>The game also has a really irritating checkpoint system -- or lack of one. If Bond should die -- and given the controls, you know he will, a lot -- he doesn't always restart the mission anywhere close to where he died. Often it's so far that you end up playing massive chunks of this game repeatedly, whether you want to or not.
Visually, Quantum of Solace isn't anything to write home about, though for the DS, it's fine. Well, except for the fact that the character model of Bond seems to have no eyes, which made me think of the children from the movie version of Pink Floyd's "The Wall."
But the worst thing about Solace is that it's dull. I hadn't even finished the training mission at the beginning when I started to wonder what was on television -- at 2 p.m. on a Thursday. I also never felt like I was truly in control of Bond, thanks to the controls, which make the game more frustrating than challenging.
Maybe they should've tried to make this a first-person shooter.
This review was based on a retail copy of the game provided by the publisher.
