Quantum of Solace (DS)

For fans of Jimmy, this game is bad, real bad.
11/13/2008 7:57 PM | 0 Comments | Page 1 of 2

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.

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.

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.

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.