Treyarch’s adaptation of the first two Daniel Craig Bond films makes perfect sense in the context of the games they were developing at the time. In 2006 they released Call of Duty 3, in 2007 the tie-in for Spider-Man 3, and a week after Quantum of Solace, they dropped Call of Duty: World at War. Obviously the studio had multiple teams working on these projects, but licensed games and Call of Duty were what defined the studio in 2008. Which explains pretty much everything about Quantum of Solace.
The game is based on Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace, very loosely at times. It takes scenes from each film and creates shooter stages from them, with very little attempt at coherence. If you’re not familiar with the films, the game’s plot will make as much sense as, well, many Call of Duty games. Think of it more as an exaggerated playable series of setpieces from the films, not an effective narrative.
Fortunately, the game is extremely playable, due to Treyarch doing what they do pretty well: Call of Duty combat. There’s a bit of Gears of War-style snap cover (which seamlessly transitions between first and third person perspective- a nice touch), but at its core, QoS plays very similar to CoD games from this era. There are some decent light stealth sections, but none of the driving you may expect from a Bond game to break up the relentless shooting.
While it doesn’t have Call of Duty’s smooth 60fps frame rate, this is still a fairly technically impressive game. Character models look excellent, as do most locations. Actors from the films reprise their roles, and the cutscenes are generally well-constructed. From the achievements to the gun names, there are plenty of references to 007’s legacy.
All in all, I enjoyed the game as a companion to the films, which I re-watched this week. It’s fun enough if you enjoy CoD gameplay from this era, and I suppose I do. I’d put it solidly in the upper half of Bond games. But these days it’s most interesting as a time capsule of both the early days of Daniel Craig’s Bond, but also an era of Treyarch before they became solely a Call of Duty studio.
All screenshots captured by me, on an actual Xbox 360.
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