- Photos:
-
They say you can’t keep a good man down, and when it comes to video games, James Bond is one of the good ones. Well, usually.
While his 1997 shooter “GoldenEye 007” is considered a classic, and 2004’s “Everything or Nothing” was also highly praised, 1999’s “007: Tomorrow Never Dies” was a letdown, and 2004’s “GoldenEye: Rogue Agent” was an outright disservice to the franchise. Where will his latest adventure fall? We’ll find out when Activision releases “Quantum of Solace” on November 4 (ten days before the film of the same title hits theaters) for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, Wii, PC and DS.
In the mean time we spoke to Treyarch’s Garrett Young, the game’s executive producer, to find out what spy-loving gamers can expect and why Bond himself, Daniel Craig, was excited to be a part of it.
Although the game is called “Quantum of Solace,” it also covers the events of the previous movie, “Casino Royale.” Was this done because there wasn’t a “Casino Royale” game, or because “Quantum” continues the story of “Casino”?
A guess little bit of both. “Casino” certainly sets the stage for “Solace,” which picks up fifteen minutes after “Casino” ended. But also, since we had the opportunity to do both, we did it because it meant we could use the action scenes from both “Casino” and “Solace” for our game.
What about the actors who were in “Solace” and the newer “Casino,” were any of them particularly excited about being in a James Bond video game?
Yeah, Daniel Craig was excited because he’s a big gamer and had never been in a game before. When we went over to England to show him the game, he was in his trailer playing “Guitar Hero.” He even helped us change some of our script for the game when he came in to do his voiceover to make it sound more like he would in the movie.
Did you guys include any missions based on things that didn’t happen in the films?
We actually did. There was originally an action scene in “Casino” when Bond is introduced to Vesper on the train. They shot it, [but] it got left on the cutting room floor. We thought it would be a fun part of the game, and when we told the filmmakers that, they said that just because they cut it from the movie didn’t mean we had to cut it from the game.
How about something that happened in the 1967 version of “Casino Royale” that starred Woody Allen as Bond’s nephew Jimmy?
No. You know, that’s actually the only Bond movie I’ve never seen.
Does that mean you didn’t try to get Woody to do a voice for your game?
We did not. Though if you watch closely, and you’re a Bond fan, you will notice an interesting cameo in our game.
The game is predominantly a first-person shooter. Why did you decide to go that route?
Because that’s what gamers told us they wanted. When we got the license, the first thing we did was a really long survey with gamers who like James Bond. Roughly two-thirds told us they wanted a first-person experience. The rest said they wanted to see James Bond on screen, so we decided to do a blend of both. So while the game is usually first-person, if you take cover behind something, or sneak up behind someone to take them out, it switches to third-person.
Are there any other types of gameplay in “Solace”? Like driving levels or flirting minigames?
No. There is an Aston Martin DBS in the game, but you don’t actually get to drive it yourself. Though we made a lot of jokes about putting in a minigame where you try to avoid being tortured with a big rope.
Besides playing through the story of the two movies, you also have some online multiplayer modes.
We actually have eight different multiplayer modes. Most of them are ones that will be familiar to people who play first-person shooters. We have a “Deathmatch”-type mode, and we have a team-based “King of the Hill”-type mode, though we don’t have a “Capture the Flag” mode. But we also have a couple of unique ones. One is called “Bond Vs.,” in which one person plays as James Bond and has to deactivate three bombs and take everyone out, while everyone else is trying to protecting those bombs and take out Bond. There’s also “Golden Gun,” where it’s every one for themselves, but one person has the Golden Gun, which is like a RPG [rocket powered grenade launcher], so everyone goes after them.
