Also, the title of the game is a tad misleading. It's almost more of a Casino Royale title than Quantum of Solace, with the Solace plot/levels actually bookending the middle section of the game, which is almost entirely material from Royale. The game actually starts with the very end of Royale, which is how I imagine the movie begins as well, with Bond having tracked down Mr. White. From there you play out a few levels in the Solace plot, and then move back to Casino Royale, picking up right at the beginning with the Parkour style chase scene between Bond and the bombmaker.

Everything resembles the movie well enough, and the character model of Bond is obviously based on Craig, but there's a certain amount of visual oomph missing from the game for whatever reason. Whether it's the drab and sometimes sterile environments you get to play around in, or the all too similar thugs you constantly have to gun down, it doesn't really resemble anything close to Call of Duty, and while most games that use another's popular engine device (like a lot of the Unreal 3 stuff) doesn't always match whatever main title it was created for, they can still come a lot closer than this.

Thankfully the voice acting seems to all be taken right from the movie, with plenty of cutscenes that are played out via bits of dialogue and maps involving popular characters from the film like M. However, even the cutscenes in between levels manage to be boring, simply because there's little in the way of actual visuals used outside of these map grids or other techno looking mechanics that don't really show you the story as much as they just tell it to you. It's surprising to see such a large license not having a few more bombastic moments in between levels, but it's just another mark on the uninspired side of things that Quantum of Solace has going for it.

Gameplay, however, is pretty solid for the most part. Shooting is responsive, aiming is easy and the default sensitivity always felt fine to me, and I didn't have any issues with crouching, using the cover system, or anything else inside the game. Like the film, the idea of Bond using a lot of funky gadgets (like in previous games) is pretty much tossed out there. Instead, he's given a few different weapons to switch from plus grenades, and occasionally you'll have to unlock or hack a keypad or two. However, while a back to basics approach worked for Casino Royale, it ends up making the game version feel a little too generic, and without the gimmick devices it's hard to differentiate this game from any of the other FPS action titles out there.

The do introduce something that's a bit unique, and new to the series of Bond games from what I can tell. Instead of a standard melee attack, you can disarm and takedown enemies by clicking the right analog, which then prompts a one button QTE. Certain missions actually have you start out with no weapons, so it's a tactic you'll need to use here and there. However, once you get a gun it tends to be useless, as there's really no shortage of bullets or other guns that drop from the guys you take down. However, the other takedown function is pretty neat, and I'd like to see someone run with this idea down the line, where you can actually just start sprinting towards a bad guy, and once you run into him it'll initiate the takedown/disarm immediately, which is admittedly as useless as the normal one, but it could be interesting if it's fleshed out a bit more.

The other aspect that helps to set this Bond apart from the previous ones is the emphasis on stealth and silently taking out guards. You can definitely play the game without needing to sneak around, but it's definitely going to be easier on you for the most part if you can remain out of sight as much as possible. Once someone spots you (or a camera spots you) then a call will go out and an assault squad will show up. These guys aren't particularly difficult, but it puts everyone else in the level or area on alert, and you won't be able to get the drop on them again. Instead, if you stay silent and equip a silencer, you can typically pick off the guards one by one, and they're usually stationed alone as well. There are cameras scattered about on stages, but they all have a corresponding power box that you can disable provided you find it without being spotted. Certain encounters are scripted, so you can't always sneak your way thru an entire stage, but for the most part you can get away with a lot before you're noticed.

However, even if you are seen, the enemy AI isn't much to worry about. The game does try to make their bad guys smart, by giving the ability to try and flank you, and take cover and switch around where they're hiding fairly often. But the times they choose to start moving seem pretty random and dumb, and usually you can mow them down as they step out, or they'll step right out into your line of fire anyways. I rarely had enemies stay alive long enough to pull an effective flank on me, and even then they were pretty easy to take down using the cover system.

The multiplayer in Solace is fairly interesting, and while you can tell they were going with a Goldeneye set-up, what with the mode that has you starting with just a pistol and picking up the better weapons along the way, along with somewhat confined maps, it's still fun to play thru for a few rounds with friends. Honestly though, I think they would have been better served by trying to do their own thing rather than emulate a past title, and while other modes that have you playing Bond while everyone else plays the guys after you are different, they're not something we haven't seen in other FPS titles before. The game even uses a system that's similar to perks from Call of Duty 4, this time using the missing gadgets from the single player game to add bonuses or perks to your current character settings. Nothing wrong with borrowing a mechanic that works, but a bit more innovation wouldn't hurt either.

All together, Quantum of Solace feels like it wants to be something other than what it is, a new James Bond game. Even by taking the plots from two films, the game is somewhat short, and definitely on the easy side when played on the default difficulty. The multiplayer is fun in bursts, but it's not going to draw players away from the big guns that are currently popular, so I can't imagine it having much of a community past the first few months of release. Even if you're a die-hard Bond fan, I can't see this game appealing to anyone much past the idea of seeing a virtual Daniel Craig in motion for the first time, and even then that's a pretty flimsy reason to try this out. Give it a rental if you're feeling curious, but I'd avoid putting down the full price for this one.