Reviewed On: Xbox 360
Available For: PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
Publisher: Activision
Developer: Eurocom
Genre: First-Person Shooter
Age: 16 (PEGI)
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007 Legends is enough to have Bond fans shaking with fury and Cubby stirring in his grave. It’s no diamond, and it’s certainly not going to be remembered forever.
Let’s start with the storyline. In a section from Skyfall, when Bond suffers a near fatal injury, 007 Legends explores the dreams he has.
He relives the moments of Goldfinger, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, Licence To Kill, Die Another Day and Moonraker.
It’s an odd premise, but an understandable one. It’s the 50 year celebration of Bond, so why not try and dip into some action laden moments of the series’ history?
Because it feels disjointed and jittering – that’s why.
But the flitting of stories is not the only element to dampen the action – there's the mix of gameplay. It’s not that it switches between shooting, stealth, and set-piece on a regular basis – after all, many great games do this – it's that it does none of them well.
The strict funnelling paths of the shooting sections are plagued with poor maps, atrocious AI, and gunplay which feel like nothing more than the shooting of pop guns. These are dull, boring, generic, and lifeless. They entertain for five minutes at most.
Stealth sections are nothing but laughable. Because of the bad mechanics, they usually begin with an attempt at being unseen, but more than often spiral into huge, dumb fire fights. There are some dubious character animations when taking down unsuspecting guards – these would even make the dead crack a smile in utter disbelief.
The set-pieces help to break up the painful trudge, but they are still far from being amazing. Being in a car or on skis is a welcome break and a breath of fresh air from the usual rancid stench.
There's a poor upgrade system, some ridiculously bad gadgets, and a severe lack of polish. It’s a damn shame when considering the franchise’s history of poignant moments.
007 Legends shouldn’t be left to die another day – it should be stopped – now.
SCORE: 3 / 10
PROS: It's James Bond - everybody loves Bond.
CONS: Take your pic, there are plenty.
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