Encompassing both Casino Royal and the new film of the same name, Quantum of Solace is set to be an action packed title that is a curious mix of Goldeneye, Rainbow Six and Bourne that runs off an improved Call of Duty 4 engine. This is not as surprising as you think since Quantum of Solace is being developed by none other then Treyarch, the people behind the next Call of Duty game. Unlike their Call of Duty follow on, where they have seemed to keep the engine more or less as-is, with Quantum of Solace they’ve actually worked hard to evolve the engine and adapt it to their own needs. A completely new AI script has been coded in for example; a long with other things that have really gone to great lengths to make sure this game stands out.
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Strategy Informer and a score of other journalists were given a demonstration of how Quantum was coming along by Adam Gascoine, one of the lead Directors on the project. A number of levels were shown to us, some from the new film, some from Casino Royal, but all of them looked pretty slick.
Most of the action takes place in first person mode, and with the COD engine as the driving force, you may feel like you’ve been here before. Yet with the bond setting, you can’t help but think of Goldeneye as well, so you’re instantly hit by a wave of nostalgia as you play through the game. Like Rainbow Six, Quantum also has cover mechanics coded in, and the switch from first to third person view as you take cover is seamless, and you also get to see Daniel Craig in all of his rendered glory. Like any decent FPS-with-cover, a lot of things are destructible including the fruit, as it happens. Yes, I know what you’re thinking, that it would be really fun to have an achievement/trophy linked to shooting someone in the head through a fruit, or something equally as crazy.
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Where the Tom Clancy games leave it at that, and give you two fully complimentary modes to work with, Treyarch have thrown in a third mode – Quick Time Events (QTE) in the form of some nifty C.Q.C. Like the recent Bourne games. If you get close enough to an enemy without having to shoot them, you can enter into a quick C.Q.C scripted sequence to take them out using a variety of different moves. This helps play up the fact that you don’t have to play through the game going in guns blazing, there is a stealth option.
During the demonstration, and whilst his companion played through random levels, Gascoine talked us through what was happening, and how you could approach different situations in either stealth or terminator modes. The AI responds pretty effectively to both, and even has enough capacity left to try and out-flank or out manoeuvre you, ensuring that the single player at least will be one hell of a ride.
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But Quantum will also feature a fully incorporated multiplayer system, with several modes reported to be available to players including ‘Bond vs Bond’ and classics like ‘Golden Gun’. Treyarch have also said that up to 12 players can play in multiplayer matches, although this will probably be dependant on match types and the level. This would drastically increase the longevity of the game, and if they can make it as addictive and hectic as the likes of Call of Duty 4, Treyarch could be on to a winning formula for a change.
Final verdict: Quantum of Solace was one of the more surprising titles on show this year at Leipzig. You know what they say about movie-to-film releases, but in all honesty, this is shaping up to be one of the best bond games since Goldeneye. Even Daniel Craig (allegedly) wasn’t willing to lend his voice to the project if he didn’t think it was going to be good, and what do you know, there’s his voice right there. Whilst Treyarch is the main developer, they are only working on the Xbox 360 and the Playstation 3 versions. Adaptations for the PC, Wii, Nintendo DS and Playstation 2 are being developed by other studios. Official stuff aside, this is definitely one to watch, and could even be one of better games to come out over the holidays.
