Controversial opinons about the Bond Games

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  • Posts: 15,054
    QBranch wrote:
    Ludovico wrote:
    It can be controversial, if one thinks it is a negligible aspect of Bond.
    True, the games do seem to be a rather insignificant part of the Bondiverse- at the moment. I guess it comes down to the amount (or lack) of impact the games have had (bar GE) and the video game industry in general, which is still a young medium. Although, I can see the games outshining the films at some point in the future.

    Now THAT'S controversial.
  • QBranchQBranch Always have an escape plan. Mine is watching James Bond films.
    Posts: 14,489
    I didn't mean for that comment to be controversial, just pointing out something I find inevitable. When fully immersible virtual reality makes its way into the home, who will want to watch Bond on a screen when you can BE him? ;)
  • HASEROTHASEROT has returned like the tedious inevitability of an unloved season---
    Posts: 4,399
    I think Goldeneye Wii/Reloaded was shit. It was a piss poor Call Of Duty clone and a cash grab on the GE name.

    I don't see how people can bash Legends but then call this game great. They're exactly the same (both are shite), the only difference is that the GE remake butchers one film while Legends butchered six.

    granted, GE:RL wasn't that great - but i thought the campaign was solid enough, and i kind of liked the reimagining of the Goldeneye story.... mechanically the game was very simple, felt like a COD beta, graphics were good - but not great - though i think they did a good job with the main character models.

    007 Legends was mechanically the same game as GE:RL, but the campaign was absolute garbage - it was an incoherent mess of stories blended together that made absolutely no sense - and i swear some of the level layouts were ripped off from GE:RL, but just dressed differently... the only positive that came out of that game were the redone scores - i thought they sounded marvelous...

    so while Goldeneye Wii/Reloaded might have felt like a cheap COD knockoff - it still felt more original than 007 Legends - which copied everything over from GE:RL and then shat out a turd of epic proportions.. everything about that game, including box art screamed laziness..

    if designed the right way, 007 Legends could've been one of the best Bond games EVER - if not THE best... but instead of taking their time, and possibly going through the proper channels to try and reunite the original Bond actors to be playable all in the same game, they rushed the hell out of it.. and as a result, it was a dud.... i am ashamed that i actually rushed out to my local Walmart after work to get it at midnight....
  • Posts: 15,054
    QBranch wrote:
    I didn't mean for that comment to be controversial, just pointing out something I find inevitable. When fully immersible virtual reality makes its way into the home, who will want to watch Bond on a screen when you can BE him? ;)

    I'll worry about it when it happens. Until then, here's my controversial opinion: I find no interest in the games whatsoever.
  • edited January 2014 Posts: 1,856
    QBranch wrote:
    Although, I can see the games outshining the films at some point in the future.
    No Visual or Audio medium has killed another. Games are great for an interactive experience, but story wise they are rather limited as it is pretty easy to get lost if you aren't doing a straight play through. Film (and stage) doesn't have that issue so storytellers will always prefer that medium, also games require more effort then films and date extremely badly.

    Anyway I would like to see the unadapted (Risco, Property of a Lady) or "Converted" (MWTGG, MR etc.) Fleming Novels put into games.
  • HASEROTHASEROT has returned like the tedious inevitability of an unloved season---
    Posts: 4,399
    Virage wrote:
    Anyway I would like to see the unadapted (Risco, Property of a Lady) or "Converted" (MWTGG, MR etc.) Fleming Novels put into games.

    I've maintained that since they aren't turning the post Fleming books into films, they should use them (or at least the ones they've purchased the rights to) as the basis for a James Bond gaming franchise.... preferably I would like the Bond to be an original model, but I wouldn't have a problem with them keeping with the current actor in the films..

  • edited March 2014 Posts: 12,837
    To be fair I think the games outshining the films in the future is possible (but unlikely, at least when it comes to Bond). Games have an advantage over films in plenty of ways. Too many people who don't even play them just write games off as stupid when in fact some of the best stories recently have been told through games.

    Games like Spec Ops The Line or The Walking Dead have some of the best writing and I've ever seen and they make a much bigger impact than any film or TV series would because you're actually controlling everything and you're forced to make these difficult choices. It'd be one thing watching a guy forced to kill his best friends son to stop him becoming a zombie but it's even harder to actually control it.

    Then there's stuff like atmosphere, setting. Games do this better than films because you can actually explore. Look at the Assassin's Creed games, you wouldn't be able to get such well realised, fleshed out settings in a film.

    And then there's action. Look at Uncharted, everyone praises those games for being cinematic but none of those set pieces could ever be put on screen, it'd cost way too much money. In a game though, it's possible, and it's more exciting controlling the action instead of just watching it.
  • HASEROTHASEROT has returned like the tedious inevitability of an unloved season---
    Posts: 4,399
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  • Posts: 9,841
    Change it to colonel sun and you got a game.

    I still think EON are bloody fools for sting on the gaming licence give it to Ubisoft and watch the money roll in
  • MaxCasinoMaxCasino United States
    Posts: 4,550
    Everything or Nothing should have been adapted in a novelization by Raymond Benson.

    From Russia with Love and Goldeneye Rogue Agent should have been combined into one game. Keep Sean Connery as Bond, Christopher Lee as Scaramanga and Judi Dench as M. I could see SC’s Bond fighting all those villains (including Scaramanga and Onatopp) in a 60’s setting in the game. Replace Blofeld with Rosa Klebb and Red Grant. For legal reasons. More problem solving, less shooting as in RA. Don’t make a setup for a sequel: it’s a one and done deal because of Connery. I think that it would have succeeded.

    I consider Everything or Nothing and Bloodstone as canon to the movies. EON is PB’s true finale, leaving him on a high note, and Bloodstone is set between QOS and SF. Just a regular mission for DC.

    I’m surprised that TND and 007 Racing didn’t come to N64. This is because of how well Goldeneye did. I know they weren’t good, but it seems like a missed opportunity to make them better. A few tweaks could have helped them standout as better games for a different console.
  • Bueno1694Bueno1694 My James Bond Games' Playthroughs: linktr.ee/Xtreemo
    edited July 2021 Posts: 70
    MaxCasino wrote: »
    I consider Everything or Nothing and Bloodstone as canon to the movies. EON is PB’s true finale, leaving him on a high note, and Bloodstone is set between QOS and SF. Just a regular mission for DC.

    I think that at least 95% of the fans actually think and do the same. I consider both games as canon myself as well.
    _______

    Among many of the ladies and gentlemen on this forum, I'm the one that was brought to love the franchise because of GoldenEye. The game is fantastic and gave me good childhood memories, and I still play it nowadays. I absolutely love playing games, and if they are any related to 007, it makes them even better. I love the Bond games and I love to talk about them too.

    Recently I've finished my Youtube walkthrough series for all of the James Bond games since GoldenEye. This series wasn't as successful as I thought it could be, but it wasn't a failure either. I got some decent views and a movie version of Everything Or Nothing achieved over 40k views until May.
    Back to the point: strictly playing all of them from January to June made me realize a few aspects of each of them that I didn't actually care about when I was playing them just for myself. Let me do a general analysis of them right below.

    Let's try and take GoldenEye out of the discussion and try to focus on the rest, as we all mostly praise GE for many reasons.
    The weakest points of the whole gaming franchise are both the beginning and the ending. Tomorrow Never Dies, TWINE and 007 Racing from PS1 are very horrid games, with dated mechanics and most difficult to play (specially TWINE and TND). 007 Racing is at least decent, but there are things I can't bear. The way the game punishes you for doing something wrong and you didn't actually know you shouldn't do it is very absurd. How come you can lose points for accidentally shooting an extra missile on a dead enemy vehicle?!
    At least TWINE from Nintendo 64 is the second-best outing from that era. I consider it to be the GoldenEye from EA - The controls are much easier, the game changes the story to fit the gameplay, it is much more loyal to the film than its PS1 counterpart and the multiplayer gets pretty much close to Nightfire in terms of variety and the ability to play it all by yourself. Nice way to train some skills.

    When the second era starts is when EA gets it right. AUF is an awesome game, and even though it has little references to Bond (No Gunbarrel, no theme song, just Q and the cars) it is a solid Bond game. Very fast-paced, I must say.

    Nightfire is my favorite of all of the Bond games so I would probably praise it a lot, but I'll try to tone it down a bit. For me, this is the closest shot EA has ever got trying to be better than GoldenEye. It is a very entertaining and fun Bond experience. But of course, I'm talking specifically about the consoles' versions - not even mentioning the hideous PC port here...

    Everything or Nothing and From Russia With Love are very close to each other - voice acting, graphics, gameplay, mechanics, and fast pacing action. EON should have NOT been a real movie and I should tell you why: The freakin GADGETS. The invisible car was back, and now even Bond and his Spider could become invisible. That's nonsense. I mean, for a game it is completely awesome as a mechanic, but not for a real 007 franchise title.
    The readaptation of FRWL to a modern setup was the best possible, and having Connery a part of it just made it even better. The implementation of many elements from the Connery era was absolutely spot-on. The best part of the game is the jetpack and the DB5 driving pieces.

    Quantum of Solace is where things start to get off the rail. Activision did a decent job with the PS2 port but the "next generation" versions didn't age well (they didn't even release well, I might as well say).
    GoldenEye Reloaded was another piece of garbage that they developed. I mean, it was a nice job to readapt the storyline to a modern setup as well, but why did you need to do it? No one has asked for that.
    Blood Stone was Activision's EON. It is probably the closest Bond experience that we could ever have. I only find the last part of the game very boring (after you get captured and brought to Burma) and sometimes I feel I just want to end the game as fast as possible.
    'Legends' is unquestionable the very deepest bottom of the four. Like GE and QOS, it is a complete COD ripoff with a James Bond skin over it. No character depth, rushed missions, lack of interaction, shootouts after shootouts, and no Bond feeling at all.
    The worst mission is Skyfall. The motorbike chase is absolutely horrendous. It's quite visible how they rushed this section and did whatever they could in like 3 or 4 days to try and get along the film hype. Absolutely forgettable.

    Quoting my analysis from my own video:
    First of all, the whole plot is just completely unnecessary. There was no need to have Craig's Bond "remembering" his missions in-between his drowning after falling off the train; that was just a cheap try to take advantage of the Skyfall hype at the time.
    All of the plots are useless and have characters missing, and they all bring an excuse for a damn firefight. The storylines became empty and almost seem like they were built on a quick run, taking many important points of the plots away and changing them to 45 minutes of a COD game within MI-6. They might fit the Craig era, but within the game, they felt poor and badly explored.
    At least the gameplay is quite easier than Goldeneye Reloaded. As I played that one a while back for another playthrough, my gameplay experience with Legends was almost the same, so it was kinda easier for me to adapt, even if it was on PC (Goldeneye Reloaded is a consoles' exclusive).
    But sometimes the enemies bug out and they act weirdly. Also, the aiming is completely absurd. It's got an overpowered mouse acceleration and it becomes hard to handle in a few sections, and sometimes it feels like I'm drunk while trying to look or aim.
    Unfortunately, 007 Legends is nothing but a cheap excuse to try and get along with Skyfall and the 50th anniversary of the James Bond franchise with little to no innovation at all in any aspects from its previous games. It's understandable how Barbara Broccoli criticized the past few Bond games as "violence for the sake of violence". And there is no surprise, after all, Activision seems to know only 1 way of doing things: by "Call of Dutying" any FPS game.


    EA was the one who did the best work despite a few flaws at the start, but they handled it quite well. Activision's best work was only 1 game and it still isn't as praised as it could or should be.
  • Posts: 9,841
    It's interesting how different my views are almost a decade later

    Original view
    James Bond the Duel was extremely fun for a Sega Genesis Game
    Each Bond deserves a video game
    Updated view
    I agree with this still
    Original view
    Craig has come close to having his Goldeneye (n64) but even though I love his games he has not gotten there.
    Updated View
    I feel both Quantum of Solace Blood Stone and Goldeneye are fantastic and actually some of my favorite bond games these days.
    Original view
    The games have FAR TOO FEW LEVELS!!!
    Goldeneye 64 is by far the best bond game
    Blood Stone is a close second
    Updated View
    these days my top 5 games are actually

    1. Bloodstone
    2. Goldeneye Reloaded
    3. the world is not enough PS1
    4. James bod 007 game boy
    5. The world is not enough n64

    Origial view
    The next developer needs to take more risks (seriously Colonel Sun the Game there is your biggest selling bond game.)
    Updated view

    Hoping IO interactive does something interesting.


    I will say this James bond 007 for the gameboy is underrated
  • M16_CartM16_Cart Craig fanboy?
    Posts: 541
    Controversial opinion. Goldeneye N64 is a mediocre game by today's standards.

    It was highly influential, because at the time, there were very few shooters on console. And splitscreen multiplayer wasn't much of a thing yet.

    Just about any half-competent shooter could've come out at that time and have been a huge rave hit.
  • edited October 2021 Posts: 12,837
    MaxCasino wrote: »
    I consider Everything or Nothing and Bloodstone as canon to the movies. EON is PB’s true finale, leaving him on a high note, and Bloodstone is set between QOS and SF. Just a regular mission for DC.

    I’ve heard that sentiment before about Everything or Nothing, that it was Brosnan getting to go out on a high note, better than DAD, but I couldn’t disagree more. It’s a fun a video game but the plot is awful, the dialogue is awful, the characters are poor. I know it’s a 2000s video game, so I’m not expecting Oscar calibre writing, but I thought Nightfire had a much better story that actually flowed like a film, and characters that were at least memorable. EON’s weird AVTAK sequel is a just contrived series of plot points setting up the next level. It’s also just as sci-fi as Die Another Day, because the video games were always inspired by the latest films. Ridiculously OTT. If that helicopter chase that ends at a base with a sci-fi forcefield had been in a film, it’d be talked about as the lowpoint of the series.

    It’s a very fun video game, but it’d make an awful film, and I don’t see it as Brosnan’s swansong. Agree on Bloodstone though. That hook at the end for a cancelled sequel has actually worked out nicely, because now we can assume that baddy was Blofeld. Slots into the Craig era perfectly.
    M16_Cart wrote: »
    Controversial opinion. Goldeneye N64 is a mediocre game by today's standards.

    It was highly influential, because at the time, there were very few shooters on console. And splitscreen multiplayer wasn't much of a thing yet.

    Just about any half-competent shooter could've come out at that time and have been a huge rave hit.

    Yeah. I have as fond memories of it at the time as everyone does, but last time I met up with some of my old mates we tried to play it and we just couldn’t. It aged very badly very quickly imo (although I think that awful N64 controller is partly to blame, a modern port could be better).

    Nightfire did everything GE did just as well, and it’s aged much better. That’s still the best Bond game by far for me. Really looking forward to the new one though, because I expect IO will finally top it.
  • MajorDSmytheMajorDSmythe "I tolerate this century, but I don't enjoy it."Moderator
    Posts: 13,978
    I think that is a fair assessment of GE. It was a landmark game, no doubt about it. But Ii still can't bring myself to call it the best Bond game. It's unfair, I know, but as the next generation of consoles took us into the new millennium, aided by new technology, we had the likes of NF and EON. The latter blurring the lines between the games and the films, like nothing before or since.
  • Posts: 9,841
    I wasn’t sure where to post this but I always love when Calvin Dyson reviews the bond games and the fact he reviewed what I consider the real start of the modern James Bond era ( most catagorize it from goldeneye on but for me it’s James Bond: the duel -the present)

  • MaxCasinoMaxCasino United States
    Posts: 4,550
    I'm surprised that the these three games didn't get a Nintendo 64 adaptation in the console's lifetime: Tomorrow Never Dies (like or not like the PS1 version), James Bond 007 for the GameBoy, it calls for a bigger story on a bigger console. Most controversially, 007 Racing, considering how many racing games were on the N64. Based on the success of Goldeneye 007, I'm surprised that Nintendo didn't try for more Bond other than The World is Not Enough. Maybe it was legal issues, or GE's surprise success.
  • MaxCasino wrote: »
    I'm surprised that the these three games didn't get a Nintendo 64 adaptation in the console's lifetime: Tomorrow Never Dies (like or not like the PS1 version), James Bond 007 for the GameBoy, it calls for a bigger story on a bigger console. Most controversially, 007 Racing, considering how many racing games were on the N64. Based on the success of Goldeneye 007, I'm surprised that Nintendo didn't try for more Bond other than The World is Not Enough. Maybe it was legal issues, or GE's surprise success.

    That may have also been the result of the N64’s lifespan being almost over by the release of some of those games you mentioned.
  • MaxCasinoMaxCasino United States
    edited September 2023 Posts: 4,550
    The FRWL videogame should have opened with the Crab Key finale. Dr. No could have been the mission boss. Honey Ryder and Felix Leiter could or could not appear as well. Scaramanga and Onatopp could have minor roles, working for or against OCTOPUS. Keep them as assassins, and having their trademark weapons. Christopher Lee and Famke Janssen could have done their character's voices again.

    Christopher Walken should have come back as Max Zorin in Everything or Nothing. It would have given a bit of connection to the movies. Plus, it would add more depth to the characters.
  • Posts: 9,841
    Cypher 007 is the best bond game since nightfire


    I said it and unless they do something stupid in the next few levels i am not taking it back
  • MaxCasinoMaxCasino United States
    Posts: 4,550
    For video games: I would try to combine Goldeneye Rogue Agent into the From Russia With Love game. I’d have the game open with the Dr. No finale, as the film didn’t have much action. Skip over the opening action scene from the game. Then, have the game story be played as it already is. However, there would be two side plots, with Goldfinger and Scaramanga. Have GF be funding Octopus, and end the game in Fort Knox (with some additional writing to fill in the gaps). As for Scaramanga, his subplot would be once again trying to prove that he’s the best against Bond and even Octopus. He’d be watching them both from the shadows. Then, he’d be a surprise final villain, for Bond. Some more writing would of course be needed. Also, Xenia Onatopp would Grant’s main henchwoman. She would have a fight with Bond instead of a lackluster plane crash. Sean Connery, Christopher Lee and Famke Janssen would reprise their movie roles for the game. That’s my alternative in Bond history for awhile.
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