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007 Legends Review

Classic collection of Bond films get lost in translation

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Enough has been said about the often risky decision to create a game based on a movie property. The results can range from surprisingly good to rather underwhelming and downright poor. With 007 Legends, it’s a risk that not even the most seasoned Las Vegas gambler would bet on – a game based entirely on movies of the past, as well as the upcoming Bond film. It’s an idea that seems original enough, given the long legacy of the titular character, to bring his best moments to life in a game. Sadly, the execution falters almost at every turn.

007 Legends

Legends attempts to, as the title suggests, recreate the most memorable James Bond film moments. The overall setup is rather basic – in the present, James Bond is accidentally (or maybe not) shot on top of a moving train and falls into the water below. It’s a scene taken directly from the upcoming Skyfall movie, so it stars the familiar Bond of Daniel Craig. The premise is that as Bond falls into the watery abyss, he recalls his previous outings – as in, the older Bond movies. The missions you get to play are Goldfinger, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, Moonraker, Licence to Kill and Die Another Day. Since the game is licensed for present day Bond, you’ll only get to see Daniel Craig in all of the missions rather than the classic actors. For hardcore Bond fans, these may not have been the best film selections, but it’s often not the content that presents a problem.

Each of the series of missions set within the various films begin and end rather abruptly, so if you actually haven’t seen these movies in however many years, there’s no introduction or cutscene to catch players up to what’s happening. You just get thrown into the action, with little regard for storytelling, which will make most players confused or simply indifferent to Bond’s predicament. Even the overall plot of the game, which is based on Skyfall, doesn’t get a conclusion since the last mission isn’t on disc, but will be released later as free DLC. So the game just sort of ends after the final film mission wraps. Needless to say, 007 Legends is hardly a cohesive or complete storyline of Bond’s adventures over the years.

007 Legends

Another concern worth noting appears throughout the game when Bond is facing off against a villain or boss character. These occur as fist fight minigames that are based on QTEs and are very simple. Using the sticks, you direct your punches while occasionally dodging. It’s not exactly satisfying, and seems rather easy because the bosses will hardly ever land a punch on you. Perhaps a lengthy shootout in a big room would have been cliché, but at least that works and provides some worthwhile gameplay compared to a short QTE event.

After last year’s surprisingly good GoldenEye 007 Reloaded, fans would be right to have high expectations from Legends. But if the plot has been handled with such awkwardness, you wouldn’t be blamed for being suspicious about the gameplay. And you’d turn out to be right – Legends has decided to throw away most of the elements that worked in Reloaded and instead become a Call of Duty of sorts. And a poor one, at that. Weapons feel flat, while a very action-heavy script, and a lack of worthwhile stealth elements dictate the overall experience.

The game is based around various shootout and stealth sections. Shootouts play like an early version of Call of Duty, as the weapons don’t have much feel to them, are mostly inaccurate, while the enemies take full clips to go down. Legends also takes the endlessly respawning enemies approach, making it frustrating and as unlike Bond as it can be. AI spawns in empty rooms and runs at the player, occasionally taking cover, with friendly AI being equally useless. An experience system has been thrown in that lets you upgrade weapons with attachments and silencers. And of course, there are vehicle and on-rail sections. The bottom line is that Legends is a very average shooter in its mechanics and various uninspired elements.

007 Legends

The stealth is equally poor, with no ability to peak or lean, hide bodies, and instant alarms if you’re seen. Should that happen, all guards are alerted in the area and converge on your location, prompting more shooting. Bond has a radar to indicate enemy position that’s supposed to help during stealth, but it’s so hard to read it’s not even worth bothering. Some light puzzles attempt to break up the pace, complete with easy minigames and scanning the environment with special vision goggles. But again these are merely diversions that were implemented far better in last year’s Reloaded.

When you’re done with the 6 hour or so offline campaign, and being completely dissatisfied at its pacing and lack of story, there are a few more modes to check out. As with the MI6 Ops Missions mode from 007: Reloaded, Challenges mode offers extra objectives-based missions. It’s a good distraction and attempting to set your leaderboard high score adds replay value. And of course there is multiplayer, with up to 12 players per match and all the familiar customization, ranking, and unlock systems in place. It’s largely unchanged from Reloaded, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing given the solid mechanics. Also, kudos to the developers for including a four player split screen offline multiplayer.

007 Legends

Legends also really struggles in the presentation. Last year’s Reloaded wasn’t anything breathtaking, but it looked and sounded fine for a modern action title. Legends, unfortunately, often comes in below the standard. Environments are bland, enemies and animations are as generic as they come, the visual design leaves a lot to be desired and quite simply, the textures and lighting look rather poor. The game’s menus look nearly identical to last year’s game. While a lot of actors from the films reprise their roles, nobody in particular stands out. Perhaps most disappointing is a lack of the classic James Bond music theme, while the rest of audio design is just OK.

Although it’s a recurring theme of this review, one has to wonder – what happened since 007: Reloaded? Not that it’s a huge surprise that a movie-tied video game isn’t exactly a monumental achievement, but fans will have rightfully expected better. The same developers, who only a year ago produced a much better title, plus a combination of some memorable Bond film moments sounds like a recipe for a success. Unfortunately, 007 Legends fails to live up to the idea of what could have been a much better game.

Our ratings for 007 Legends on Xbox 360 out of 100 (Ratings FAQ)
Presentation
45
Dated visuals and unremarkable audio combine for a low budget feel.
Gameplay
42
The action feels scripted, weapon upgrade options are superficial, and minigames are a chore. Further, QTE boss battles and broken stealth mean that Legends is often not very fun at all.
Single Player
60
A decently lengthy campaign, but with questionable film choices that begin and end abruptly. The Skyfall mission isn't even included on disc.
Multiplayer
74
A standard fair with various options and gameplay modes, but it will hardly challenge the online popularity of certain other Activision shooter series.
Performance
75
The game runs well but the visuals are dated and checkpoints often spread out unevenly.
Overall
55
Average in almost every aspect, 007 Legends fails to live up to the Bond legacy it set out to commemorate.
Comments
007 Legends
007 Legends box art Platform:
Xbox 360
Our Review of 007 Legends
55%
Mediocre
The Verdict:
Game Ranking
007 Legends is ranked #1778 out of 1953 total reviewed games. It is ranked #137 out of 145 games reviewed in 2012.
1778. 007 Legends
1779. Project Spark
Xbox One
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Screenshots

007 Legends
14 images added Oct 23, 2012 22:38
Videos
007 Legends - Moonraker Trailer
Posted: May 26, 2012 19:09
007 Legends - Opening Credit Cinematic
Posted: Oct 15, 2012 23:39
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