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Oct 29, 2012 Web Exclusive By Kyle Lemmon

The driving narrative concept behind Eurocom’s 007 Legends would make any James Bond fan excited, but their execution is tired and downright sloppy. At best this action-stealth game is a Call of Duty clone (it’s not a surprise that Activision published this title) and at worst it is a broken and quicktime event-addled mess. You play as the Daniel Craig version of the infamous character and at the beginning of the time-spanning adventure you are accidentally shot by another Double O agent on top of a train.

Your life flashes before your eyes and the player must revisit five class Bond films—Goldfinger, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, License to Kill, Die Another Day, and Moonraker are all on the docket. The choice of films is somewhat suspect and the actual gameplay is even worse. Prepare yourself for tedious boss fights where you press a series of buttons and critical stealth missions where the trial and error slog can be downright horrific.

Daniel Craig’s appearance and the modern gadgets in all of these old stories is a slap in the face to continuity. The people at Activision poorly used this license not only by retconning classic stories such as Goldfinger and On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, but with stale action game tropes and buggy controls. Oftentimes the contexual buttons that pop on screen will not work and the enemy AI is idiotic. Soldiers will often run in circles or retreat to the same spots where their once breathing comrades stood. The monotony experienced during this 7-hour shooting gallery is appalling.

Repetitive corridor maps is also a major problem. The walls and doors to each location look like the type of graphics that would be on a last-generation console and oftentimes its best to just run past everyone in an attempt to trigger the next checkpoint. The utter shame of it all is softened a bit by a meager attempt at XP system and the promise of a DLC denouement to that narrative after Skyfall‘s cinematic release on November 9.

In the end, 007 Legends brings nothing new to the first-person shooter table. It’s not a homage or tribute, but a cruel joke on fans. Stay far away from this train wreck. It’s one of the worst games of 2012. Licensed to kill? More like licensed to fail. (www.007legends.com)

Author rating: 2.5/10