James Bond 007: Blood Stone Review

Blood Stone, a DS game which provides for a mixed experience.

One might be surprised to see multiple Bond games release so close to each other on various platforms with different developer backings. The thing is, while GoldenEye has the backing of an entire film and another excellent game, Blood Stone is on its own and a bit of a mess.

You are Bond, James Bond (voiced by a very bored-sounding Daniel Craig), charged with attempting to stop a terrorist arms deal from going down in Greece. From there, Bond kills, shoots, chases and maims his way up a corporate ladder, attempting to find out who exactly it was that spurred MI6 to take out the competition.

Don't expect any sense of closure or any feelings of satisfaction to sweep over you with this game - not only do you not get to take out the final boss yourself, but this is only the first part of a much wider storyline that has yet to unfold. Yes, this is merely the setup title for perhaps a whole new Bond game series to be released, and if this opening chapter is anything to go by, it's going to be a hell of a mess.

Across the ten levels you pass through, you'll complete four stealth sections, six car chases, eight foot chases and one stupidly easy gambling sequence. The stealth sections are probably the best, often charging you with infiltrating a secure facility or party without being detected. While it's disappointing to note that there is literally no penalty for being spotted (apart from two more guards to shoot), it is immensely satisfying to sneak your way through a highly guarded area without being seen. Sadly, for every part of the game that makes you feel like Bond, there's another where you have to shoot down a helicopter with a rocket launcher, or solve a horrible mix-and-match puzzle.

The driving sections are probably the worst, made somehow more soul-destroying by how repetitive they are. While the final chase is enlivened by some excellent stormy backgrounds, for the most part you're sluggishly sliding around bland grey roads, dodging the few samey other vehicles and trying to avoid unfair deaths by maintaining the proper speed. Most of the foot chases see you sprint after someone before being swarmed by guards. Take your time eliminating them - the person you're chasing will calmly wait for you just beyond the gunfight.

The multiplayer is quite good, seeing four people take each other on offline (but you'll each need a copy of the game) or online, but there isn't much variety in what you can do and you may find yourself turning to stone while you wait for a match to begin. It's a nice feature, but it's not going to keep you coming back for more.

Visually, it's a bit of a mess, with massive pixels all trying to force their way through the DS's tiny screen and slash at your eyes. While the locations at least look pleasantly different, the faces of Craig, Judi Dench and Joss Stone are all mapped onto notoriously ugly triangular heads, giving their features a terrifying distortion. The music, happily, fares far better, with a cracking score by Richard Jacques that hits all the right Bond notes. There's even an opening title song which - despite having Joss Stone's name and lyrics all over it - isn't too bad. Stone's voice acting is also the weakest of the bunch, managing to sound like she's reading off a script. As always, Dame Judi Dench provides the best dialogue and she's always lovely to hear.

On the whole, Blood Stone is a bit of a mess. A too-easy single player campaign combines with an enjoyable multiplayer to delivery an underwhelming package. The fact that the game ends on a ridiculous cliffhanger is just the icing on a very unsatisfying cake.