Fast cars, beautiful women and vodka martinis—those sound like the ingredients to make a great James Bond game. Let’s dive into “James Bond 007: Blood Stone” to see how this third person spy adventure stacks up.

“Blood Stone” was developed by Bizarre Creations, the defunct developer responsible for the Project Gotham Racing franchise. “Blood Stone” was published by Activision, and was released for PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on Nov. 2, 2010. A different version of “Blood Stone” was also released for the Nintendo DS. The DS version of “Blood Stone” was developed by n-Space.

“James Bond 007: Blood Stone” puts you into the body of James Bond, naturally. Judi Dench and Daniel Craig reprise their roles as M and James Bond, respectively. Joss Stone fills in the role of the token Bond girl in this adventure.

The story of “Blood Stone” is a typical James Bond affair, chasing bio-terrorists all over the world in order to save humanity as we know it. The narrative itself isn’t all that interesting—it’s actually pretty forgettable—but the campaign will take you to various settings, including catacombs underneath Istanbul all the way to an elegant party in France. The locations are mixed up often, so the scenery doesn’t get old.

Visuals:

“Blood Stone” was developed using the Horizon engine. The visuals of “Blood Stone” are, for the most part, on par with other third-person shooters of this generation. The only parts that really stand out are the driving sequences. It’s to no surprise that Bizarre put a little more effort into the driving missions. Speeding through Athens on a speedboat or in a tow truck blasting through the streets of Bangkok look gorgeous. The blur effects look outstanding whilst driving and it really gives you a well-rounded visual experience.

The other three quarters of the game that take place on foot lack that special elegance that was put into the driving sequences, which is a shame. “Blood Stone” looks good, but it isn’t comparable to other third person shooters like Naughty Dog’s Uncharted series.

Audio:

The audio portion of “Blood Stone” is satisfactory. The weapons sound good along with the vehicles.

One strange thing I noticed is the lack of the James Bond theme. The only time the theme song plays in its entirety is while the credits are rolling. What gives?

The voice work is well done except for the lines from Daniel Craig. He sounds bored and uninterested. Dench and Stone acted their lines well, but Craig sounded like he napped through half of the game.

Gameplay:

“Blood Stone” is a game that we have played before, or it at least seems that way. It’s a standard fare third-person shooter; it adds a little flare here and there, but mostly we’ve seen it before.

“Blood Stone” is cover based, and the weapons you get to use are what you would expect from a James Bond game.

“Blood Stone” makes you use your smart phone several times in each mission. While using your phone, you will see where you need to go, how far off your objective is, enemy placements, security cameras etcetera. The smart phone doesn’t really add that much to the gameplay, except when required to utilize it.

“Blood Stone” offers no gadgets besides your smart phone. (If you can consider that a gadget) A lack of gadgets is a major violation in a James Bond game. Did they just forget to add them?

One major ploy that “Blood Stone” features is a melee takedown attack. You can perform a melee takedown by running up to an enemy and smashing a button to perform a cinematic takedown. Each takedown performed earns you a focus aim, you can have up to three at any time.

Focus aim, when used, snaps your aiming reticle directly over a vital point on your enemy. All you have to do is pull the trigger and you bask in the glory of an effortless one-hit kill.

“Blood Stone’s” melee takedowns and its focus aim feature aren’t necessarily groundbreaking, but they are fun. It’s a lot of fun smashing an enemy’s face in right before you push him off a balcony to his death then instantly snapping to the next target via your newly awarded focus aim, and pulling the trigger. That’s what I call fluid.

The third-person shooting mechanics in “Blood Stone” are tried and true, and there’s a reason for that. “Blood Stone” may not offer anything groundbreaking, but the game feels fluid, and everything works well.

The driving sequences in “Blood Stone” are where this game really shines. You’ll have the opportunity to pilot a speed boat, and a few different Aston Martins, most notably the DB5 from Goldfinger. Driving feels great and the missions are just long enough. You will be driving through buildings, avoiding collapsing ice on a frozen river in Siberia, and avoiding traffic in the streets of Istanbul. I’d be inclined to play a full length title full of driving missions like those in “Blood Stone.”

Like mentioned above, you will be fighting terrorism all over the globe, at one moment you will be chasing enemies through a giant aquarium, and the next you will be racing against a freight train in Siberia in your Aston Martin.

“Blood Stone” offers online competitive multiplayer. Game modes include team deathmatch and objective based missions. Over Xbox Live, I had a hard time finding a match that wasn’t team deathmatch. The game offers a progressive leveling system and customizable loadouts with various unlocks akin to Call of Duty, just not nearly as extensive. “Blood Stone” isn’t bustling with active players, but I had no problem finding a full 16-player match. “Blood Stone” offers matchmaking and party support.

The online gameplay is nearly identical to the single player portion, minus the melee takedown function.

Online multiplayer is a lot of fun. Like the single player campaign, “Blood Stone” doesn’t really stand out from other third person shooters, but the polish that was put into the gameplay makes it very enjoyable.

Round Up:

“James Bond 007: Blood Stone” is, in many ways, the same old third person shooter that’s been done before, but the gameplay is solid and fluid, the driving sequences are superb and the online functionality moderately extends the replayability. “James Bond 007: Blood Stone” is worth the cash; it’s a well-polished third-person shooter.

Trailer: