June 30, 2008 - Casino Royale relaunched the James Bond license on the silver screen. Now Activision and Treyarch are hoping to do the same with its upcoming Bond game, Quantum of Solace. With the Call of Duty 4 engine as its backbone, Treyarch is putting together a game that it sees as the launch of a franchise. That engine is a good place to start, but it's only the beginning for 007.

This fall, Daniel Craig will return as James Bond for his second starring role in Quantum of Solace, a true Bond sequel. The movie will pick up about an hour after the end of Casino Royale, bucking the trend of Bond movies standing alone. If you haven't seen Casino Royale, all hope is not lost. That's because this game will tell the story of both films at a roughly 50/50 split. There's even an extra scene that was removed from the final release of Casino Royale that will be included in the game.

Quantum of Solace also includes the story from Casino Royale.The first thing you'll notice in Quantum of Solace isn't Daniel Craig's baby blues; it's the fact that you can even see them at all. Though this is built on an engine made for first-person shooters, Treyarch has made some additions to create what it calls a hybrid 3rd person game. Having James Bond visible in the game is pretty important to such a notable franchise. And so the team has built an engine that acts a lot like what you see in Rainbow Six: Vegas. While moving normally the game will stay in the first-person. Push up against a wall to take cover or climb a ladder and the camera pulls out to show Bond's character model.

The demo we were given only showed locations and events from Casino Royale, which works out well for purposes of keeping everything spoiler free. The three scenes we saw each showcased different aspects of the gameplay. And from what we've seen, this isn't just a straight shooter.

The game will pull back into a third-person view for some sequences, similar to Rainbow Six: Vegas.First we were taken to the Venice House stage for a general game overview. Those that have seen Casino Royale will remember this chase through a sinking house in Venice. This section did a good job showing off the basics of gameplay, including the 3rd person mechanics (tap a button to quickly sprint between cover), sneaking up on enemies to silently shoot them and stay hidden, and destructible thin walls that can be shot apart to reveal new paths.

This area also answered a big question I had been pondering: How do you make an action game about a hero that doesn't get into shootouts all that often? The answer is in the atmosphere. The environment in Venice felt alive, adding to the cinematic feel. The light was trickling through windows and cracks in the roof. The house slowly sank, creaking and groaning as the floor began tilting this way and that. Cans rolled back and forth at Bond's feet as the house slowly crumbled and flooded. Even with only a handful of direct confrontations, the tension was palpable.

Next we were taken to a level inside the casino. The goal at this point was to find Le Chiffre and we were given a look at two different ways to go about it. The first was an all out assault with guns. It didn't turn out too well for Bond -- the massive number of guards quickly swarmed and killed him once the alarms were off. Hey, we didn't say it was a good way to tackle the stage, but it did show off the health system. It's regenerative, as is the rage these days, but there's no proper health bar. As Bond takes damage, the vision cone closes up with the pattern straight out of the movie's title credits.

After a reload we saw the section tackled in a more intelligent manner. Bond pulled up an electronic map of the hotel that had every enemy's location on it. And yes, crazy gadgets like this are allowed in Bond games. Then it was off to perform some silent kills. Get up close enough to an unsuspecting chap and you can perform close quarter take-downs. For these, the camera pulls back to showcase the brutal moves. This area also showcased a cinematic ledge sequence where the player had to use a picture-in-picture view to sneak past windows while the guards weren't looking.


The action can get quite intense.Of course the action picked up eventually before escalating into a full-scale shootout. The fight tore from one room to the next while the luxury hotel was turned to rubble under the barrage of bullets. We watched chandeliers get shot down to fall on enemies, pillars crumble under enemy fire while Bond dashed from one piece of cover to the next, and oh-so-many explosions. The level design was a mix of closed halls and vast ballrooms that provided a good mix of directed fights and sequences where the player is free to choose the path. In other words, it was exactly what you'd expect out of a high octane action game. Except for the random guards standing in a pool that started shooting at Bond when he burst through the door. What were they doing in the pool?

Lastly we were shown the construction chase from the beginning of Casino Royale. Again, the shooting took a back seat to more cinematic action as Bond bolted after his target. The level opens with a bulldozer crashing into the site before we watched Bond climb up a crane's arm and into the building. Here the game often changed perspectives to provide a complete picture of what was going on. It pulled out to a third person view for leaps and balancing sections and switched to a picture-in-picture view to showcase what the guy you're chasing is doing. These changing perspectives did more than add to the action. They also gave a great view of the surroundings which showcased the great draw distance and attention to detail.

But really, as far as looks go, it's hard to argue with the Call of Duty 4 engine. The game looks crisp and, since the team didn't have to build a game from scratch, it already runs smoothly. With that extra time that would have been spent optimizing the game, the developers were able to do extensive work recreating the people and places from the movies. Three dimensional scans of Craig were taken along with tons of photographs to ensure the star looked the part -- and he does. He sounds the part, too, since Craig is doing all of his own voicework for the game. He didn't do his own motion-capturing, though. For that, Treyarch got Ray Park (of Darth Maul fame). It's not just the main character that got the royal treatment. For the environments and props, the team had thousands of reference photos to work from in addition to the scripts.

Chase scenes add tension without having to rely on simple shooting.Though we saw a good variety in combat, stealth and action, Treyarch is being careful not to bite off more than it can chew. The team stressed the importance nailing the gameplay. Rather than including everything, but not perfecting anything, the team is focusing on what it sees as the strengths. That means no driving levels, despite the Bond affinity for fast cars, and no poker level. When we heard this we started to get scared that Treyarch might cut out the infamous Bond girls as well. We asked. They're in, but the team wouldn't go into any detail on how big of a role they'll play.

Treyarch also wasn't ready to talk about the multiplayer game just yet, but representatives were willing to confirm its existence. Exactly how the team will make use of the hybrid 1st and 3rd person engine remains to be seen, but the flexibility sure does look promising.

Licensed movie games rarely get the attention they deserve, but that doesn't appear to be the case with Quantum of Solace. Treyarch has taken the Call of Duty 4 engine and made it its own by adding third-person action and delivering a cinematic feel fitting of an agent with a license to kill. Stay tuned for more as we lead up to the fall release.

UPDATE: Midway Games took the occasion of a press event in Las Vegas yesterday to announced the plans for Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe, due out this fall. While there wasn't much info provided on the title, Ed Boon, MK's creative director, did confirm four characters that would be included (with more to be announced later): Scorpion, Sub Zero, Batman and Superman. The addition of DC characters raises the question of whether such MK staples as fatalities would be included, but we'll all have to wait until Boon and Midway deliver more facts and details.


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Midway Games Inc. (NYSE: MWY), a leading interactive entertainment software publisher and developer, today announced Mortal Kombat® vs. DC Universe, licensed by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. When a cataclysmic force merges conquerors from two universes, conflict is inevitable. Kombat forces friends to fight, worlds to collide, and unlikely alliances to be forged. In order to save all they know, the heroes and villains of Mortal Kombat must wage war against the combined might of the DC Universe (DCU). How can either side prevail when rage blinds them to the dark threat poised to destroy them all?

For the first time ever Scorpion, Sub Zero and the warriors from Midway’s billion-dollar fighting franchise face off against Batman, Superman and other iconic and powerful DC Super Heroes, featuring signature attacks for both sides and a unique and intertwining storyline, written as a collaboration between the Mortal Kombat creative team and top comic scribes Jimmy Palmiotti (Painkiller Jane, Marvel Nights, Jonah Hex, 21 Down) and Justin Gray (Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight, JLA Classified, Punisher Red X-Mas, The Resistance) MK vs. DCU is slated to ship for the PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system and Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft in Fall 2008.


“It is a truly unique and extremely exciting effort to be teaming up with Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and DC Comics for the first Mortal Kombat game on next generation platforms,” said Ed Boon, co-creator and executive producer for Mortal Kombat at Midway Amusement Games. “The DC Universe characters are some of the most popular and enduring characters in the world. By combining them with the Mortal Kombat mythology, all new gameplay modes and features, plus a completely unique storyline crafted by top comic writers, players will now be able to answer the question: what would happen if Batman fought Sub Zero?”


“Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe will provide a wide audience of fans and gamers match-ups of their favorite characters in battles like they’ve never experienced before,” said Scott Johnson, Vice President, Business Development for Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. “Midway’s new Mortal Kombat gameplay paired with DC Comics’ popular characters will offer players a multitude of combat options and incredible face offs.”

“For the first time, players will be able to go toe to toe with DC and MK characters in both arena and story mode,” said John Nee, Senior Vice President, Business Development for DC Comics. “We’ve worked very closely with Midway to bring an authentic DCU flavor to their Kombat and the result features our characters like they’ve never been seen before.”

To recap: Konami are imposing restrictions on what publications can and cannot talk about when reviewing Metal Gear Solid 4. No mention of 90-minute cutscenes please, and while you're at it, no talky-talky about install sizes either, K? IGN are cool with that. EGM, refreshingly, are not. Due to "limitations Konami wanted to impose on our comments", the editorial team decided to refrain from giving the game a score, and in lieu of a "review" posted a lengthy roundtable discussion about the game instead. It's hardly a gloved fist on an Olympic dias, but it is nice seeing somebody do something about such an...unsavoury practice.

On the subject of rumors that Sony is preparing to unveil its answer to Xbox Originals by releasing PS2 titles over the PlayStation Network, Lempel simply offered, "It was news to me when I read about it." He was, however, happy to talk about boosting the range of gaming content available from the PlayStation Store, and while keen not to dwell on the strategies adopted by Sony's competitors, he did take a thinly veiled swipe at Microsoft following the company's admission that it was planning to delist underperforming Xbox Live Arcade titles in order to avoid cluttering its online service.

"We definitely want to make sure that [the PlayStation Store] offers quality titles and games that our consumers are going to enjoy just like we do with our console and disc-based titles, and I think there's a lot of room with virtual shelf space to put a lot of things. Depending on what type of UI you have you can accommodate a lot of titles, and specifically with our new store redesign which launched back in April we have a great ability to merchandise a wide variety of titles.



"While naturally we only want to keep quality titles on the network we do have room for a lot of them. I think if I look over at the competitors' UI they may have some issues just displaying content, and scrolling up and down lists isn't the easiest way to find things."

We asked why it had taken Sony so long to implement in-game XMB access and an achievements system.

"Some of the [features] people have been requesting for some time, some of them are a bit newer. We have a roadmap and there were a lot of other things on the roadmap that we had to deliver prior to these features," Lempel said.

"The other thing is that we don't release anything until it's ready to go, until we have a strong program behind it and strong support, and until it offers a strong consumer experience. We hit that point a few weeks ago and realized that we were ready to go, so we scheduled the update and here we are now."