Quantum of Solace (Xbox 360)

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Quantum of Solace is Activision's first Bond game, and the first to feature the likeness of Daniel Craig.

There was a brief moment during my play test of Quantum of Solace when things started to get very odd indeed. I thought it was 1997, I thought the pad in my hand had only a single analogue stick, and I thought the game I was playing featured the likeness of Pierce Brosnan. But, in the blink of an eye the moment was gone, reality kicked in and I was back in 2008, the pad in my hand had two thumb sticks and the game I was playing featured the likeness of Daniel Craig.

It was all down to the Montenegro Train level, a scene consigned to the cutting room floor by the Casino Royale script gods but resurrected by developer Treyarch for the game of Craig's first Bond adventure and the soon to be released follow up. A level that dares to nod towards one of the finest console shooters ever made, and what associate producer Brian Morrison calls the '500 pound gorilla' - Rare's GoldenEye 007 for the Nintendo 64.

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With GoldenEye locked in "no-man's land" at least in terms of an HD downloadable re-release, fans of quality Bond first-person shooters are looking towards Quantum of Solace, built on the same engine that powered Infinity Ward's stupendously fantastic Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, for salvation. Burned by average at best efforts from EA, and with the jury still out on Treyarch's capabilities as a quality FPS developer, fans would be forgiven for infusing that look with more than a healthy dose of cynicism. Well hear this - Treyarch insists Quantum of Solace won't only avoid spiralling into the license dustbin when it's released at the end of the month, but will actually recapture some of that GoldenEye magic millions of gamers grew up experiencing in the late nineties.

PR speak? Hype generating nonsense? Perhaps. We'll admit, following our extensive play test of three of the game's single-player levels as well as two multiplayer levels, anyone who claims that Quantum of Solace is the next GoldenEye needs their head examined. But that doesn't stop it from looking like the best Bond game in years.

Developer Treyarch (Call of Duty 5) hopes to capture some of that GoldenEye magic

Let's start with the Montenegro Train level, a level that wasn't going to make it into the game until someone somewhere in Treyarch's offices played the wonderful Train level from GoldenEye and questioned the wisdom of that decision. It follows on from the scene in Casino Royale where Eva Green and Daniel Craig start sowing the seeds of romance as the pair prepare for the big poker game with bad guy Le 'I need cash quick' Chiffre. In the game the scene is extended to take in Bond's hunting down of European drug syndicate member John Blyss, who's holed up somewhere at the front of the train, along with an army of goons, as he attempts to deliver enough cocaine to keep Notting Hill happy for a year.

Anyone who's played CoD4 is going to be able to pick up and play QoS without any problems whatsoever. You've got the trademark zoom in down the barrel of your gun and R3 click to melee (more on that later) control set-up as well as a familiar feel to the weight of the 26 (at last count) weapons. But what won't be familiar is the Rainbow Six Vegas 2-style cover system which shows Daniel Craig's Bond in all his third-person glory.

Combat plays out like this - snap to cover (Bond can dash to cover from a short distance), peep out and pick off bad guys as you inch closer to your objective. QoS won't require a level of tactical consideration on a par with Gearbox Software's latest Brothers in Arms game, Hell's Highway, but running and gunning won't be a policy best employed, especially on the harder difficulty levels. Indeed Treyarch has worked hard to ensure the game doesn't feel as scripted as its illustrious cousin and the AI feels smarter and will flank more effectively.

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