With enough white-knuckle melees and high-octane driving action to keep you motivated until it’s race to the finish finale, James Bond 007: Blood Stone storms onto the scene to offer a satisfying cinematic shoot’em up experience that all 007 fans can appreciate.

If Blood Stone was based on a movie it would have to be considered the best movie based video game to date. Thankfully it is not based on a movie, considering the track record of movie based video games. Nevertheless, Bizarre Creations has definitely brought the Bond experience to life. Staying true to the essence of the James Bond movie persona, Blood Stone places you in the middle of an explosive blockbuster cinematic thrill ride overlaid with espionage and top secret biochemical warfare.

As a prologue to the game and remaining on par with most James Bond movie introductions, Blood Stone places you in the role James Bond who is called upon to eliminate a dangerous threat in Athens. After parachuting in and dispatching a few goons aboard a yacht, Bond hijacks a nearby speedboat in hot pursuit of the main threat. Once you’ve apprehended the threat and all seems well, you realize the game hasn’t yet begun. This of course is followed by the games movie style intro, James Bond style indeed!

James Bond 007: Blood Stone plays out quite similar to many third person shooters on the market today. Enter a room, bad guys starting shooting and you find cover immediately. However, with the implementation of smooth controls, a varied yet brutal push button takedown maneuver and a Splinter Cell: Convictions style shooting mechanic known as Focus Aim and Blood Stone begins to seriously rival Sam Fishers latest adventure with the exception of the multiplayer component.

Focus Aim is what I would consider the glue that keeps the gunplay action in Blood Stone moving right along at a frantic and enjoyable pace. Perform up to three takedowns which allow up to three focus aim executions and you are now able to pull off high speed kills in classic 007 style. For the majority of the game you’re placed in impossible scenarios picking off enemies as you move forward to complete each objective.

While the majority of the game is centered around shooting, stealth maneuvers and taking cover, Bizarre Creations breaks up the pacing with some intense on foot and vehicle chases that brings a lot of excitement to the overall experience. After racing along the coast at some seriously dangerous high speeds, I’m convinced that I’m in need of an Aston Martin Vanquish GT. Of course this is not in the budget right now, yeah I need a raise, however Bizarre Creations sure knows how to make a car chase feel incredible. As the developers behind this years heart-pounding racer BLUR, it’s apparent Bizarre Creations has a knack for making each part of Blood Stone feel entertainingly fast-paced like a simulated racer with a silencer.

As you travel the world in search of international threats you are not without a trusty agency issued Smartphone. The smartphone work much like Sam Fishers sonar-googles given Bond a layout of his surroundings. The smartphone identifies enemies, surveillance camers, and also operates as a compass giving Bond a heads-up on where he should be heading next. Even though the smartphone doesn’t look as cool as sonar-googles, it’s still a cool gadget that certainly gets the job done.

James Bond 007: Blood Stone takes place across six different locales around the globe. Starting in Athens, Bond heads into Istanbul, Monaco, Siberia, Bangkok and Burma in pursuit of an international threat. Each location feels pulled out of a Bond movie and this is a good thing. Blood Stone may not blow you away by it’s visual presentation, however you will not be able to ignore the games ambition to make an explosive impression with all the sights and sounds thrown into the action.

Bringing this bond experience together with authentic flare, Blood Stone features the voice acting talents of the man himself, Daniel Craig as James Bond 007, Judi Dench as M and the award-winning British artist Joss Stone as Nicole Hunter.

As a final note; James Bond 007: Blood Stone may present some pacing issues here and there which does make the experience sometimes feel average. Yet, for the few flaws presented, the experience makes up for it with non-stop action, mixed with a great soundtrack and movie quality voice acting. Bizarre Creation has the right formula to execute more amazing 007 titles in the future and we can’t wait to see what they come up with next.

8/10