James Bond Needs an Open World Videogame

James Bond, the videogame!

Seems simple enough, right? Yet no one’s gotten it right. What the heck?!

Today, Activision announced a new, original videogame based upon the action-loving, lady-laying secret agent. “James Bond 007: Blood Stone” is set to be released around the holiday season this year.

According to the release, the game promises “an explosive third-person action adventure where they will unravel an international conspiracy across exotic locales.”

“‘James Bond 007: Blood Stone’ captures the cinematic intensity of a Bond film by immersing players in an intriguing conspiracy that will require them to think and act like James Bond,” said David Pokress, Head of Marketing for Licensed Properties, Activision Publishing.  “In addition, the game will feature a diverse array of multi-player modes and debut strategic objective-based gameplay that will allow Xbox 360, PS3™ and PC players to battle as teams of spies and mercenaries through authentic Bond locales.”

The game will feature the likeness of Daniel Craig and Judi Dench… as well as Joss Stone.

Who the hell is Joss Stone, and why does the fact that she’s writing original music for this game mean shit? I don’t know, but whatever, she’s highlighted a lot in the press release.

Anyway, she’s apparently the “Bond girl.” And her song will be the videogame’s theme, similar in fashion to the way each Bond film has an original song specifically written for it.

The real issue here is the gameplay. Seems to me that if you’re going to do a secret agent game, you can’t hope for a better template than James Bond. The dude rocks.

But this effort seems so limiting to me. If you’re gonna do Bond in a game, fuck it man, go balls out. Get Moore, Connery, Dalton and Brosnan to man up and let their likeness get used (for some greenbacks, of course). Let players take on their favorite Bond, make it open world, have one big mission with some little secondary exploits.

Blow shit up, get some hot chicks, swig some shaken martinis (which, from experience, is really the only way to drink them).

I’ve loved James Bond since I was a kid. I’m not that old, so I’ll have to say that Roger Moore was my man, although I’ve come to see Connery as the defining 007. Brosnan and Craig were great, but ultimately the original remains the best. I’m not getting into Dalton or Lazenby.

But if you really want to open James Bond up into the videogame realm, you gotta do it right. It’s a franchise ripe with possibility, and sequels galore.

Activision, don’t just make this a one-off. Don’t just go off half-cocked with a ploy for gamer bucks. Set it up with something special, something lasting, something real. Go for the whole deal.

The multi-player stuff sounds nice, and I’ll look forward to seeing that in action, but we’ve got games like that. It’s just a case of mining familiar territory.

Fuck that, man, go deeper. Go wider. Really make it something that’ll blow the doors off that Aston Martin and get everyone humming that kick-ass theme tune.

Give us James Bond the way fans would want him. Real and kick ass, with a rich environment with world-dominating villains and cleverly named femmes. There is so much you could mine from the films and books, so many ideas, characters and adventures that could be built.

Oh, how wonderful it could be.

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