Quantum of Solace Hands-on Preview

For England, James

Then there’s the multiplayer, which the older gamers among you was always the best and most important part of the N64 classic, GoldenEye.

Mercifully, Treyarch seem to be well aware of how important the multiplayer side of things is and we’re happy to say that the multiplayer is actually an awful lot better. And we’re not just saying that because we proved to be so very excellent at the game, constantly winning and getting congratulated by the developers.

There are a whole load of different multiplayer modes available in the multiplayer Quantum of Solace and though the usual array of deathmatches and team games are represented, there are a fair few original modes here too – as well as those taken from earlier Bond adaptations.

Golden Gun mode makes a return for example as a basic deathmatch game where one super-power pistol will respawn occasionally in the centre of the map. You can still win by gunning down your opponents with regular weapons of course, and you can choose your firearms from three different setups at the start of each match, but you get special kudos for a Golden Gun kill.


Unfortunately, the Golden Gun mode didn’t really manage to hold our attention for all that long and this was mainly due to the fact that the gun itself didn’t feel very fun to use. Rather than literally being Scaramanga’s golden pistol, the gun in Quantum of Solace is a golden revolver with explosive rounds and a huge scope on it. It sounds cool and looks as massively over-powered as it should be, but the slow rate of fire and underwhelming explosions make it a slight disappointment.

Other modes are a lot more fun, especially the Bond Versus mode where players are divided and it literally is Bond versus everyone else. The player chosen as Bond is literally a one-man army with a handful of limited respawns and three bombs to defuse, but he’s opposed by everyone else.

If Bond can kill every other player or deactivate the explosives then he can claim a victory, but it’s not going to be at all easy despite the fact that your enemies can’t respawn.


There’s also the Bond Versus Bond mode, which sees everyone in Bond’s position and playing a constant deathmatch. Weapons are everywhere, respawning as close to instantly as the players, but the selection of guns is geared very much towards a Noveaux Bond escapade – scoped assault rifles of every colour and creed are the dish of the day here. Shotguns, pistols and rocket launchers are very much frowned upon.

Bond Versus Bond was certainly our favourite of the multiplayer modes, though a lot of that is due to the level were playing on. We didn’t get anything even close to a scoop on plot of the film, but even in the trailers it’s pretty obvious that there’s going to be a rooftop chase sequence in Sienna, Italy.

Sienna then was the level we got to play Bond Versus Bond on, and we can promise you that it was awesome. With the action taking place a death-plummet above the city streets, players are forever jumping from roof to roof and hiding behind chimneys. It’s a classic piece of gaming action – popping in and out of cover, bullets ripping into the scenery from far-off vantage points and being returned in kind.

People falling to their death, lobbing grenades and bemoaning headshots – this is exactly what multiplayer is and Quantum of Solace captures it very well, which goes a good way towards reducing the disappointment of the singleplayer deviations.