Overview
007 Legends is a first-person shooter developed by Eurocom and published by Activision for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on October 16, 2012, for the PC on November 1, 2012, and for the Wii U on December 7, 2012.
Commemorating the 50th anniversary of the James Bond film franchise, 007 Legends has players reprising the role of secret agent James Bond (with the voice and likeness of Daniel Craig) as he relives missions based on five classic movies from the series (one for each of the five James Bond actors' era): Goldfinger, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, Licence to Kill, Die Another Day, and Moonraker. It is also a tie-in with the 2012 film Skyfall, as the overall story is wrapped together as a flashback sequence in a near-death experience from an event in that film.
The game is a spiritual sequel to Goldeneye 007: Reloaded, using the same first-person game engine. Unlike most previous games in the series, 007 Legends puts a greater focus on stealth gameplay (with enhanced AI and new gadgets). The game also introduces a single-player experience point system, allowing players to upgrade Bond's weapons, gadgets, and physical abilities by reaching milestones in the game. Competitive multiplayer also returns with both 4-player split-screen and 12-player online support.
It is notable for being the last game by the long-running British developer Eurocom before their closure, for being the last James Bond game released by Activision, and for being the last game in the James Bond franchise throughout the 2010's.
Story
In similar vein to Hitman: Contracts, the overall narrative of the game ties everything together as a near-death experience, with Bond's mind being drawn to past events after being grievously wounded on his most recent mission in Istanbul (during the opening events of the 2012 film Skyfall). He begins to remember five of his previous assignments (in which players reenact as Bond):
Investigating the gold-smuggling operations of wealthy gold dealer Auric Goldfinger in his plant of operations in Switzerland. Along the way, Bond encounters Goldfinger's personal pilot (Pussy Galore) and Goldfinger's bodyguard (the mysterious Oddjob). Based on the 1964 film Goldfinger, where Sean Connery portrayed Bond.
Assaulting the lair of terrorist organization leader Ernst Blofeld on the peak of the Swiss Alps (while rescuing his fiancée, Tracy di Vicenzo). Based on the 1969 film On Her Majesty's Secret Service, where George Lazenby portrayed Bond.
Infiltrating the base of Mexican drug lord Franz Sanchez, intent on revenge after an attack on CIA agent Felix Leiter, in the fictional Republic of Isthmus. He is assisted by Pam Bouvier, an undercover DEA informant. Based on the 1989 film Licence to Kill, where Timothy Dalton portrayed Bond.
Investigating a scientific demonstration of the "Icarus" project by British entrepreneur Gustav Graves in Iceland. He is assisted by NSA agent Giacinta 'Jinx' Johnson. Along the way, he encounters the mysterious North Korean terrorist Zao. Based on the 2002 film Die Another Day, where Pierce Brosnan portrayed Bond.
Infiltrating the spaceport facility of billionaire industrialist Hugo Drax in Brazil. Along the way, he is assisted by CIA agent Holly Goodhead. He also encounters Drax's bodyguard, the giant steel-toothed Jaws. Based on the 1979 film Moonraker, where Roger Moore portrayed Bond.
After completing these reenactments, players then re-enact the chase sequence leading to the game's events. They learn that Bond, along with MI6 field agent Eve Moneypenny, have been chasing the mercenary Patrice (who has stolen personal details of undercover NATO agents) and that the near-death experience was due to a inaccurate shot by Eve. Shortly after surviving the near-death experience, Bond then tracks the mercenary to Shanghai, and must prevent him from assassinating an unknown figure.
Because the game was released prior to the 2012 film Skyfall, the final missions in the game (both the Istanbul chase and the Shanghai encounter, both based on the movie) were deliberately left out as free downloadable content in the PS3, X360, and PC versions. It was released on November 10, 2012 for the PlayStation 3 and on November 20, 2012 for the Xbox 360 and PC.
Levels
Mission 01. Goldfinger
- Auric Enterprises
- Fort Knox
Mission 02. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
- Alpine Valley
- Blofeld's Lair
Mission 03. License to Kill
Mission 04. Die Another Day
- Ice Hotel
- Ice Lake
- Graves' Cargo Plane
Mission 05. Moonraker
Mission 06. Skyfall
Challenge Mode
Similar to Spec Ops Mode from recent Call of Duty games, there are ten additional challenges - special missions which take place in the same environments as the regular missions. Missions are split into four categories; assault, elimination, stealth and defense, and some allow you to play as characters other than James Bond, such as Oddjob.
This mode encourages players to compete for high scores via online leaderboards. Each challenge gives the player the option of adjusting around ten variables which effect the difficult of the mission, e.g. number of enemies, health regeneration speed, enemy aggression, ammo scarcity, etc. Adjusting these variables has the additional effect of changing your score multiplier, which is applied to your base score at the end of each mission. The leaderboards also give you the option of automatically setting your difficult settings to that of any player who has already posted a score.
Multiplayer
The game includes a few staple first person shooter modes and provides 4 player split screen local play as well as online support.
PC System Requirements
Minimum
- OS: Windows® XP/ Windows® Vista / Windows® 7
- Processor: Intel® Core™ 2 Duo E6600 or AMD Phenom™ X3 8750 processor or better
- Memory: 2 GB RAM
- Graphics: Shader 3.0 or better NVIDIA® GeForce™ 9600GT 512MB / ATI® Radeon™ HD 3870 512MB or better
- DirectX®: 9.0c
- Hard Drive: 10 GB HD space
- Sound: DirectX® 9.0c compatible
Recommended
- OS: Windows XP, Vista or Windows 7
- CPU: Any Quad core processor
- RAM: 4 GB
- HDD: 10 GB free disk space
- Graphics: 1 GB Graphics Memory
- Sound Card: DirectX 9 Compatible
- DirectX: Version 9
Supported Video Card
- Minimum – NVIDIA GeForce 9600 GT / ATI Radeon HD 3870 or better
- Recommended – NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450 or AMD Radeon HD 6750 (suggested)
Log in to comment