James Bond 007: Blood Stone

Blood Stone is a third-person shooter game with elements of hand-to-hand combat similar to games like Uncharted, Gears of War and ''Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell and with an elements of stealth, similar to Splinter Cell: Conviction, Blood Stone'' has a "Focus Aim" system that lets you accurately shoot enemy which is unlocked by taking an enemy with melee combat. Driving sequences also appear in the game. There is a multiplayer mode consisting of up to 16 players that will pit spies versus mercenaries. Alongside team deathmatch and other standard game modes there are massive objective-based battles where players have to work as a team to attack or defend various spy-themed goals. The player pilots several vehicle types throughout the course of the game. ==Plot==

In 2010, MI6 uncovers a plot by international terrorist Greco (Luis Soto) to conduct a suicide attack on the G-20 leaders, while attending a summit at the Acropolis structure in Athens. M (Judi Dench) assigns James Bond (Daniel Craig) to prevent the attack. After Greco flees from his personal yacht, Bond pursues him through Athens, before learning that he rigged an SUV with explosives. After deciding to let Greco leave alive, Bond pursues after the SUV in a commandeered Aston Martin DBS V12, disabling it before it can reach the G-20 summit. The following morning, M contacts Bond with news that Malcolm Tedworth (Timothy Watson), a researcher who disappeared while conducting top-level work for the Ministry of Defence, has been located in Istanbul. Suspecting he was kidnapped for his research, Bond is assigned to recover both Tedworth and his work. Finding the researcher being held at a construction site, Bond witnesses Tedworth being interrogated by a courier named Bernin (Ramon Tikaram), who seeks access to his USB drive containing his research. After acquiring what he needs, Bernin executes Tedworth and flees across the city, prompting Bond to pursue after him using an Aston Martin DB5. Unable to recover the data as it is fenced, Bond interrogates Bernin before killing him, learning he works for businessman Stefan Pomerov (Laurence Possa). Sent by M to Monaco, Bond works with fellow MI6 agent Nicole Hunter (Joss Stone) to find evidence at one of Pomerov's casinos. The pair find information that Pomerov has frequented a disused chemical refinery he owns in Siberia, receiving a tip off it is storing bio-weapons, and head out to investigate it. The pair soon discover Pomerov is operating a bio-factory that is manufacturing bio-weapons, prompting them to destroy it. Discovering Pomerov intends to smuggle out bio-weapons he already has, Bond pursues after him to an ekranoplan. Boarding it before it takes off, Bond kills Pomerov and secures the bio-weapons for disposal by Russian troops. After he parts way with Nicole, Bond becomes suspicious of the tip off they received when he reports to M, suspecting it was arranged to secure Pomerov's elimination. Using Bernin's phone that he took, Bond has MI6 trace a number he had received that wasn't a local call. The call turns out to come from Chinese intelligence officer General Ping (David K.S. Tse), who contacts Bond for a meeting in Bangkok to discuss the reason for his communication with Bernin. Meeting at an aquarium, Ping reveals he was investigating a freelance mercenary named Rak (James Goode) who operates in Bangkok and sells stolen information and technology on the black market. Ping suspects him involved in Tedworth's kidnapping, but before he can reveal more, an assassin kills him. Bond attempts to pursue the assassin, only for them to die in an accident. Needing background information from M on Rak while pursued by police, Bond is sent to meet with Silk (Richard Dillane), an associate of Rak's, who provides the location for his hideout in the city. However, Silk betrays Bond after the meeting, allowing him to be ambushed by Rak. Taken to a prison camp in Burma for interrogation by Rak, Bond escapes and pursues after him for information that results in a confrontation over a dam. Although Rak pleads for his life in exchange for his employer's identity, Bond reveals he already knows and kills him. Returning to Monaco, Bond sends Rak's knife to Nicole, identifying her as a double agent in MI6 and the head of a group that kidnaps prominent researchers, selling their data to interested parties. Frightened, Nicole decides to escape the city and country in her Koenigsegg CCXR, only to find herself being pursued by Bond (in his Aston Martin DBS V12), who ultimately corners her on the Millau Viaduct in neighbouring France. Confronted by him, after suspecting she supplied the tip-off on Pomerov, Nicole reveals she works for an unknown man who is rich and powerful, but refuses to identify him, claiming he is bigger than any organisation in the world. Before Bond can interrogate her more, an unmanned drone shoots Nicole dead. With no further clues to follow, Bond reports in to M, advising her to find a new contact in Monaco, before departing. Cast Recurring characters: • James Bond – likeness and voice of Daniel Craig • M – likeness and voice of Judi Dench • Bill Tanner – voice only by Rory Kinnear Other characters: • Joss Stone as Nicole Hunter • Luis Soto as Greco • Timothy Watson as Malcolm Tedworth • Ramon Tikaram as Bernin • Laurence Possa as Stefan Pomerov (credited as Laurentiu Possa) • David Tse as General Ping • Richard Dillane as Silk • James Goode as Rak ==Development==

Blood Stone was developed by Bizarre Creations with assistance by n-Space on Nintendo DS platform. The game was hinted at on 21 April 2010 when British store HMV listed Blood Stone as "coming soon". On 23 April, Activision reserved a web domain name called bloodstonegame.com. The game was announced in an Activision press release on 16 July. James Bond film writer Bruce Feirstein wrote the story for the game. The game itself is built on developer Bizarre Creations' Bespoke engine, which was created for the game The Club. Ben Cooke, who is Daniel Craig's stunt double in the films, provided the motion capture choreography for Bond's digital animation and is credited as the game's stunt coordinator. In 22 October, Activision confirmed the game's release on 2 November 2010 in North America, on 3 November 2010 in Australia, and on 5 November 2010 in Europe. Also in this day, Activision also confirmed the same date release of GoldenEye 007 remake for DS and Wii. The game's soundtrack was composed by Richard Jacques. Joss Stone provides an original musical track to the game titled "I'll Take It All", written and performed by her and David A. Stewart. ==Reception==

James Bond 007: Blood Stone received "mixed or average reviews", according to review aggregator Metacritic. Critics generally praised the game's production values, characterization, soundtrack, and visuals, but had mixed opinions regarding the game's story, mission design, and length. The Escapist wrote Blood Stone was "a satisfying action game", saying "The game had enough "wow" moments to please even the jaded Bond fan-slash-gamer crowd. Clocking in at somewhere between 8–10 hours for the main story, it nevertheless delivers the goods where it counts and manages to offer a variety of experience and emotion that makes it feel much longer." In November 2021, Screen Rant ranked the game as the third best James Bond game to play before the release of the new James Bond game. Sales In the United Kingdom, the game debuted at No. 18 on the charts, five positions below GoldenEye 007 for Wii and DS, which was released alongside Blood Stone on the same week. During its first month in Europe, the game sold approximately 176,907 copies. In the United States, Blood Stone has only sold 104,540 across all platforms in the same period. Accolades Abandonment On 4 January 2013, Activision removed all of its digital James Bond titles from sale with no advance notice. These included James Bond 007: Blood Stone and all other James Bond games published by the company. Activision's license of the James Bond property from MGM and EON was established in 2006 and was due to expire in 2014. However, given the broad delistings in early 2013 it has been speculated that their license was revoked rather than allowing it to run to term. ==Cancelled sequel==

In December 2010, it was reported that a new James Bond game was in development by Activision, planned as a sequel to Blood Stone, with art materials and an uploaded video showing a gameplay trailer being leaked shortly after the report. Developed by Raven Software, the game was codenamed 007: Risico, being based on Ian Fleming's short story “Risico” with the plotline expanded and involved with other unseen elements from James Bond novels written by Ian Fleming himself. 007: Risico should have been released during Christmas 2010, if Blood Stone had been released (as originally planned) in 2009. Due to low sales of Blood Stone, along with financial problems at MGM, the game was scrapped. ==Notes==