Activision doubles up 007 projects

21 Comments by Ludwig Kietzmann Nov 8th 2007 4:37PM
Filed under: Action

After snatching the James Bond license out of EA's metallic hands in 2006, Activision has quietly been endeavoring to revitalize the franchise which had recently grown about as tiresome as the films it was based on. Heck, when you get to the point where an invisible car escapes from an ice palace being melted by a space laser, the point of no return is but a speck in the rear-view mirror. Will Activision find the gaming equivalent of Casino Royale?

Speaking at a BMO Capital Markets conference (as covered by GamesIndustry.biz), Activision CEO Bobby Kotick pointed to the N64's GoldenEye as the title that made Ian Fleming's suave spy into "one of the great videogame franchises of all time." He revealed that Activision is currently working on two Bond projects, and that his plan for success involves the obvious: "I think the key to re-energising the Bond franchise is going to be ultimately the highest possible game quality." Make a good game to reinvigorate a franchise full of crap ones -- got it.

It was revealed in July last year that Treyarch, developer of Spider-Man 3 and Call of Duty 3, was to create a new 007 game for Activision. If Treyarch can administer a Casino Royale reboot of the games, we imagine it'll make them a bit like Daniel Craig. We'll make fun of them at first, but the final product will silence us.

Tags: 007, Activision, Bond, Casino-Royale, James-Bond, Treyarch

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(Page 1) Reader Comments

Matthew Moore: Nov 8th 2007; 4:43PM

Hmmm, If Treyarch can make consistently good games and release them in the Summer drought I am in. Although if they drop just ok games off during packed Holiday Seasons like this one I doubt I am going to pick up any bond titles unless they are in the bargain bin.

Spartan 1308: Nov 8th 2007; 5:04PM

With Activision in charge, hopefully Infinity Ward will be tapped to create the one that Treyarch isn't working on. Treyarch can make decent games, but IW has the talent to make a great game.

captainking: Nov 8th 2007; 5:19PM

Hmmm I was excited to see this until it said it would be done by Treyarch... imo CoD3 was the low point in the series, they should definitely get Infinity Ward on the bond games.

Sam: Nov 8th 2007; 5:19PM

EA has metallic hands? More like blood on their hands after their last quarter report.

chady: Nov 8th 2007; 5:38PM

For all the problems with 007 games in the past remember what it really is about a spy who sneaks around doing spy stuff hmmmmm. What games out there are doing that type of stuff. somthing about a splinter thats solid and metalic or something. 007 could be the best spygame there is outthere. Instead of of basing it off the movie where really a spy movie wouldn't sell as well as an action. I would buy it.

gonk: Nov 8th 2007; 5:49PM

well goldeneye was the best bond game and it had no stealth

since they're doing 2 games, one should be stealthy, and the other should be more like goldeneye (or CoD)

BananaBoat: Nov 8th 2007; 6:22PM

Goldeneye had stealth elements...basically all throughout. You could choose to rambo through it, but that doesn't mean that the stealth elements weren't there.

Also...Call of Duty 3 and Spider-Man 3 were both HORRRRRRRRRRIBLEEEEEEEEE. Why oh WHY are they the ones that have been selected to make the new game.

Mr Khan: Nov 8th 2007; 7:08PM

You couldn't exactly Rambo through the Cuban Jungle area, with all the automated machine guns

And using the Sniper Rifle on Severnaya was awesome

Ryan: Nov 8th 2007; 6:23PM

IMO, they should do one completely original game, using Daniel Craig's voice and likeness. Then make a game with Timothy Dalton's voice and likeness based on 1989's Licence to Kill. Licence to Kill was Casino Royale before Casino Royale. It was the darkest and most real Bond film at that point. I think it would translate great into a videogame. There are numerous locations including the Florida Keys, Mexico, drug labs, a yacht, and then some. Gameplay could involve, stealth, skydiving, piloting a plane, driving a semi, swimming, driving a boat, hand to hand combat, gunplay, and still stick to the plot of the movie. Plus the main cast with the exception of Desmond Llewelyn is still alive to do voice acting.

James: Nov 8th 2007; 6:38PM

How about they make it so you get to choose which Bond you want to be in the game? The game wouldn't play any different, but it'd be a pretty cool feature to have for the cut scenes.

Negativecool: Nov 8th 2007; 6:28PM

Nothing, and I mean nothing, 007 related will ever match the awesomeness that was Goldeneye. Holy God did that game make dorms livable in college.
Even 4 years after its release, there was nothing like a night of 4 player split screen, drunken smack talking, Goldeneye sessions in the dorms...

Great! Now I'm consumed by nostalgia!

joe: Nov 8th 2007; 6:46PM

casino royale didn't suck and was as intense as golden eye because both movies were created by the same director. i think the developers of golden eye should develope for the casino royale games as well. i think it's free radical that's currently developing haze. treyarch? spiderman 3 and cod3? both games SUCKED. didn't play spiderman 3, but i played cod3 and it's definitely the black sheep of the series.

Negativecool: Nov 8th 2007; 6:50PM

[+]
I second that completely.

Mr Khan: Nov 8th 2007; 7:10PM

Bond is one franchise i wouldn't mind Microsoft buying

That would mean they could put Rare back on it

joe: Nov 8th 2007; 7:23PM

mr khan, if you're saying rare because of golden eye, then your mistaken. the team that made golden eye left that company and made their own, free radical. there's no need for microsoft. all i care about are the developers doing the work, and so far treyarch doesn't have the credentials to make the new bond games, and neither does rare now that free radical isn't a part of them anymore.

jman: Nov 8th 2007; 7:03PM

who devoloped the everything or nothing james bond??

becasue that was really good everything a bond game should be....def rivaled goldeneye....at least imo

Shockgamer: Nov 8th 2007; 7:32PM

I'm glad I'm not the only person who would bring up Everything or Nothing.

Goldeneye may have been a classic _FPS_, but Everything or Nothing and From Russia With Love were ten times the _Bond experience_ Goldeneye will ever be.

It's a shame those two games are undappreciated; buried under the apathy created by EAs other, outnumbering crappy Bond efforts.

Zach S: Nov 8th 2007; 9:22PM

Yeah, uhh, Everything Or Nothing was ALRIGHT, but it wasn't as great as you're saying it was. It was plenty fun, but it was one of those semi-autopilot games (I'm not a huge fan of auto-lock-on and such). It did have quite a bond atmosphere, though. The multiplayer, sadly, was pretty much nonexistent, really not worth playing... I'm definitely looking more forward to a Goldeneye type of game.

Zach S: Nov 8th 2007; 9:24PM

I hope they bring back Goldeneye-style music! I can still remember those tunes in my head, and it was really awesome how each song was some sort of play on the bond theme!

t_m: Nov 8th 2007; 11:18PM

Personally I think the Everything or Nothing route is the way to go. It wasn't as good a game as goldeneye, but it was pretty cool overall.

However I like the idea of having ORIGINAL games. What kills most movie tie-ins is trying to match the timing of the movie.. and being hamstrung by fitting into the movie's plotline. The Bond franchise is broad enough that they can continue to make games independent of the movies... filling in the gaps between movie releases.

PS/ The invisible car/ice palace/space lazer point was exactly where the franchise jumped the shark. Weird, cos the first half of that movie was actually great.

Korova: Nov 9th 2007; 8:12AM

Never thought of it that way but the ice palace finale was a major subconscious WTF.

I havent played Goldeneye. I have one bond game that i only started and it looked like halo in a tux. Maybe i should go farther in it.

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