At long last Activision has released the second trailer for 007 Legends, the new James Bond game which sees five classic Bond films updated to fit the Daniel Craig era Bond. The reason this new trailer for the game is worth noting is because it gives us our first look at the mission based upon On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, a Bond film that many fans consider to be one of the best ever released.
Showing the standard action one would expect from a Bond game such as mass amounts of stylishly dressed henchmen dying and Bond shooting things up, there are some interesting things to take note of. This may only be the second mission of 007 Legends we’ve seen so far, the other three of which haven’t been revealed, but it looks awfully similar to the Moonraker mission. Location and plot differences aside, I find it a bit worrisome that the OHMSS stage once again has Bond behind the trigger of a Gatling gun in a helicopter, just as the Moonraker mission does. Am I merely expecting more out of 007 Legends or is developer Eurocom doing by the numbers game design?
Potentially petty game design comments aside, the other interesting thing about this reveal trailer is that it shows the OHMSS mission will deviate from the film in a few ways. It’s to be expected that the game will put a modern spin on things, but it appears that the grand finale against the mastermind terrorist that is Blofeld won’t take place on the slopes but instead in a pecaruiously high gondola. The other interesting thing is that Blofeld himself has a different look which seemingly melds that of OHMSS with how he initially appeared when actor Donald Pleasance portrayed him in You Only Live Twice. I don’t mind the new look for Blofeld since Eurocom didn’t pretty him up, but I just hope the team has the balls to end the game on the same depressing note as the novel and film.
For what it is the second mission in 007 Legends looks fun. To a lot of hardcore Bond fans it may be a bit alarming to see certain elements fall aside, but as long as there’s some ski bound action and Bond ultimately has a heartbreaking moment at the end I think most of us will be satisfied.
