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Hmm, an interesting point. With how the latter have expanded their license lately through the comics, them doing the same for games wouldn't be too far out. I still don't find it likely, though.
"Telltale Games chief technology officer and co-founder Kevin Bruner was asked which intellectual property he would base a game on if he could choose anything he wanted. 'I'm a giant James Bond fan and I'm always frustrated by games that make him a mass murderer,' he said in January 2014. 'He's a super-spy, and that's a different skillset. The films make him less of a mass murderer, and there's not much killing in the books - more spying and intrigue.'"
There's a reason that the games have always focused on gun-play, because everything else would be tedious and boring from a gameplay perspective. Not to mention, all-out gunfights/action are part of Bond (TSWLM on board Stromberg's ship, escape from the Russian military archives in GE, TND PTS, etc.).
Seriously, how the flying hell is this called gameplay?!?!?
To quote someone in the comments: "No gameplay. Only graphics and story... this is not what I call a game."
The only bright spot I see in this is that (if the rumor is true) it means Bond gaming isn't dead, but if this is all that we ever have to look forward to, then it's still as good as dead to me. Here's hoping we get some actual games too, not just Telltale cartoons.
Oh there I am in complete agreement with you. That structure just would not work for Bond. I wouldn't be against that style being used for just one mission, though, say the climactic battle where you have to co-ordinate an attack by Bond and the SAS against the villains army.
I plan on doing the same, if the rumor turns out to be true, that is. I probably won't even finish the game though. Then again, I'm enough of a masochist that I'll still occasionally play No Man's Sky, so I guess I have tolerance of steel.
Thank you!
Agreed, that does not suit Bond at all. i wonder who thought that would be a good idea.
As for a possible Bond Telltale game, i don't mind the limited gameplay, you could instead just look at it as a interactive graphic novel.
It features less gameplay mechanics, yes, but focus much more on dialog and story than a 3rd or 1st person game could.
Batman feels very much like a graphic novel from what i have seen so far.
I keep an open mind
Don't forget the the Arkham series, the storyline in those games were fantastic.
Exactly. Bethesda, Rockstar, and Naughty Dog, just to name a few, manage to create engaging stories with vivid characters, without having to resort to making non-games. I have no idea why Telltale has become so highly regarded by some. I thought point and click games died out with Windows 98. I know much of Telltale's success came from their "Walking Dead" game, a game whose own success I credit to the strange cultural phenomenon that is The Walking Dead, rather than any qualities of the game itself. Telltale got lucky with a tie-in game, and it's garnered them a good reputation that they don't deserve.
They were serviceable enough, but I was looking for examples that really pushed the idea of video games as masterful tools for storytelling. As Batman simulators the games are unmatched, but I'd be lying if I said they come to mind when I think of ground-breaking and/or daring storytelling. Much like how a Batman comic can be fun and told well enough, but will fall short of a Watchmen-like effort that just has more juice and impact to it.
but at the same time people should not forget, Telltale is not really a tripple A developer, which is also reflective in their pricing since they only charge around 50% of what other companies take for their games. they are aware that their games are lacking in some aspects. You can't really compare them to Rockstar or Naughty Dog as they would never be competitive at an AAA price level with what they do. which is probably also one of the keys to their succes, you get a short burst of your favorite IP at a much lower price.
also, because of the way they license their games, there is absolutely no reason why a true tripple A Bond game couldn't be in development right now at another studio.
i am just saying, Telltale games are not a main course but rather an appetizer, and people should not expect too much
I am hoping Telltale's Bond adventure is as good my fear is of course they will utilize Blofield or Spectre in this story which is fast becoming Bond's Joker in that it's being shoehorned in everywhere without really any care or intrigue...
My hope is that Solstice (assuming it is the title) is a new organization similar to Quantum and Spectre but that is it's own thing and we got through the 5 episodes trying to find out who is the head...
I would love to decide which girls to sleep with etc. like I said I enjoyed overall Telltale Batman and I am hoping for a season 2... actually I would prefer that over the rumors of Batman Arkham Insurgency (with the Joker being a villain again)
All out action/gunfights are a very small part of Bond imo. That's why any attempt at a movie tie in has fallen completely flat story wise (even GE, while a fantastic revolutionary game for its time, butchered the film) and in terms of making the player actually feel like Bond.
I actually it much more tedious and boring gunning my way through a level to get to the next bit of story, as a lot of the previous Bond games are guilty of. And that just isn't who the character is. That's why the best Bond games (Nightfire, EON) have made him more than just a hand with a gun, but even the stories there suffer for forcing action in for the sake of it. Someone mentioned Uncharted above and that's another example. Brilliant games with great writing but there's a massive disconnect there. Nathan Drake, modern day Indy, happy go lucky every man adventurer: who in between cutscenes seems to kill enough natives of whatever exotic locale he's in now for it to be genocide.
"I don't like their formula so therefore it's objectively bad and they don't deserve any praise"
The Walking Dead's success came from the writing, well developed characters and the strong emotions that the choices evoked from the player. It was nothing to do with the licence, otherwise this
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Walking_Dead:_Survival_Instinct
Wouldn't have been panned, and the TV show wouldn't have been getting mixed reviews for the last few series.
They've become highly regarded because you actually feel like you're playing a role in the story, which coupled with good writing, can have amazing, gripping results. Parts of The Walking Dead crushed me in a way that no sad or emotional scene in a film or TV show could, because you're actually in control.
They do their own thing and sell it for a fair price (as someone above said, no it isn't a big budget AAA ultra cinematic game, but they're not selling it for the same price as one either). If it isn't your cup of tea then that's cool, I can understand that. But it seems unfair to credit all their success to luck and make out that they make bad games/non games (you still interact, just in a different sort of way) when for a lot of us, they've been doing really good work and the praise is more than earned.
As for Naughty Dog, I highlighted the problem with Uncharted (and most action games) above. Rockstar don't have that issue because most of their games you're playing as psychopathic criminals, or in the case of Red Dead you're in a fairly lawless environment where shootouts seem commonplace. Bethesda get around it by again integrating it into the world: Fallout is set in the apocalypse, killing monsters and bandits is just part of life in Skyrim, and if you do anything weong past that is up to you. And in that case it's your own silent character, so there's not going to be any disconnect there like there because they're whatever you make them. They could be a remorseless evil murderer and that'd be fine. But Bond has to be Bond and that can lead to a disconnect.
You could offer the same weak complaint about him as you could for every protagonist in a third person shooter. There's far more to those games that shooting, as well. There's a lot of exploring, puzzle solving, driving, and just plain fisticuffs. You could go through whole levels without firing one bullet.
That's not really what I'm saying. My point is that, when people discuss Telltale's work, you'll often hear them say things like, "It makes you wonder how little interactivity you can have and still call it a game," or "What makes a game a game?" You'll hear this even from fans of Telltale, so I consider the phrase "non-game" a legitimate term for their products. It's also a valid criticism when you can get 90% of the experience of playing a game by simply watching YouTube videos instead.
I'll admit that a while ago, before I even knew who Telltale was, I watched a good portion of a play through of their Walking Dead game and I found the story to be quite enthralling. But at the same time you have The Last of Us doing the exact same thing, while also having highly interactive, very involved gameplay, and you see just how short Telltale comes up in that department. I'll also add that when I watched that play through years ago, I thought it was a free browser game running in flash, not something they were actually charging money for. So I don't consider the defense that their games are cheap to be a good one. I would pay twice what AAA developers currently charge for a good, engaging game experience. Just because it's cheap doesn't make it a good deal.
To say that the success of Telltale's Walking Dead wasn't due to the cultural obsession with the TV series is a bit indefensible. Yes, The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct was panned, but it sounds as though it was a non-functional game. Quoting that Wikipedia page https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Walking_Dead:_Survival_Instinct
"The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct was panned by critics, citing broken gameplay mechanics, poor graphics and "bland" environments, a lack of meaningful storyline, and for not meeting the high expectations associated with its source material."
There's not really anything that can save a broken game, not even a cultural phenomenon. Telltale's games do function, and I think the ravenous fan base of The Walking Dead simply gobbled up another piece of media associated with their obsession.
I'd love to know what "lack of interaction" there is with Telltale games. I've played the first two seasons of The Walking Dead and most of Back to the Future and I was holding the controller 90% of the time, walking around, picking up items, using others, shooting (in The Walking Dead). Are these not things that Bond does in the films and the books? Walk around, pick up items, use gadgets, shoot the baddies? The first season of The Walking Dead had a good deal of stealth sections that would translate very well to a Bond game.
But I guess if you all want another generic shooter because you think that's the only part of the films that translates to video games, go ahead. I'll keep an open mind and wait to see how I feel about a Telltale Bond game.
It'll be that, for sure. Telltale don't seem interested in doing anything else, judging from their recent effort with the latest Walking Dead. I don't mind it myself, at least it looks interesting to me.
Interaction!
Use your left analog stick to laboredly walk around Bond's flat. Feel the experience of sorta kinda being a secret agent, but sorta kinda not really.
Press X to make toast.
Press O to make eggs (get the timing of the button press right to make them scrambled or sunny side up)
Press square to have May make your bed.
Press triangle to take your PPK, press it to your head and end the tedium.
Press Circle to tell off M
Press Triangle to break some more of Q'a gadgets
Press X to eat the lunch Bill Tanner brought