The implementation of the smart phone is integral to Blood Stone as it allows you to see your next objective marked on the HUD, but it serves the dual purpose of also allowing you to see the location of your enemies. This isn’t the only thing that has been copied from the latest Tom Clancy stealth ’em up however. Admittedly it is sad to see Blood Stone ripping off Conviction so overtly but, regardless, the system is solid and adds more interest to the gunplay. Focus aims are essentially one hit kills you can chain together in the vein of Splinter Cell: Conviction’s mark and execute system. In spite of a limited range of weaponry, Blood stone throws in a decent melee mechanic with some slick and satisfying animations that earn you focus aims. The main shooting mechanics aren’t all that bad though. Hell, there aren’t even any grenades for you to use.
With only sixteen gun types mainly falling into the pistol and SMG category, there is very little room for imagination in Blood Stone’s ballistic arsenal. I say blandly on account of the poor variety of weapons on offer. The rest of the shooting mechanics are similar in their effectiveness, with a no frills style that functions solidly, if blandly. There are no whistles and bells attached to it, but you can move between bits of cover smoothly and there was very little evidence of broken animations and glitches. This is not the case with Blood Stone, a game that has a cover system that just simply works.
First up is the cover system, a hurdle many third person shooters have clumsily failed to clear. Now we get to the better parts of Blood Stone. Sadly this is as varied as the weaponry is going to get
Generally speaking the visuals in Blood Stone are rather pleasing, but an oddly grainy filter became quite frustrating (although I can’t attest if this is specific only to the PS3 version I had the pleasure of playing) and, no matter how you look at it, the facial animations on the character models stand out as looking rather ghastly in comparison to the detailed and expertly rendered landscapes. Last but no least are the foxy ladies, who may have been a whole lot more fox-alicious were it not for some odd graphical hiccups. I say this, but in a way this makes it an even more effective homage to the James Bond films (he says controversially.) The “cool gadgets” I made reference too are also a staple part of the 007 films that have translated poorly into Blood Stone, often manifesting themselves as tedious connect that dots puzzles that do little but slow down the gameplay considerably. That said, the depth and complexity of the plot is sorely lacking and it seemed devoid of any memorable or emotionally engaging moments. Unfortunately, as charming as these aspects are, they happen to be some of the weakest elements of the Blood Stone package.The story does a reasonable job of providing a loose framework that guides the game through the various set-pieces, and in this capacity it is highly successful. The plot does a good job of referencing classic Bond, with a convoluted conspiracy plot regarding bio-weapons, some cool gadgets and some seriously foxy ladies. Blood Stone is the second Bond game to utilise a script not-based on a Bond movie, and as such doesn’t live in the shadow of Golden eye (at least not too much.) Sadly 007’s track record on the gaming scene is less than stellar by comparison. James Bond has been in a lot of films and books, most have which have been well worth while.