What do you call James Bond in the bath? Bubble-O-7…

In 2011, developer Eurocom remastered its 2010 Wii game, Goldeneye 007 for release on Xbox 360 and PS3. A re-imagining of the 1997 N64 classic, Goldeneye, the upscaled version was dubbed Goldeneye 007: Reloaded. This year its successor hits shop shelves in the form of 007 Legends.

Another first person shooter, once again featuring Daniel Craig as James Bond, the game is comprised of 6 separate Bond films. The movies included are Moonraker, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, License to Kill, Die Another Day and Goldfinger, culminating in the upcoming Skyfall – tying them together into one overarching storyline.

Stealth is set to play a much greater role in this title than the last, with enemy AI being more suspicious and investigative than before. During the campaign players will frequently be put into circumstances that require a more subtle approach to overcome, though there’ll be plenty of opportunity for running-and-gunning if that’s the play-style you favour.

As well as the returning smartphone – now with new vision modes and binocular capabilities – the dart pen has made its way from Q Branch to Bond’s equipment roster. The pen utilises four different ammo types including distraction, shock and tranquilliser darts. Also a new wristwatch has been added that can fire a laser, as well as map nearby enemy positions and reveal camera locations.

Another noteworthy addition is the inclusion of an XP system which can be used to unlock and upgrade gadgets and weapons, as well as Bond’s physical abilities.

Each of the 6 main missions will again be broken up into stages, at least one of which will involve a drivable vehicle (per movie). A new free-form melee function has also been introduced, allowing players to control punches with the analogue sticks.

Like the M16 Ops in 007: Reloaded, there will be a similar challenge mode in this game, which comprises of several succinct missions featuring assault, elimination, stealth and defence-based objectives. New to this mode is an option to undertake special missions for some of the single player campaign’s heros and villains. Once again competitive leaderboards are included to showcase your high scores.

Finally multiplayer is available both online and offline, with the ability to play 4 player split-screen if you so desire. It features several different game types, such as Bomb Defuse, Escalation and Data Miner. Players can level up by earning XP and make use of the 00 Specialisation mode, which is similar to Call of Duty’s prestige system. Gadgets can also be equipped to enhance your abilities, such as the Fast Switch gadget, which halves the time it takes to switch weapons.

When I played last year’s Goldeneye remake, I was hoping for an espionage laced nostalgia-fest. That’s not what I got at all. However when my initial revulsion that they’d changed pretty much everything from the original had subsided, I found myself quite enjoying the experience. Sure, it definitely wasn’t up to the standard of your more modern shooters and it did somewhat fly in the face of Bond lore, but something about it kept me playing.

I’m not really a huge multiplayer fan, so the competitive modes and even the M16 Ops don’t really hold much intrigue for me, but I’m quite keen to see what Eurocom are going to do with the new single player campaign. I will probably be getting my hands on a copy of 007 Legends eventually, but then I play a lot of games. And while it’ll probably be a bit of fun, if you’re in the market for a shooter, I’d recommend holding out for some of the year’s more high profile releases such as Black Ops 2 or Halo 4.

007 Legends is released on 19th October 2012 for PS3 and Xbox 360, 2nd November for PC and December 4th for Wii U.

Rob Gisbey is a games journalist and music production graduate from Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk. To listen to his acoustic demo, read his articles and listen to the VxM Videogames Podcast head to his blog.