At its core, 007 Legends mistreats the James Bond franchise. Thanks to a poor stealth system, inane and near pointless gadgetry and generally shoddy combat mechanics, its nothing more than a most basic spray n pray shooter. Is that what we expect from James Bond? Is he that kind of hero? The kind that rolls into a location all guns blazing? Sometimes maybe. But hes a spy, not a bulletproof action hero. The way youll be all but forced to play 007 Legends simply does not reconcile with the facts of the character and if you ask me, that is a cardinal sin. There are moments, here and there, where 007 Legends suddenly takes you out of its Call of Duty lite simulator experience to do some actual sleuthing, usually relying heavily on the smartphone (which again is such a recent gadget that its presence way back in the early days of the Bond franchise just feels wrong). Youll be hacking wi-fi nodes, finding finger-prints or gas trails. Youll also unlock a pen in the later portions of the game that shoots three types of darts. Once youre bored with that (which will be very quickly), youll be right back to senselessly killing everyone and everything in sight; back to forgetting almost entirely that this is James Bond youre in control of. Outside of the locations directly taken from the Bond movie franchise, 007 Legends stages are bland and repetitive, and for probably around 80% of the games short play time, youll forget that youre even playing a Bond game. If more time was spent in accurately recreating the flow of each borrowed movie setting, then maybe wed have had something special on our hands; as it is, weve been allowed glimpses, but for the most part, were constantly fighting through identical factories, loading bays, lather, rinse, repeat. If youre interested in reliving Bonds greatest moments, buy the new Blu-ray box set. 007 Legends is only going to leave you with a bad taste in your mouth. 007 Legends has one small saving grace (and in this instance it really is miniscule); its multiplayer. Legends echoes Goldeneye: Reloaded in its delivery. You can pick from a range of well-known characters, each of whom offer their own special ability and take them through 12 multiplayer modes. Admittedly, theres a lot on offer here, but during my time online on launch day no less there was barely a soul to be found. If I cant get into a quick game on launch day, what hope is there going forward? Verdict: 007 Legends a shameless, gratuitous movie tie-in in disguise. It represents everything we hate about movie tie in games distilled into a single title that supposedly isnt one; its rushed, badly designed and it misses the point of the character almost entirely. It should have been awesome. It should have been a validation to anyone whos ever lost themselves in the James Bond franchise. What it is is a desperate attempt to cash in on both James Bonds 50th Anniversary and the upcoming Skyfall theatre release (why else would Daniel Craig have been inserted so forcibly?) Do yourself a favour and avoid 007 Legends; it wouldnt be worth its price tag even if you did live twice. 007 Legends is out now on Xbox 360 and PS3.