Another way to, err… live!

The theme song to the new Bond movie is “Another Way to Die”. It’s pretty great in fact (Jack White and Alicia Keys is some partnership) but… I didn’t want this as my headline. Too depressing!

Quantum of Solace on Xbox 360, I must say though, zapped me with a new lease on life. Activision’s game delivers Bond as Daniel Craig portrays the man on screen – a ruthless hunter who goes to work with the best tools available.

Now when you’re as resourceful as Bond ‘the best tools’ can mean anything from a machine gun to a nearby fire extinguisher. Or just his bare hands. So you can forget improbable gadgets and gizmos; QOS reflects the movie’s no-nonsense Bond with casual aplomb. Plus it’s Treyarch (Call of Duty 3) on development duty for Activision, and you can rightly expect QOS to look smarter than 007’s trademark tuxedo.

Another guy seldom short of ideas is Crash Bandicoot. A million and one miles away from the escapades of MI6 special agents, my favourite loon’s latest quest “Mind Over Mutants” sees him hypnotising monsters to help him battle… a bunch of other monsters. It’s silly, but that’s the idea. I always laugh when I’m playing this, much to the annoyance of my work pals here at Xbox. I sometimes chuckle when playing My Horse and Me 2, but that’s because I’m hopeless at grooming and training. My pony looks like Groucho Marx and walks like him too. We’re an attractive pair.

But if we look post-apocalyptic that’s because I’ve been using the wrong shampoo – not because there has been an actual apocalypse like there has in Fallout 3. The diabolical creatures you’ll encounter in this game have every right to be angry, but you’ll forgive me for ending their misery as I go in search of my kidnapped Dad.

Out This Week

• Crash Bandicoot: Mind over Mutants
• Fallout 3
• My Horse and Me 2
• Quantum of Solace

Graeme Boyd, Xbox.com Community Manager, Gamertag: AceyBongos