You remember the four-year gap between Quantum of Solace and Skyfall? MGM was basically broke. The movie franchise was in a coma. But in 2010, out of nowhere, we got James Bond Blood Stone. It wasn’t a tie-in. It wasn't a movie adaptation. It was a standalone, original story that felt more like a "lost" Daniel Craig film than anything else we’d seen at the time.
Honestly, it’s a tragedy how many people missed this.
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Most Bond games try to recreate movie scenes you've already watched. This one didn't. It had Judi Dench. It had Daniel Craig’s voice and his official stunt double, Ben Cook, doing the motion capture. Even the theme song, "I'll Take It All," was a custom banger by Joss Stone and Dave Stewart. If you haven't heard it, go find it on YouTube. It screams classic 007.
What James Bond Blood Stone Actually Is
Back in the day, Activision handed the keys to Bizarre Creations. You might know them from the Project Gotham Racing series or Blur. Because they were racing experts, the driving in James Bond Blood Stone is actually good. Not just "good for a shooter," but genuinely thrilling. You’re weaving through Istanbul traffic or dodging explosions in a Siberian oil refinery. It feels heavy. It feels dangerous.
The gunplay is a "stop-and-pop" cover shooter, very much a product of its era. Think Splinter Cell: Conviction vibes.
You’ve got a "Focus Aim" mechanic. You take down a guy with a brutal melee move—and the melee in this game is vicious—and you earn a Focus Shot. Click a button, and Bond snaps to the nearest head for an instant kill. It’s satisfying. It makes you feel like the professional killer Bond is supposed to be, rather than just a guy with a gun.
The Plot That Left Us Hanging
The story starts in Athens. Bond is trying to stop a suicide bomber at a G-20 summit. Standard stuff, right? But it spirals into a global conspiracy involving biological weapons and a socialite named Nicole Hunter, played by Joss Stone herself.
We go from Monaco to Bangkok to Burma. The environments are varied and, for 2010 tech, they looked stunning. The lighting on the Monaco docks or the rain in the Burmese jungle still holds up reasonably well if you’re not a total graphics snob.
But then there's the ending.
James Bond Blood Stone ends on a massive cliffhanger. Bond figures out Nicole is a double agent. Just as she's about to reveal who her "real" boss is—a shadowy figure orchestrating everything—a drone deletes her. The screen fades to black with the classic "James Bond Will Return" message.
Except he didn't. At least, not in this timeline.
Bizarre Creations was shut down by Activision just months after the game launched. We never got the sequel. We never found out who the "ultra-villain" was. Some fans theorize it was meant to be a lead-in to SPECTRE, but the legal rights to that name were a mess back then. It remains one of gaming’s most annoying "what ifs."
Is It Still Playable in 2026?
Here is the annoying part. You can’t just go buy this on Steam or the Xbox Store. Licensing issues with the Bond brand mean it was delisted years ago. If you want to play James Bond Blood Stone today, you’re looking at tracking down a physical disc for PC, PS3, or Xbox 360.
Or, you know, "alternative" internet methods.
On a modern PC, it’s a bit of a mixed bag. Some people report a "spinning camera" bug where Bond just rotates endlessly because the game gets confused by modern controllers.
- Pro tip: If you're on Windows 11, try disabling "HID-compliant game controller" in Device Manager if you hit that bug.
- Performance: It runs like a dream on even a budget laptop now. You don't need a crazy rig.
With the new 007 First Light coming from IO Interactive soon (hopefully without more PC spec drama), there’s been a bit of a resurgence in interest for older Bond titles. Blood Stone is often cited as the last time a developer really understood the "Craig-era" tone: gritty, physical, and a little bit cynical.
Why You Should Care
We live in an era of endless remakes and safe sequels. James Bond Blood Stone was a risk. It was an original script by Bruce Feirstein, the guy who wrote GoldenEye. It treated the player like an adult.
It wasn't perfect. The campaign is short—you can beat it in about six hours. The "smartphone" gadgetry was basically just a "press X to scan" mechanic that got repetitive. But the flow between a high-speed car chase, a brutal fistfight, and a shootout felt seamless.
It captured the vibe of being 007 better than almost anything since Everything or Nothing on the PS2.
If you're tired of the same old military shooters and want a cinematic experience that doesn't overstay its welcome, this is it. It’s a snapshot of a time when Bond was transitioning from the "gadget of the week" era into the "blunt instrument" era.
Actionable Next Steps
If you want to experience this piece of 007 history:
- Check eBay or local retro shops: The 360 and PS3 versions are usually cheap. The PC physical copy is becoming a bit of a collector's item, so expect to pay a premium.
- Update your drivers: If you're playing on PC, use a tool like DS4Windows or similar if you're using a modern controller to avoid the input glitches.
- Listen to the soundtrack: Even if you don't play the game, the Joss Stone track "I'll Take It All" is a top-tier Bond theme that never got the radio play it deserved.
- Keep an eye on IO Interactive: Their upcoming project is the first major Bond game in over a decade. Playing Blood Stone now gives you a great baseline to see how far the genre has come—or if we’ve lost some of that Bizarre Creations magic along the way.
The mystery of the "man on the phone" might never be officially solved, but the journey through the game is worth the price of admission alone.