EA Shakes Up the Formula
It took them a few years, but EA has come really close to restoring the Bond legacy. After a few solid, but lacking, FPS attempts, the developers have decided to scrap the whole thing, and try a third person game. The result is better than the two previous games on the PS2, and there really aren't too many flaws. It may not be as perfect as Goldeneye was, and many Bond fans may dismiss this Everything or Nothing because it isn't a FPS, but it's an experience that really shouldn't be missed. The action is fast, exciting and stylish, key ingredients in any Bond film or game. Since the game is from the third person perspective, it allows for many more gameplay techniques. This is by far and away the best 007 game I've played in a very long time.
The story, while nothing new, is interesting, and is backed up by a Hollywood cast. James Bond is of course played by Pierce Brosnan, and his nemesis, former KGB officer Nikolai Diavolo is played by Willem Dafoe. There has been a theft of nano-robot technology from the Oxford University, and the scientist overseeing this project, Dr. Katya Nadanova (played by Heidi Klum) has been kidnapped as well. After MI6 identifies the political faction behind it's theft, Bond sets off for the sandy dunes of Egypt to a secret facility. This is where his adventure will begin, and will eventually pass through such locales as Peru, New Orleans and Moscow. He'll also meet several beauties and enemies, like the geologist Serena (Shannon Elizabeth) NSA agent Mya Starling (Mya) and even the classic villain Jaws (Richard Kiel). It's a great cast, and it really delivers the story in an authentic way. This one is good enough for the big screen.
As I said, Bond is now third person, and there's all of the elements of a standard shooter found here. James can lock onto his enemies using the L1 button, and fire at them using the R1. A nifty little targeting device allows the player to lock on, and then aim the actual reticule where ever it needs to go. Say you're locked on to an enemy, but he's hiding behind a wall. Every time he peeks out to shoot at you, you can fire back, but you'll be hitting the wall. If you adjust the reticle though, you can aim it directly where his head in when he pokes it out. It's a great way to keep track of your enemies while also shooting with precision. James is a spy, so it's only natural to be stealthy. Most of the levels you can complete without running and gunning, in fact, the game encourages the player to hide behind objects, and take side routes to avoid enemies rather than kill them. As in Nightfire, more points are added for subduing and enemy rather than killing them. James can crouch behind low obstacles, put his back to the wall and bounce out to let a few shots off. Putting away his weapon, Bond can now tangle with enemies up close and personal with a some punches and throws. It's not a deep fighting system, but it is a smart one. If Bond is in a narrow hall, we'll throw the enemy into the wall to knock them out instead of wasting his time punching him. He'll throw enemies off cliffs, over railings, he'll use the environment to his advantage. There are plenty of gadgets and guns at your disposal, including a great new feature called the Rappel. This allows you to fire a grappling hook and climb up or down any structure that allows you too. In one of the first levels, James must scale down a building that he has just blown up, so explosions are blowing out the windows, and you're right there in the middle of it, exchanging gunfire with enemies below. It's really exciting, and it really spices up the gameplay.
The gadgets are cool, and also help to make the game more exciting. Q Spiders can crawl through vents to scout territory or take out enemy troops. The RC car, deployed while in a vehicle, acts as the same thing. By pressing left on the D-Pad, the player will enter Bond Sense. Here, time slows down to a near standstill, and allows the player to think. In a sense, it's giving Bond time to think what to do were he in the situation. By pressing R1 in this mode, the camera will direct you to anything important, whether it be a rappel point, the position of the enemy to objects that can be picked up. When time speeds back up again, you'll know where everything is and you'll be able to take out a roomful of enemies in no time. Control is sometimes an issue, as it feels a little loose. The camera is a tad clunky as well, but even casual gamers should grasp it quickly enough. As in Nightfire, performing different feats will award you with a Bond moment. These moments can be hard to spot, but sometimes you'll just know it before you even do it, because it's been cliched in so many of the movies. Hmmmm, there's a half naked girl sitting over there waiting for a massage in a New Orleans dance club. I wonder what Bond would do?
Aside from the shooting and massaging, Mr. Bond will have to do a lot of driving as well. He'll have an SUV, his Vanquish, a helicopter, a motorcycle and even a tank at his disposal. Unlike the driving sequences in Nightfire, these are insanely fast, very challenging and highly exciting. There's no rush quite like tearing down a mountain road on a motorcycle, using the ramp on a truck to fly over a roadblock and into the hull of a plane even as it's taking off. The driving segments are fun, unlike in Nighfire where they seemed like a chore. The engine is really solid, but there's also an arcade-y feeling to it. Let's just say if you want to go 100 mph around a sharp turn while firing missiles, you go right ahead and do that.
As most 007 games are, Everything or Nothing is really sharp and pleasing to the eye. The actors have been modeled with incredible detail, and they all have great facial animations. You can literally see the sparkle in 007's eyes after he unleashes one of his devastating puns on one of the girls. The environments are beautiful, from the rain-soaked neon glow of New Orleans to the breathtaking temples atop a cliff in Peru, this game doesn't hold back at all. Bullets will break objects, and grass and rock will fly up from the ground. Pieces of walls actually break if they get hit enough, so keep on the lookout for better cover. The driving environments are rather large, giving you a ton of options for shortcuts and cool maneuvers. This game looks torn straight from a Bond movie, and for this purpose alone, it succeeds even Goldeneye.
The voices in this game are without a doubt fantastic. With actors like Brosnan and Dafoe, there's really no way this could have gone wrong. I hope you have a tolerance for one liners though, as you'll probably absorb more of these than bullets. But if you don't like one liners, I don't expect you'd like Bond at all. Mya even sings the theme song, which really makes it seem like you're playing a movie. The gunshots are all distinct, so you should be able to tell most guns apart. As with anything Bond, there are plenty of explosions and they all sound great. Perhaps the most exciting event in the game is what drew me in the most: falling straight down a cliff, firing at enemies with a machine gun while the classic theme music plays in the background. If that isn't Bond, I'm not sure what is.
There's a co-op play here, and an online mode as well. But the true depth to this game is the single player. The better you do on missions, the more items you'll unlock, like gallery stills and characters for multiplayer. There may not be a lot replay value, but going through the game in different fashions is always a lot of fun. It should be able to be beaten in a rental, but for Bond fans, this game is an absolute must-buy game. EA has done a nice job of shaking things up a bit instead of just going with the standard formula, and you have to give them credit. It takes guts to change a worshipped franchise so dramatically, and make it work on the very first try. If EA continues to make Bond third person, they may very well have the best 007 game ever within the next year or two.