Electronic Arts has gone in the right direction with its James Bond franchise in the latest PlayStation 2 offering, James Bond: Everything or Nothing. It has turned its back on the first-person perspective and released a title that makes full use of the third-person dynamic.
Not only has the game changed, but game-play is also much more Bond-based than previous incarnations. Players can now tackle missions like the action-hungry super-spy that James Bond is.
Missions offer players two different ways of gaming. You can either go in with guns blazing or tackle the whole thing the way a true spy would. This means using espionage, tactical skills and gadgets from Q`s laboratory to analyse your situation.
While the majority of the missions are centred on action and stealth, the rest is vehicle-based. The Need for Speed series comes to mind when you take a drive in a Porsche Cayenne through a rain of bullets and missiles.
Although only about 30% of the game is vehicle-oriented, the complexity of it stretches as far as driving a tank and flying a helicopter. The driving sequences successfully straddle the lines of arcade and simulation.
The single-player experience will last most players around 10 hours, going as high as 20, depending on how much time you spend on earning platinum medals. There is also an arcade survival mode set in a virtual reality training level to extend gameplay after you beat it.
Another new feature that adds immensely to the game is the multiplayer mode, where you can play with a fellow spy on a split screen platform.
While Everything or Nothing is not based on an actual film, it is the most cinematic Bond game yet. Electronic Arts has gone all the way and managed to get some real Hollywood talent on board for the making of this one.
Names like Willem Dafoe, Heidi Klum, Judi Dench, Shannon Elizabeth, Mya, Richard Kiel, John Cleese, and the gorgeous Japanese model Misaki Ito provide the voice work in the title. Of course, no Bond game would be complete without the voice of Pierce Brosnan.
With Everything or Nothing, Electronic Arts has hit the big one.
Share