Will it be the last time we see Pierce Brosnan as James Bond?

Quite possibly for the final time, Pierce Brosnan is MI6 agent James Bond, aka 007. I am not a hardcore game player, but since I felt Electronic Arts (EA) had improved in their previous games, Agent Under Fire and Nightfire, I thought this might be worth a shot.

And yes, it was. To even more closely become allied with their movie counterparts, this game breaks from the first person shooter tradition as started by Goldeneye. Instead, it's a sort of "third person shooter". This gives more of the movie feel for the game, which has its advantages and disadvantages.

Yet again, James Bond must do what all good secret agents must, he must save the world from a terrible fate. The story is relatively unebelievable, but what matters is the gameplay.

Game Control
Thankfully, there are two mini-tutorials that guide the player though the uses of the buttons and controls, often overlapping each other to make it quite clear. One is a sort of "pre-credits sequence", where Bond is actively trying to fulfill a mission. Sadly, it is possible to die in this scenario, as I found to my chargin.

Then, there is a second mini-tutorial as directed by MI6 to guide the player through a few improvements of the game control and MI6 equipment. These double practice scenarios help the player really understand what the correct buttons are, so there's less fumbling around.

One problem I had with Agent Under Fire (AUF), was the fact that it took too long to toggle between guns and gadgets. Here, there are two ways to change between either. Either press the GameCube's (GC) controller pad up and down to quickly toggle through the items. Or, press the controller pad left/right to enter "Bond sense", where everything slows down and a player can have more time to think about what item to use. This may seem redundant, but in the "Bond sense" mode, the name of the weapon/gadget shows, along with the amount. More about the Bond sense later.

Nice two features that make the game more 'Bond-ish' include the "Bond roll" with the B button, where you can have 007 roll forward on the ground to avoid enemy fire. This makes him harder to hit. The other is the use of the Z button, which allows the player to cause Bond to duck or "wall hug". It is an extemely handy move and I use it very often.

The other controls are relatively similar to the previous Bond games, with the R button providing the shooting. Left shoulder button aims, with the toggle stick providing manual aim. The main control stick moves Bond, with the A button used for action. These buttons can add different moves if Bond is in a different situation than the normal walking/shooting, but once the player gets the hang of them, it's not too dificult to do.

There seems to be the loss of the alternate fire mode (ie single instead of automatic, timed explosion versus automatic, etc.), which is not really a big loss. Bond usually has enough weapons in his inventory if he wants an alternate firing method.

Sight and Sound
Here EA really pulled out all the stops. Not only did they finally get Brosnan to voice Bond, we have Judi Dench as M (she did not voice M for Nightfire), John Cleese as Q, Mya as Agent Mya Starling, Willem Dafoe as Nikolai Diavolo, Shannon Elizabeth as Serena St. Germaine, and Heidi Klum as Katya Nadanova. Oddly enough, Richard Kiel is credited as giving the voice to Jaws, yet Jaws doesn't say anything!

Also, EA apparently went through the trouble of scanning the faces of the actors involved to more accurately have the facial expressions and detail. Although the likenesses are very well done, I found the most spectacular visual to be while on the streets of New Orleans. It seemed like EA had taken video footage and put it in the game, rather than having the city animated by computer.

Bond still has his pithy one-liners, although I feel they are sub-par to what we've seen in the movies. However, some highlights do include-

Q: "Well, congratulations 007. You saved the girl and lost my equipment. Are you happy?"
Bond: "Better than saving the equipment and losing the girl, wouldn't you say Q?"
Q: "Oh, I give up!"

M (after 007 has escaped a basically decimated underground base): "Well, not the escape route I would have taken, but it seems to have worked."

Bond: "Forgive me Q." [Bond presses a button]
Car: BOOM!

Mya sings the title song, and she apparently also recorded a jazz version which can be heard during one of the missons. The song is also apparently availible through iTunes. Although not as catchy as other songs, it's so much better than the techo-drivel Madonna made for Die Another Day

Gameplay
EA has made several improvements on James Bond as a game series, some of which include:

"Wall hug" and ducking
By pressing the Z button, a character can duck down in open space or behind crates. Very helpful for avoiding enemy fire, Bond will reach up and shoot when you press the right shoulder button. His aim is less accurate, especially if the enemy is also crouching behind cover.

What I really love is the wall hug. Like in many action movies, Bond will put his back to the wall if you press the Z button when he's near it. The viewpoint will move closer the Bond, and the player can search the area for incoming enemies. When you want Bond to shoot, he will do so and return to behind the wall until you press Z to release him.

The only problem is to make sure Bond is close enough to the wall, or else he will duck instead.

Bond roll
When the player presses the B button to make Bond roll foward on the ground. This makes him a much harder target to hit, and is quite handy for moving from a wall to a stack of crates for protection. I never used 'strafing' in the previous Bond games, I never found it helpful.

However, try to make Bond roll more than three times in a row and he will shake his head as if dizzy.

"Bond sense
A feature unique to EON, a player can enter this mode when pressing the controller pad left and right. Doing this will cause time to slow down and give Bond the opportunity to observe his surroundings/take out the correct gadget/gun.

In this state a toggle stick can be used to move the viewpoint around, and special points of interest will be lighted up. Items that are throwable/shootable/usable will appear, as well as potential objectives/enemies. A player can use the L and R buttons to home in on them to find out what they are.

Although Bond can still be harmed, because the game is not paused, nor can you physically move Bond in this mode; it's extremely handy to use when things are messy and you don't know what to do next.

Missions
These are designed to follow the movies even more closely, with a pre-title sequence that serves as a training mission. There is also a 'mini' mission where Bond must leap off a cliff to save a screaming woman who's been thrown out of a helicopter. Classic Bond right there.

As previously mentioned, Bond sense allows players to percieve usable objects. Unlike in previous games, Bond can pick up objects to use/throw. These include crowbars, hammers, wrenches, etc. Although I didn't use them too often, they are handy if you are out of ammo.

Vehicles feature very heavily in this game, including cars, (some with special Q weaponry, some without), a motorcycle, a tank and helicoptor. Paths to achieve objectives are a little less linear than in previous games, unless missions dictate it be so.

And unlike previous Bond games, there the gadgets are more credible. (No more Q-mote, Q-watch, Q-cupholders, etc.) There is also less emphasis on them, so I found I used them less.

The one I probably used the most was the rappel, although it was often mission dictated. Handy in a tight spot, I thought the ability to have Bond rappel up or down while holding a weapon ready was a good change.

Multiplayer
The multiplayer section of the game has gone under a significant change that has not been present in the previous Bond scenarios. Yet again, EA still has not made a vehicle multiplayer. I don't know why, because it'd be a lot of fun.

However, this time multiplayer really means multiplayer. While in previous games a single player could set up AI bots, EON requires at least two human players to play the scenarios. Unfortunately, familiar Bond characters that were once formerly playable, ie Bond himself, in multiplayer are not availible or must be 'unlocked'.

It allows the players to race, play cooperatively or go for the highest score in various missions within the multiplayer. No more mindless shooting at each other, now players can work together or against each other in the missions in multiplayer.

Good idea, but I would have preferred the ability to have a single player option within the multiplayer scenarios.