James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing – So We Meet Again, Mr. Bond

I’ve been a huge James Bond fan ever since I was a little boy, and I thoroughly enjoy all Bond movies and games. Last year’s James Bond 007: Nightfire was a very entertaining first person shooter and the best Bond available at that time for a next-generation system. In my eyes its only problem was its brevity due to the fact that is was less than a mere 15 missions in length. This time around, Electronic Arts has released a new Bond game, yet has altered the engine completely. Not only did it fix my main problem by creating a whopping 31 mission adventure, they also turned it into a third person shooter. Did the transition go smoothly?

The plot is similar to most other Bonds games and movies, as it involves a villain that is set upon conquering the world with the aid of his humongous and powerful machinery. In this case, villain Nikolai Diavalo has stolen nanobot technology, and has altered the nanobots so that they will destruct any metallic objects in their way, including bridges and buildings. He plans to first conquer Russia and then the world. Once again, it is up to James Bond to save the world by chasing down villains and trekking through locations such as Peru, New Orleans and even Moscow. M (voiced by Judi Dench) will aid you and present mission briefings, while Q (voiced by John Cleese) will present you with new gadgets and methods of transportation.

The gameplay experience has been enriched by the new third person perspective. With this new perspective, it is expected that the title becomes less of a shooter and more of a stealth game. This is true, as the non-vehicular missions involve plenty of ducking, sneaking and hiding. With the new engine, you lock onto a target with the left trigger and fire with the right trigger. You can slightly move the target with the right thumbstick if you’re going for a headshot or trying to hit an enemy’s kneecap when they are hiding. But instead of rushing into combat now, you will be crouching or hiding behind wall, peeking and locking onto a target and coming out briefly to fire a few shots, which makes the game far more realistic.

You are also able to roll, punch and kick, knock out an enemy’s weapon and send them sprawling to the ground as well, which is just to name a few hand-combat moves. By activating the Bond sense, you can almost freeze time in order to switch weapons; change targets, or target an object instead of a person. This is similar to the Matrix game, although you cannot move when Bond sense is activated. When you perform certain spectacular moves (e.g. killing three guards in a room without anyone noticing you or taking a shortcut in a driving level), you will pull off a Bond Moment.

There are a large variety of guns available throughout the missions. All are very life-like, and there is a large mixture of every type of gun. There are two types of pistols, assault rifles (such as the AK-47), a sniper rifle, a rocket launcher and more. Health packs are also scattered around levels, as you will definitely be taking a lot of damage in this game. Artificial intelligence is amazing in this game, as enemies also crouch, duck, check if their comrades are dead, throw grenades right at you when you are crouching and run away from grenades themselves.

What’s a Bond game without gadgets? There are plenty of those in this game, all supplied to you by Q. The Q Spider is my favorite, which is a small robotic spider that you can control, and make it go into vents to find you a health pack, or to sneak up to an unsuspecting enemy and blow him to pieces. You also get stun and EMP grenades that are shaped like British change, an RC car with a laser, a rappel to get to higher or lower ground, a nanosuit to make you invisible for a brief amount of time and even thermovision goggles.

What’s a Bond game without cars? These racing and car levels were developed by the Need for Speed team; therefore they are just flawless. This time around, you get a lot of different vehicles to gain control off. The flashy Aston Martin V12 Vanquish is back, once again equipped with missiles, machine guns and the ability to release an acidic substance. But now you also get a Porsche Cayenne Turbo for all those adventures in Peru, with the same weapons and the ability to become invisible for a while. In one of the levels you even get to steer a racecar and your objective is win the race. The Triumph Daytona, a yellow motorcycle equipped with missiles, a flame-thrower and a shotgun was my favorite, as it was perhaps the fastest vehicle in the game. And for those that love utter destruction, you get to command a tank in Moscow, with missiles, nanobot technology and machine guns to use at your disposal. Finally, one level allows you to pilot a helicopter. As you can see, there are plenty of vehicles to choose from.

What’s a Bond game without hot chicks? In James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing there's not one, not two, not even three but four girls! The singer Mya, model Heidi Klum, Shannon Elizabeth and Misako Ito all had their faces scanned to create four of the hottest Bond girls in a video game ever! They are also drop dead gorgeous, sexy and kick butt in this game, especially Serena St. Germaine (voiced by Shannon Elizabeth).

The replay value for the single-player mode is very high. There are three modes of difficulty, and if you play on the normal difficulty, then it will take you longer than a rental period to beat all 31 missions. After each mission, you are given a score (based upon criteria such as time taken, amount of kills, amount of Bond Moments), and if you reach a certain amount, you will get a Gold Medal and unlock something, including vehicle upgrades, production photos or characters for the multi-player mode. If you beat a mission on the hardest difficulty level, then you will be given a Platinum objective, and if you beat that mission again and manage to complete that objective, you will acquire cheats that you can use.

As you can see, this game is packed with lots of replay value and I haven’t even reached the multi-player aspect yet. Although James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing is not Xbox Live compatible, unfortunately, it does have four modes of split-screen multi-player action. In one mode of play, you and a friend will go through missions together. These missions are brand new and are not offered in single-player. They take place in different locales and are shorter, yet co-operation from both players is necessary to complete the mission. In Scramble mode, you must complete the missions and manage to complete them in a set amount of time. Another mode is Race, which is where both players attempt to complete set objectives before the other player. The final mode is a standard deathmatch, where up to four players square off in arenas and fight until a certain frag amount is reached.

The graphics is this Bond game are spectacular – the best yet. The character models are so detailed – especially Pierce Brosnan as Bond. The faces of all of the characters were scanned into a computer and reproduced to resemble their real life counter-parts. The locales are gorgeous and are very detailed as well. The guns are easily distinguishable by sight, and the explosions look real. The vehicles are also so real and look astonishing. It was a surprise that Richard Kiel's character, Jaws, was in this game and he and his metallic teeth look just like he did in the movies back in the '80s. The enemies are extremely detailed too and if you zoom in on them you will see all of their weapons and grenades.

The audio department also did a great job while producing this game. First of all, they got the singer Mya to sing the introductory song. It seems to fit in flawlessly and the new track sound just like a classic Bond track. All of the other music during the game was very well orchestrated, as during tense moments the music becomes a lot more fast-paced too. The characters were voiced perfectly, as Pierce Brosnan, Judi Dench, Willem Dafoe and all of the other characters came to a studio and recorded dialogue, which gives this game a real Bond authenticity. The sound effects were also very well done, as the roar of the motorcycle engines and the gunfire sound authentic too.

Overall, James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing is an amazing title. I am extremely lucky that I managed to pick up a used copy of this game for a mere $5. All other stores are carrying it used for roughly $45. This Bond games has everything: the Bond flavor, fast-paced action, a villain trying to take over the world, authentic Bond voices and faces, as well as all the gadgets, cars and girls that you crave. This is one of the best multi-console releases of the year and I recommend that everyone pick up a copy today. The transition was terrific and this game deserves to be on your shelf.