James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing

"Aptly Titled: This game alternates between giving you EVERYTHING and NOTHING!"

Ah GOLDENEYE 64 - the game that will forever be the nemesis of the James Bond franchise. Such a landmark title that every subsequent game has "failed to live up to." Thus it was that, with the latest Bond adventure, effort was no longer going to be made to recapture the GOLDENEYE magic, but instead the franchise would be revamped. The results are very mixed, and it is hard to really nail down an overall feeling about the game, because at various times I was either blown-away by it, or repulsed by it.

The most obvious change is the third-person perspective (this approach was used previously in the PSX game TOMORROW NEVER DIES, but we prefer to ignore that one). No longer bound by the FPS ties, Bond is now a free-roaming agent, and emphasis has been placed on shoot-outs that involve auto-targeting and the ability to take cover around corners and behind boxes. Thus, most of the on-foot levels involve moving from one room to the next, finding cover, drawing a bead on the enemy and going for a head shot.

Now, hear me out - when this system is working properly, it makes for some of the best gaming in a shooter I have ever played. Even though you auto-target, you can still move the cursor around on the enemy's body to go for a true head-shot. This gives you a mix of self-targeting, while not requiring you to have dead-on perfect aim. The enemy AI is quite good, and these shoot-outs become very epic.

But this is when the system IS working. Unfortunately, it is also fraught with problems. Most notably, switching targets during a battle is very difficult. As long as the enemy is staying put, you will have no problem taking them down one-by-one. But if you get rushed, you will suddenly find that, more often than not, Bond is targeting an enemy 20 feet away while another enemy is standing next to you pounding the living daylights out of you! Try as you might, you cannot target the enemy that is actually damaging you! Couple this with the fact that, even on easy, Bond takes damage like a wet piece of paper, and you will find this game can be VERY frustrating and annoying. Add to this the typical console shortcoming of no Quick Save, and you will frequently find yourself near the end of a long level only to die and have to start over AGAIN AND AGAIN!

But, back on the positive side, the graphics are fantastic, the music serviceable, and the addition of Brosnan, Cleese, and Dench providing actual voices and character models is a nice touch to round things out. The story isn't really all that interesting (certainly not enough to make the game qualify as Brosnan's fifth Bond MOVIE, as some have suggested), but it will get you from one level to the next. The game also features the voice and model of Willem Dafoe as the nefarious villain, but even with such a great actor, the character is little more than a cardboard cutout of every other Bond villain. As for the lovely ladies, we have Heidi Klum as a femme fatale, and Shannon Elizabeth as a now-typical modern day Bond-lady-in-distress. Apparently the game designers felt Elizabeth would be the biggest draw of the game, for every menu features a real video clip of her in a stunning dress toting a gun (yes, this is a positive, not a negative)! Rounding out the guest-star roster is singer/actress Mya, who not only provides the theme song that opens the game, but appears in one level of the game, also as a lady-in-distress.

Back for another round are the vehicle levels, and they do not disappoint either, aside from the difficulty factor. This is one area that has been a standout for the franchise, even in its worst games, and nearly half of the game will be spent behind the wheel or on a motorbike.

All told, the game works nicely as an action piece and has a descent length to it - but once you finish it, you will quickly forget about all but the most frustrating aspects of it. It's worth $10 if you really like the Bond series - otherwise, just rent it and get your gameplay's worth over a long weekend!

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 01/31/07