James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing

"Not Nothing, but not Everything"

Everything or Nothing is the latest release of a James Bond game, and I was expecting a lot. This game is satisfying, but I thought it could do better. The fact that Pierce Brosnan voiced James Bond, along with Judi Dench, John Cleese, etc. voicing other characters in the game really intrigued me, and was definitely one high point in the game.

Control:
The controls in the game were good, but sometimes it was hard - you couldn't manuever very easily. The game being played in third person took a while to get used to, along with the new means of targeting and the Bond Sense. There are upsides, like the new abilities of straddling along a wall. But the game makes you use the Z button to both crouch and straddle, so at points when you're being ambushed the game just won't listen to what you say (or press I suppose). The hand-to-hand combat is alright, but most of the time it takes me so long to subdue the guy his buddies surrounded me. You can use special martial arts-like moves, but sometimes they can be hard to trigger.
**7 out of 10**

Gameplay:
The gameplay is also O.K., but leaves a lot to be desired. Some levels are just downright awesome, like one level where you must jump off a cliff to save a girl who was pushed out of a helicopter. But others can be so frustrating I throw down my controller in irritation. There are also a lot of driving missions, some being really cool to some being totally boring. The vehicles you can use are the car(of course), motorcycle, tank and helicopter, motorcycle being the coolest by far. The helicopter, though only used in one level, is pretty boring and the controls are annoying too.
The fact that this game has about thirty levels is also nice, but some of them, mostly being in the beginning, are a little too short for their own good.
**8 out of 10**

Sound:
The sounds probably is the best thing in this game. With the characters being voiced and modeled by their real counterparts, the game's interest is seriously boosted. The theme is sung by Mya, and she also stars slightly from the game. Quite cool.
**10 out of 10**

Graphics:
Not too much to say here. You know the deal, its the basic Gamecube graphics, with a lot of cutscenes and cool little movies. Graphics are overally pretty good.
**9 out of 10**

Storyline:
This is where the game goes downhill in my opinion. The plot is very vague until you are towards the end, and some things in the game seem like they were just thrown in there for the heck of making more levels.
The things that has bugged me in Bond games since Agent Under Fire are the quick endings. You play this whole long game, only to see the bad guy have a fast, mediocre death, like just falling or blowing up or something. I mean, its the villain, make them go some way interesting! But then after the non-satisfying demise of the evil world-threatening madman, you watch literally about a 10 second ending to the whole game which leaves me like, ''What? That's it? This sucks...''
**4 out of 10**

Multiplayer:
Multiplayer is alright, you can play everything from the classic arena to a cooperative mission where two players team up to complete a Chapter. The thing that I dislike in multiplayer is the fact that you must complete many things before you can even play in the arena, you must unlock it.
**7 out of 10**

Replayability:
This game definitely has replayability. The fact that it is very tough to get platinum medals on many levels allows you to aim for a new goal each time you play. I also really like many of the levels, so I enjoy playing them over.
**9 out of 10**

Overall, this game is pretty good, and in some respects I am impressed and in others I am not. Should you rent it or should you buy it? For you James Bond fans out there, this game you should buy, it is just better than good, and I'm pretty sure you'll enjoy it. If you aren't a James Bond fan and you're still skeptical about buying it, I suggest you should rent it first. If you like it, buy it. If you don't, then leave it to rest.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 02/29/04