007: The World is Not Enough

"Both better than and worse than GoldenEye, at the same time."

The World is Not Enough is simply a first-person shooter for the Nintendo 64 system. It many ways, it's similar to another Nintendo 64 game, GoldenEye. Both share the common James Bond theme. While GoldenEye was created by Rare, The World is Not Enough was an EA product. GoldenEye is a personal favourite of mine, so I would have to say that I expected The World is Not Enough to be as good as GoldenEye, and even better. In some cases, this is true. But in other cases, GoldenEye is much better. Overall, I still gave The World is Not Enough a 9/10 rating. It's fun to play, and a very good game, in my humble opinion.

The single-player mode is somewhat more advanced in The World is Not Enough than in GoldenEye. GoldenEye was strictly a walking-shooting game. The World is Not Enough, on the other hand, is a little more varied in this aspect. In one particular level, you are on skis, for example. At times this is a nice feature, but at other times can be a pain in the ass.

The multi-player mode of The World is Not Enough is quite a bit better than that of GoldenEye. You are able to play against AI bots in The World is Not Enough, along with other humans. I personally think that it would be great for this feature to be added to GoldenEye. It would make that game much more enjoyable. The AI bots allow you to play multi-player mode alone, something that wasn't much fun with GoldenEye. It allows you to practice your skills, and to improve your playing ability without resorting to finding others to play with, or having to avoid failing mission objectives in single-player mode just to practice. The multi-player games in The World is Not Enough are more goal-oriented, and less death-oriented, unlike in GoldenEye. In once scenario, your goal (or your team's goal) is to attempt to tag and gain 'possession' of all three satellite dishes in various places around each multi-player level. I personally really like this scenario or game, as you have to know the level well. You have to be able to navigate throughout various parts of the level, quickly at that, in order to tag as many of the satellite dishes as you can. The longer you or your team has possession of a satellite dish, the more points you score. In the end, after the predetermined time limit or maximum death count has expired or been exceeded, the points are tallied, and a winning player or team is determined. Another one of the scenarios or games is similar to the satellite game, but involves getting your character to stand in a ring for as long as possible, without dying. Overall, I would have to say that the multi-player mode of The World is Not Enough is one of the game's most prominent strong points.

While not a very serious issue, by an means, one thing that sort of annoys me now and then is the lack of bullet holes and explosion marks. When you shot a wall in GoldenEye, you would see a mark on the wall where the bullet would have hit it in real-life. Similarly, you would see black marks on the floor, walls and ceiling at the location of an explosion, in GoldenEye. That is not so in The World is Not Enough. While it does not affect the game play to any great degree, it does take away from the reality of the game.

Another gripe I have regarding this game involves the lengthy startup time. Personally, I find it rather annoying to sit through the MGM logo, along with the logos of numerous other companies who were involved with the creation of the game. I also miss GoldenEye's proximity and remote mines. They were a personal favourite of mine, especially in multi-player. There are sticky grenades in The World is Not Enough, which are similar to the timed mines of GoldenEye, but quite a bit more powerful.

A controller pack is required to save your game. GoldenEye, for example, did not have such a requirement. This is a mixed blessing, in a number of ways. First, if you have a faulty controller pack, you might lose any games that you've saved. Of course, the same could happen to a GoldenEye cartridge. At least you can just purchase a new controller pack at a fairly low price. Physically losing or misplacing the controller pack can have a similar effect. The game also has support for the rumble pack, which can add to the game at times.

The graphics of The World is Not Enough aren't bad. They're not stunning, but are good enough to still make the game interesting and fun to play. I would say that the graphics are comparable to GoldenEye, and most other 3D shooters from the same time period.

When it comes to the game's audio capabilities, again, there's nothing spectacular. There's music, sound effect, and dialog. While they don't really add anything to the game, they don't remove from it either.

Similar to GoldenEye, there are different difficult levels that can be selected. For the most part, the Agent level (or easiest level) is not much of a challenge. Basically, you go around completing the objectives without too much enemy interference. The Secret Agent and 00 Agent levels are more difficult, as could be expected and intended. If you've played GoldenEye, or another first-person shooter in the past, then I wouldn't expect you to have too much trouble adjusting and adapting to this game. It's quite similar to other games, in this respect. It lacks a bit in the replayability department, especially in the single-player mode. The objectives stay the same between playing sessions, the enemies are in the same locations, and nothing significant changes. At least when it comes to multi-player mode, there is some variety in The World is Not Enough.

In the end, The World is Not Enough is a pretty good game, in my opinion. Similar to GoldenEye in many respects, it also has a few important differences. The multi-player mode is quite enjoyable, and in most cases is better than GoldenEye's multi-player mode. The single-player mode is nearly identical to that of GoldenEye. If you liked GoldenEye, like first-person shooters, and have an interest in James Bond movies, then you'll probably enjoy this game. If you don't enjoy the aforementioned things, well then, this game just might not be for you. I'd suggest renting it, and then purchasing it if you enjoy it.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 10/28/01, Updated 10/28/01