007: Tomorrow Never Dies

"::Bond Music:: Crap...Big Crap"

James Bond has always held a special place in the hearts of any action movie affectionado through-out the world. Weither he was driving the fastest cars, doing things with the most beautiful women...or having access to the coolest assortment of weapons, James Bond has been an icon of sauve men everywhere. So where could it have gone wrong here?

-Visuals 4/10-

Too much like Syphon Filter, Tomorrow Never Dies comes across as your basic run and gun action game, save for the fact that most of it is spent shooting people. With a game that features James Bond, you would hope to see a few things that would look anything like the movies..the weapons mainly..the cars. Something, anything! However, it gives you a blocky James Bond fighting blocky enemies that have no true detail to them. Even the levels throughout the game have no real purpose, more or less just to run through.

The only saving grace here with the visuals, is the fact that you have the ski-scene. Other than that..whipping down the side of a mountain..you have nothing really but the same old, tired out stages that you come to expect through any action adventure game. Truly disappointing with no detail, and no special 'impact-enviroments'.

-Audio 4/10-

Nope. Nothing much in terms of music...you have something droning off in the background to try and take your ears and attention away from the fact that the sound effects are rather loud and un-impressive. With such things going against it, the only true sound effects that come out with a bang, is the in-between FMV that you can watch as your reward.

What you would expect is to hear some really good sound effects from the weapons, or at least some music that would make you feel as if you were in the shoes of the world's most famous super spy. You don't get these things...none of them. Again, truly disappointing.

-Control 2/10-

Possibly the worst feature in the game, the control isn't there enough to get off the sniper moments. You have to follow your target...and hope that before the target sees you, you nail him in the nead. When you get down to the actual running and fighting, it's slow, and un-responsive. There are times, when you'll be firing at your target, and hit everything but...that's sloppy...way too sloppy for anyone who is looking for an adventure game that thrives on being able to knock off your enemies.

-Gameplay 4/10-

It's all been done before. Tomorrow Never Dies in all points of the game, tries to deliver a truly engrossing action experience, but comes up short with little in terms of variety. You have nothing in particular that has anything to do with something extra, and it's boring after the first twenty minutes. The stages offer you nothing extra, and the realy Gameplay comes in...well...it doesn't.

-Overall 4/10-

It's a generous score from me due to the fact that it's a James Bond game. They went wrong someplace along the way though, not delivering the goods in terms of action, or sound, or gameplay, and the granddaddy of any action game...control. Had more time been spent with this title, it probably could have turned out wonderfully, but unfortunately, Tomorrow Never Dies has died..the horrid death of a poorly programmed game.

Rent or Own: If you have an N64...stick with GoldenEye...and avoid this title like the plague. If you're just a PSX owner, this one is worth a rent, but look for Syphon Filter or Syphon Filter 2 if you want the real goods on a good action game.

Reviewer's Score: 4/10, Originally Posted: 10/17/00, Updated 10/17/00