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It's the year 2000, and it's been three long years since James Bond last visited the Nintendo 64, in Rareware's awesome GoldenEye. Perfect Dark, another Rareware release, has been on store shelves for roughly half a year, and is hailed by many as the best first-person shooter ever. But fear not, James Bond fans…

007 will return.

The World Is Not Enough (herein referred to as TWINE) is the second James Bond game produced by Electronic Arts, and their first on the Nintendo 64. Developed by Eurocom, and based on the 1999 film of the same name, it was released on the Game Boy Colour and PlayStation to cold reception from critics and gamers alike. Fortunately for James Bond fans and N64 owners, this version fairs much better. Is it as good as GoldenEye or Perfect Dark? No. However, that does give it the prestigious title of third best FPS on the N64.

If you have played GoldenEye or Perfect Dark, then TWINE will feel very familiar, and having virtually identical controls is a big reason why. Using the analog stick, you can move Bond forward and backward, and look side to side. Using the four C-buttons, you can sidestep, as well as jump and crouch. The A button switches weapons, the B button reloads your gun, and is also used to open doors or activate computers, consoles and other things. The Z button activates your gadget or fires your gun, and finally, the right and left shoulder buttons bring up a crosshair on screen. While holding down one of these buttons, the player can aim Bond's gun at specific targets with more precision.

The single player story is divided into fourteen levels, with some being focused on stealth, silent kills and all-around general sneakiness. Most missions, however, will have you gunning down terrorists with a wide variety of firearms. This is all very well and good, and a plethora of interesting spy-like objectives are given to the player in each level, with some being updated and added as you progress.

Although the storyline isn't deep or brilliant, I found it to be surprisingly interesting, and if nothing else, it gives you a reason to shoot guys. If you have seen the movie, then there will be no surprises, although there are a few extra action sequences in order to make it more suitable for video game adaptation. There is a major plot twist about halfway through, but nothing anyone couldn't have seen coming.

TWINE's graphics look great, and the game features a wide variety of locations. From the pristine halls of MI-6 headquarters, to the forests of Kazakhstan, to the streets of Istanbul and the claustrophobic interiors of a submarine, the game sports an impressive variety in textures to make all of this come to life. What's more impressive, though, is the framerate. Although TWINE doesn't look as good as Perfect Dark, it runs much smoother, and the developers should be applauded for choosing consistency over high detail.

The sound effects are well done, with guns, explosions, shattering glass and hissing fire extinguishers all sounding appropriate. The bottom line here is that creating destruction sounds great in this game. The voice actors do a decent enough job for the most part, but a couple lines are laughably bad. (“Not from heem!”)

The music is not bad per se, just pretty forgettable, coming nowhere near to the excellent soundtracks of GoldenEye or Perfect Dark. Some of it can be recognized from the movie, but it's mostly just stereotypical cheesy action music.

Much like GoldenEye and Perfect Dark, there are three difficulty settings. As the difficulty goes up, so do the number of objectives. On top of this, the enemies require more shots to be killed, their accuracy is improved, and Bond is killed in a fewer number of shots. There are also extras to unlock, by beating a level on a certain difficulty within a certain amount of time. Some of these are pointless, merely providing new skins for multiplayer, like “Scientist” or “Civilian.” Other bonuses are more interesting, such as extra maps and modes for multiplayer. Which brings me to multiplayer. The inclusion of A.I. “bots” makes TWINE multiplayer a step above GoldenEye's, but it comes nowhere near to the level of customization or addictiveness that Perfect Dark presents. Some game modes are more fun than others, with Capture the Flag being a personal favourite, but the A.I. controlled bots are incredibly stupid, and can't really be customized or directed to do anything useful.

It's easy to compare TWINE to GoldenEye and Perfect Dark, since it is a James Bond FPS, and a good one too. Unfortunately, TWINE doesn't quite match the style and finesse of the games it's trying to emulate. (Note: There is an awful pun in this review, referring to the name of one of the levels in this game. If you can spot it, well, good for you.)

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 07/06/09, Updated 08/24/11

Game Release: 007: The World is Not Enough (US, 11/01/00)