Reviewed: April 3, 2004
Reviewed by: Blake Kenny

Publisher
Electronic Arts

Developer
Electronic Arts

Released: February 17, 2004
Genre: Action
Players: 2
ESRB: Teen

8
8
9
9
8.7

Supported Features

The funny thing is, it’s been years since Golden Eye came out, and still - I can’t have a conversation with someone about first-person shooters without that name being mentioned. It’s truly a legendary game and deservedly so. This does however make the creation on a new Bond title a little un-nerving. People have expectations. The bar has been set - and everyone assumes failure is in store for anyone who tries to one-up the best game within the series.

This time however, the rules of Bond have been changed. Rather than try to strike gold with another Golden Eye clone or wanna-be, EA has taken a step back to rethink the Bond character - coming to the obvious conclusion that he’s someone who’s never been whole heartedly about shooting guns and firing rocket launchers. He’s more a jack of all trades, able to deal with any situation with any weapon at his disposal, a man of resource.

While some may mourn the loss of the game’s more traditional first person perspective, it quickly becomes apparent that this reiteration of Bond does a far better job of capturing the true essence of the character. With James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing, you have not only guns and gadgets, but lethal hand to hand skills and those legendary, fully loaded, Q-Branch vehicles. Roll all of these varying gameplay elements into one and you have what could quite possibly be - the best James Bond game to date.

Throwing you into the role of Super Spy James Bond almost instantly, the game does a great job of trying to walk you through the first mission as you get comfortable with the controls. While the opening stage can be brutally tough and a little overwhelming, the player is soon rewarded with a bit of a breather during the opening sequence that follows.

After that, at M-I6 headquarters you’re taken through a virtual training simulation ala Metal Gear Solid. This time affords you the opportunity to become a little more familiar with the button layout and Bond’s new abilities. As mentioned before, gone are the old days of simply lining up a target and blowing them away. Things have progressed for Bond since then, and thanks to a 3rd person perspective, you now have the option to attack and dispatch your enemies in several new and inventive ways.

While the player is certainly going to need to shoot a few enemies during this adventure, it quickly becomes clear that the run and gun technique employed by so many other games isn’t going to work here. Now it’s crucial for the player to utilize their surrounding for better cover and concealment. With the left trigger, players are able to lock onto enemies.

The great thing about this little feature is that it allows someone with a little patience to get one shot kills. While locked-on and hopefully safe from harm behind some crates or the corner of a wall; you can move around a small targeting dot within the lock-on icon. With some finesse you can prepare and line-up the perfect shot. Then when the enemy moves out from around a corner or pops there head out from behind a barrier – BLAM! - hopefully you nail them. While you could simply charge into an area full of enemy men, and fire away like a spaz, this often proves to be detrimental to your successful. Tact is the key and no man can dodge bullets from 10 machine guns. This innovative targeting system allows you to remain safe from harm while you shoot, and conserve a little ammo as well.

Along with shooting, the players can also engage in fisticuffs. While using a gun is always easier, the ability to punch an enemy out adds a little more of what James Bond is famous for. You can also grapple with the enemy and administer some devastating finishing moves - everything from slamming them into a wall to smashing your knee into their gut. Granted, these moves seem to be fairly random depending on your surroundings, but they none the less make Bond appear very lethal in close quarters. All the fighting in the game is easy to control and feels very natural. While it’s far from being the next Virtual Fighter, there’s plenty of fun to be had within the confines of this game.

Adding even more exciting variety are the vehicular levels – and seriously, what is Bond without his awesome, gadget loaded vehicles? This time around players have the benefit of 3 fully licensed rides; including the Austin Martin V12 Vanquish, the Porsche Cayenne Turbo and for a little motorcycle fun, the Triumph Daytona 600. All the vehicles are equipped with various weapons of destruction, from the standard machine guns and rockets, right down to side mounted flame throwers and EMP’s (Electro Magnetic Pulse). Get a little farther in the game, and you’ll even have the luxury of commanding a devastating tank and a speedy, yet surprisingly agile rally car. All of these levels are a blast to play through and run great thanks to the well-known Need for Speed engine.

Last, but certainly not least are those wonderful Q gadgets. While simple things like thermovision, sleeping darts and the nano suit, which allows you to become virtually invisible, are nothing to write home about, other bond devices are far more compelling.

Items like the Q-Spiders are lots of fun to use. Small, speedy little devices that can move around in small spaces that Bond could never reach. In the beginning they are used almost exclusively for recon reasons, but later in the game they‘re upgraded into Spider Bombs, allowing you to sneak up on unsuspecting enemy troops for quick detonation and destruction. Other forms of the Q-Spider can also be used to administer sleep toxins.

One item that is used often in the game is the rappel gun; a wonderful gadget that allows you to scale walls that you would normally never be able to reach. It can be used to easily climb both up and down, and can even be used while you’re engaging the enemy. The rappel gun is an essential tool throughout much of the game and is used during quite a few hair-raising levels. Fortunately for the player, going through the in-game menus to access all of your wonderful gadgets is a piece of cake with the simple click of the D-pad.

True to the films, the player can also live out Bond Moments. These moments often involve finding clever ways to incapacitate your enemies. For example, shooting a chandelier and dropping it down on the enemy or driving a vehicle up some stairs and jumping over enemy tanks. Basically they’re flashy moments that bring big rewards.

One of the more humorous Bond Moments in the game include massaging the back of a woman who believes they are the hands of her lover. Sensual moments that the suave and debonair James Bond would never miss out on. After all, he so loves the ladies. Discovering and performing these moments’ results in a better score when the level wraps up. Finding these moments allows the player to unlock productions photos from the game as well as character models and skin for the multiplayer games. Needless to say, the more you delve into the role of James Bond, the more you have to gain.

Adding to an already thrilling and fully realised single player game are some surprisingly fun multiplayer modes. Players can enjoy several game types that include – Cooperative, Race, Scramble and Arena.

These modes allow players to work together as a team to fight the enemy. Compete in a race against the clock. Work against each other in a quest for the most points, or simply have a little fun in a great, 4-player deathmatch.

Overall all, I think Everything or Nothing needs to be commended for incorporating so many gameplay types into one complete, and thoroughly entertaining package. While each aspect of the game showed room for improvement, it’s a rare thing when such a wide variety of play remains technically solid, and most importantly fun. Everything about this game controls beautifully, and except for the slight learning curve involved during gun battles, this title remains fully functional and enjoyable in every respect.

Shooting, fighting and driving are just a few of the things to be seen. While I could easily go on about some of the other great thing to be seen in this game, I wouldn’t want to spoil the excitement for anyone who doesn’t know what to expect. Still, keep you eyes open for a level where Bond attempts the insane rescue of a falling damsel. It’s got to be seen to be believed. Kudos EA!

All the character models within the game are realistically detailed and animate smoothly. For the primary characters, including James Bond, M and Q, players have the added benefit of the actors supplying their actual faces, via laser scanning. Needless to say, in the first level of the game, when Bond reveals his face from behind a Middle Eastern shroud, it’s almost frightening how perfect the likeness to Pierce Brosnan is. Bond also sports a wide variety of outfits within the game – sometimes he’s wearing a suit, other times he’s wearing official spy gear, reminiscent of Splinter Cell’s: Sam Fisher. Being a 3rd person game, it’s certainly nice to see the level of attention that went into the models.

Its obvious EA pulled out all the stops to make this game something special. Reflections on the vehicles are dazzling as the tires kick dirt and dust into the air. The game’s booming explosions, pretty much all the destruction and chaos looked fantastic. While the graphics are certainly not up to the level of some other Xbox titles, it’s hard to find much room for complaint. A solid effort throughout.

Rounding out the talented cast is one of the most popular Bond villains of all time. Richard Kiel returns as Jaws, and while offering no voice work what so ever, has also underwent the laser scanning process to capture his likeness within the game.

Simply awesome! Everything or Nothing was already on the road to greatness, but the voice acting just seems to push this title over the edge. What more could a Bond fan possibly ask for?

Thanks must also be given to EA for avoiding the pitfalls taken by Bond games of the past. This time around the music is fairly diversified and offers more than the same classic James Bond theme song played over and over again with different musical instruments. A cool theme for sure, but no-one wants to hear it for 15 hours.

The Remaining sound work is also great; thanks to a wonderful in-game Dolby Digital sound mix. Fiery explosions, machinegun fire and the ever gratifying blast from the sniper rifle all come through beautifully and really get the old house rattling. Everything or Nothing provides the listener with an enthralling and immersive sound experience by all accounts.

With the addition of Bond Moments and the large number on unlockables, there’s plenty of reason for most players to come back for more. Some of the missions are so challenging that I doubt anyone could get through all of them with all items unlocked on the first pass. Besides, the game is so much fun; I doubt any player is going to mind going through a few missions more than once.

The enjoyable multiplayer modes should also keep player entertained. While I’ve never been, nor will I ever be a fan of split screen play, these modes were actually a lot of fun.

So now we come back to the infamous Golden Eye comparison. Realistically, it’s hard to compare these games to one another when nothing about this title is even remotely similar to the other. Everything or Nothing takes the player on another thrilling and nearly flawless adventure that is thankfully not confined to the plotline of an actual movie. To say it’s better or worse than Golden Eye wouldn’t be fair; because it’s different.

I’ll just say this; on a personal level I think both games are great and succeed beautifully. This one wins out slightly in my book because it’s offers more Bond diversity. Like I said in the beginning – the character has never been strictly about shooting. When you think of James Bond, you think about fighting, those awesome vehicles and gadgets and of course, the women. This game offers all of that - and when it comes to capturing the essence on this legendary character, this title does it in spades.