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MI6 reviews the latest 007 game from EA, "Everything
or Nothing". Is it the best Bond game ever?
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"Everything or Nothing" Review
19th February 2004
Back in 1997 a Bond title was released
by Rareware that would set the gaming world alight. That
was "GoldenEye
64", and seven years on, it is still the yardstick
by which all 007 games are measured. The monolithic shadow
cast
over future games would always ensure the "best
game of all time", as it was touted by the trade press,
kept it's mantle almost unassailable. Could this all be
set to change with EA's latest offering "Everything
or Nothing"?
The short answer is yes.... and no.
A Stellar Cast If you have been living under a rock for the past year,
now is the time to come out, otherwise you will miss the
talents of Pierce Brosnan (James Bond), Shannon Elizabeth
(Serena St. Germaine), Willem Defoe (Nikolai Diavolo), Heidi
Klum (Katya Nadanova), Misaki Ito (Miss Nagai), Richard Kiel
(Jaws), John Cleese (Q) and Dame Judi Dench (M) making their
big to small screen transition - with great style. The EA
character artists have captured the best likenesses of the
actors to date, with stunning accuracy and fantastic animation.
The experience hasn’t been cut short with the digital
recreation of the characters alone, as all of the cast also
provided extensive voice over work for their characters.
To put it simply, this is the Bond movie for 2004.
A View To A Thrill Bond gamers may recall the atrocious title "Tomorrow
Never Dies" on the PSX, EA's first venture into the
007 franchise after Rareware's sensational "GoldenEye
64". Rather than competing with the classic FPS shooter,
EA pulled the camera back to a third-person perspective.
It didn't work. Their following game, "The World Is
Not Enough", quickly returned to the tried and tested
FPS genre, and was followed in style by "Agent Under
Fire" and "NightFire". Growing ever closer
to the cinematic style of Bond, EA have made a brave decision
and switched back to the third-person perspective for "Everything
or Nothing". Executive Producer Scot Blackwood explained
to MI6 last year that it was imperative to have Bond on screen
if you are to believe you are immersed in his world. We quite
agree, and unlike TND, "everything" works this
time.
Controlling Bond in this 3rd person perspective is made
extremely smooth with EA's no-nonesense control and targeting
system. A small red cursor is used to show the player where
Bond is aiming, and this can be fine tuned to pick out specific
targets such as heads and shoulders sticking out from behind
cover. Rather than allowing the target to float freely in "mouse" like
control, as with most FPS shooters, the auto-targeting selects
the nearest or best target and you can simply rotate through
the available targets by hitting a button. This at first
seems like a perfect solution, but it is marred slightly
when you are faced with multiple targets and the constant
tapping of the `next target` button becomes a little frustrating.
Credit must go to EA for spending a lot of development time
getting this system fine tuned though, it could very easily
have gone wrong and become either too easy or too frustrating. |
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Once you have got to grips with the targeting
system, the game quickly becomes more challenging as the
goons learn to duck for cover and dodge your volleys of
attack. This also applies to the excellent hand-to-hand combat
system.
Use the same attack combination multiple times and they
will wise up to your technique and adapt counters.
Packing A Punch
For the first time in a Bond game, "Everything or
Nothing" has a complete hand-to-hand combat system
that you will have to use throughout the game, not just
when your ammo runs out. The simple two punch buttons can
be using in various combinations to deliver a cornucopia
of attacks, left-right punches and kicks. As well as knocking
seven shades out of the goons with your knuckles and size
10's, 007's judo training also comes in handy
when you apply the throw moves - especially deadly when the goon's
landing site is somewhere after a long drop. Luckily for Bond,
the goons stop firing whenever you take on an enemy with hand-to-hand
combat, so you don't have to worry about being shot whilst throwing
your best right hook.
Above: Agent Mya Starling and James
Bond model the Aston Martin Vanquish in downtown New Orleans. |
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Better Than Looking Cleverer Than You Are
Not only do the goons wise up to your attack
strategies, they also pack a few surprises of their own.
If you take too long snooping around or hiding behind cover,
you will begin to hear the unnerving "clink, clink" of
grenades heading your way. Possibly the best animations
of the game come into play whenever there are explosions
in close quarters. "NightFire" pulled
close to the cinematic format laid out for the next generation
Bond games, but the transition
between the FPS shooting missions and the driving levels
jarred and the gameplay "variety" was split
into these two distinct camps. EoN does not suffer this same
problem though, thanks to creative additions to the mission
structure. |
The "rappelling" feature works tremendously well, and
brings a freshness to the third-person shooting levels, as do
the "boss fights" which are straight out of the Nintendo
School of Game Design. These breaks in the format ensure you
are kept on your toes, until you get to use some of Bond's new
vehicles.
"Nice Day For A Drive"
Using a respin of the "Need For Speed" racing engine,
the vehicle missions in EoN are much improved on "NightFire"s
attempt to blend the shooting and driving aspects seamlessly.
Too seamlessly it would happen, as EA originally made
the transition between shooting and driving too smooth for the
tester's
liking, and back came the "mission complete" scoring
screens in between stages. Using cars, SUVs, motorcycles and
helicopters, it would be easy to have quantity rather than quality
- but not
here. None of the driving missions feel skimped on or rushed,
and prove to be some of the most exhilarating missions of the
whole game. The polygon counts for each of the vehicles has been
ramped up to show smooth curvy bodywork and reflections that
car showrooms would be proud of.
Graphically, Bond has never been better
- but that is inevitable. With the constant march of technology
and increasing development knowledge of the console platforms,
game graphics will naturally improve as time goes on,
but there are some notable touches which pick "Everything
or Nothing" out from the crowd. Explosions, water
effects, smoke trails, ricochets, blur effects, slow motion,
Bond
sense... The eye-candy doesn't let up, and neither do the
neat spot-effects and animations that bring the otherwise
robotic characters to life.
The only disappointment in the
graphical buffet are some of the textures. The PS2 is
renowned for not having the sharpest graphics of the next
generation
consoles, but the same occasional blurred or plain textures
appear on the Xbox and GameCube too. Only when Bond is
surrounded by lots of explosions and multiple effects
(usually water features or particle effects) can the frame
rate drop
to the occasional shudder. Otherwise, the performance
of the 3D engine is a well greased machine, an impressive
feat when you consider the size of the level maps and
the
number of polygons use for the models. As is usually
the case for EA cross platform titles, the Xbox enjoys
the
best graphics (marginally), so the choice of platform
should really be based on which prefer for controls
Cool As A Cucumber
In the movie "GoldenEye", when Bond has his
back to a pillar in Trevelyan's HQ and a goon's round let's
loose the plasterboard next to his face, he simply raises
and eyebrow and gets on with setting a mine timer. Bond
is perhaps the coolest character under pressure in cinematic
history, and EA's latest incarnation of Fleming's creation
is ice cold. The one-liner, a Bond invention which is often
mimicked but never mastered by others, is in full force
here. Writer Bruce Feirstein, whose credits include work
on "GoldenEye", "Tomorrow Never Dies" and "The
World Is Not Enough" provides and smorgasbord of witty
retorts and cringe worthy puns. |
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Above: Bond assess the fate awaiting
Mya, waits for a contact with the Vanquish, and contemplates
the long
way down. |
Which leads us nicely on to the audio experience
of "Everything
or Nothing", and surprisingly for a game, is the best aspect
of the title. "24" composer Sean Callery is another
big Hollywood talent that EA have brought in to the gaming fold
EoN.
His work is simply stunning, all of the familiar Bond riffs are
in there, but the are not overworked, with Callery's soundtrack
incorporating the traditional Bond-faire within a rich tapestry
of symphonic tracks mixed with modern synth effects. Each location
Bond visits is complimented perfectly with music befitting the
scenes, from romantic interludes to high-octane action. Mya provides
the
main title song as well as performing a role in the game, with
three different versions of the track used throughout. Spot effects
such as explosions and weapons fire are authentically recreated
too,
along with amusing enemy chatter, utilizing the surround sound
to deepen your immersion into Bond's environment. Callery scored
over an hour of original music for the game, and it's needed, as
you will not be getting through EoN in one afternoon's play.
A Long Way To Go
Not only are there an impressive 29 missions (as well as 4 unlockable
bonus missions) dotted across four main locales, but each mission
is a lot longer than previous Bond outings. So much so, that
the missions have to be loaded on the fly whilst playing through
them, but you will not notice any pauses or jerks in the gameplay
due to the careful pre-loading done in the background. With the
inclusion of "boss fights" and multiple paths though
each mission (the most obvious example is the choice between
the Porsche Cayenne and the Chimera motorcycle in the "Train
Chase" mission), the longevity of EoN far surpasses it's
predecessors. Both "Agent Under Fire" and "NightFire" came
in for some criticism that the adventures were too short, but "Everything
or Nothing" goes further than before - and some. We estimate
the average play-though time of EoN to be around 12 hours, and
that does not include going back to perfect missions for Platinum
status
and those tempting unlocks bonuses.
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So far so good - great missions, brilliant
graphics, even better sound... Could this be the "GoldenEye 64" beater
everyone has been waiting for?
Disappointingly, no. Whilst the single player aspect of
EoN is far superior to that of "GoldenEye", with
the reward system vastly improved with useful cheats and
unlocks rather than "NightFire"s `trading card`
extras, the multiplayer experience will leave most gamers
wanting.
"I Prefer To Work Alone"
Rather than providing a straight-forward "death match" out
of the box, an interesting new concept of "co-op" play
has been developed into a standalone feature with 13 missions
stretched over three locations and a multitude of non-Bond
characters. It can be seen as a separate game in its own
right, but do not expect the same quality and lavish attention
to detail that the main one-player game enjoys. The "co-op" mission
plays more like an arcade button basher, compared to the
slick one-player Bond missions, but it is still good fun
and the dynamic of having to rely on each other in order
to complete the missions will certainly entertain. PS2
owners in the USA can enjoy this feature online, playing
with "co-op" partners from anywhere in the country,
but sadly the same functionality is not extended to anywhere
else in the world, or on the other platforms. This is disappointing
as many of EA’s recent titles have stretched to include
multiplayer support in Europe If
you don't have any friends to hand when you fancy a game
of "Arena", which is a four-player `death
match` on a single-screen unlocked when you complete the "co-op" game,
you now face the main setback that will haunt "Everything
or Nothing". Bots are missing. All games are subject
to release date pressure and tough decisions about which
areas to spend valuable time developing are made, but the
omission of any AI players from the multiplayer Arena mode
may not be easily forgiven by some gamers. Due to the third
person perspective, don't expect a split screen display either,
as all four characters are forced into the same screen -
zoomed out to quite an extent at times to fit everything
in. As a multiplayer feature, it is good clean fun, but it's
unlikely to have many gamers burning the midnight oil for "one
more last game ". This is where "GoldenEye 64" still
triumphs, and clings on to it's "best Bond game ever" status,
albeit by the skin of its teeth. The King is still alive,
long live the King.
Aside from the multiplayer issues, the other
main bugbear that may annoy Bond fans is the overuse of
the invisible
cloaking "technology" from "Die Another Day", stretching
the "5 minutes into the future" Bond rule to breaking
point. |
Now Listen Carefully, 007
So if multiplayer let EoN down, how could it improve? Although
the third-person perspective prevents the easy FPS style death
match, there is no reason why a two-player split-screen mode, much like
the "co-op" feature, could not have been delivered.
Pushing this feature into four-player mode might be too much
for the systems and screen resolution to handle effectively,
but the omission of a two player head-to-head mode is puzzling.
If EA want to deliver cutting edge Bond games, then they also
need to go into areas Bond has never been before. Split-screen
multiplayer driving missions have never been tackled in the mainstream
franchise of Bond adventures, and would provide a welcome break
to the shooting fests.
It is clear that significant effort is being made to deliver
an experience as close to a "Bond Movie" as is possible
in the games domain, but the reliance of FMV sequences still
detract from the otherwise seemless flow of missions. Pulling
the inter-mission (pun intended) sequences into the game engine,
rather than using pre-rendered videos featuring characters that
look slight different to the in-game versions, would help prevent
this discrepancy throwing gamers out of the experience and pushing
them back in again once the video ends.
Everything or Nothing
Buy "Everything or Nothing". Play "Everything
or Nothing". Enjoy "Everything or Nothing". Whether
you come back to the game in six month's time is the nagging
issue, but the good news is that by then,
the
next 007 title
from EA will be well on its way.
Related Articles
 MI6
"Everything or Nothing" Coverage
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