James Bond 007 is one of the most popular and well known spies in the world. For good reasons of course, as Bond will do anything to complete his mission, as long as he has a girl or two to keep him company. There is only one thing that pulls away from his picture perfect existence, he’s not real. Yes, but I’m sorry to say that the super spy is nothing more than a character created from the text of a novel. But you did know all this right? You didn’t actually think he was real did you? Ok, well at least we have that settled. Anyway, throughout his years in the media spotlight, he has appeared in books, movies, videogames and pretty much anything else you can think of, but his roots in videogames haven’t been as graceful as in his other areas. His first venture into the third dimension was in the Nintendo 64 release, Goldeneye. The game was based on an all new bond movie that took the series in a more modern direction with expensive special effects and a new actor named Pierce Brosnan in the signature cars. Goldeneye is widely considered to be the best Bond game out there and for good reason. It featured an exhilarating single player campaign driven by the plot of the movie and a nails to the wall multiplayer mode that kept a good percentage of gamers on their toes. Since then though, numerous new additions have been made to the series, but none of them have come close to stealing the crown. James Bond has always been about presentation and each game showed a full hearted attempt at replicating the feel of a bond movie, but each failed in some areas. Agent Under Fire which was released a few years back, took the series into the next generation with flashy graphics and high production values. What it lacked, was pretty much everything else. The story tried too hard to be a bond movie and came off as being too hokey and the main character looked nothing like Pierce Brosnan. While it was intentional, it didn’t necessarily enhance the game in any way. Next up was NightFire, which was a much better game than AUF, but it also lacked something. Well, actually it lacked Pierce Brosnan’s voice; I mean how can you have the man’s face, but someone else’s voice?Well EA games tried once more to hit the mark this year with the release of Everything or Nothing for the Playstation 2, Xbox and GameCube. Did they achieve what they set out for? Well duh, I wouldn’t have spent so long on an intro if it wasn’t any good.  

Everything or Nothing is the most “bond” a Bond game has ever been. For a lack of better words, that’s all that can really be said. It’s the first game in the series to convey the Bond universe in its entirety. You have the voice actors, the story, the third person perspective, the flashy cars and of course the women. What more could you ask for? To be perfectly honest, EON has a few glaring problems that keep it from being an instant classic, but regardless, it will go down in history. The story (like any Bond film) is fairly simple and by simple we mean that you might actually understand what’s going on from the start. Bond is pitted against a missile happy madman named Diavalo who is out to take over the world (how surprising). For the Bond experts out there, Diavalo was friends with one of Bonds former victims named Max Zorin, whom you may remember from a previous Bond film starring Roger Moore (the “oldest” of the five Bonds). So not only is it a power trip, but a sense of revenge can be seen from Diavalo throughout the game. Bond will be interacting with other characters from the series including “M”, “Q” and the infamous Jaws who when last see, was floating around in space with a potential love interest (see, enemies do have soft spots, yet where is the girl now?). You will also meet new characters like Katya Nadanova, Serena St. Germaine, and Mya Starling. Some of these characters have small parts, but each serve to advance the plot as Bond comes closer and closer to Nadonava. The rest of the plot is something you will have to experience for yourself, but to continue on my “essay” about the game’s presentation, the title song would be the next best place. Singer and songwriter Mya lends her voice talents to Everything or Nothing with a rousing piece of the same name. The song is very appropriate for the game and it is as good as any other Bond song you could name.  

The next aspect of the game that strikes some curiosity is the third person perspective. For years everyone has loved the idea of seeing through Bond’s eyes, but it limited both gameplay and the feel of the series. With Everything or Nothing, EA has taken a risk they haven’t taken since they tried it the last time and failed (Tomorrow Never Dies anyone?). Seeing the game in the third person can be awkward at first, because people, who have played Bond games before, have become accustomed to the play style. But don’t fret, because the new perspective has only benefited the game, and proves to be a perfect fit for the spy. The controls are very responsive and feel more akin to a game like Metal Gear Solid then anything else. For once I believe that change was necessary for the series because now Bond can rappel off of buildings, lean against walls, roll for cover, knock the lights out of a guard with an AK, and simply do a ton of things that were never possible with previous games. Ok ok, well now that Breakdown (Namco) has been released for the Xbox, you can do quite a few of these things, but just bear with me people. All of these new moves translate well for Bond and the level design reflects it. You can press against walls and shoot cover fire just like in Kill Switch by Namco (noticing a trend here?) and engage in hand to hand combat, something that has never been seen in the series before. The targeting system for the weapons is controlled by one button, and once you are locked on, you can either shoot and see what happens or fine-tune your shot by aiming the sight with the right analog stick. Head shots can be very easy to pull off if the enemy has yet to see you, but in motion, it’s not recommended. The targeting system is normally very well done, but it has some problems when enemies get too close to you. For instance, if you are hugging a wall and shooting off cover fire, if an enemy comes from behind, you have to disengage your wall press and turn the camera to where your target can find the enemy. It can sometimes be a royal pain, but these are only rare occurrences. Ammo is usually plentiful, but if you use it up too quickly by not correctly aiming, you will be hard pressed to find anymore, which may lead to a very swift death. You will often find yourself out of ammo in the most inconvenient places possible, where it is simply impossible to resort to hand to hand measures. Speaking of that, the fighting engine is fairly simple, but in close quarters you can pull off some pretty interesting and effective combos.  

Some levels are filled with interactive objects like glass bottles, beakers, keyboards or crowbars, but then other levels have absolutely nothing. This limits the range of the fighting engine considerably. Your weapon selection is excellent because it has all of the common inclusions like the pistol, sniper rifle and shotgun, but also has the more rare ones for the series like rocket launchers. The sniper rifle is the only weapon in the game that I felt was underused. There will almost never be a time when it is needed, so it’s more of a leisurely option.  

The driving missions once again utilize the popular Need for Speed engine and for fans of that game; Bond has quite a few of these missions. They make up a good percentage of the game, but not like previous games in the series. You will have escort missions, stealth missions, and the typical escape missions. Like the other games, they serve to enhance the presentation of the game, but in the case of EON, they pretty much enhance the game on a whole. The sometimes frustrating on foot missions call for a break in the action and these levels do just that. While they are primarily short, they do provide the hiatus needed in order to pick the gun back up and continue shooting. Any problems at all with it? Well yes, actually there is. Stealth levels with a car? Go watch Die Another Day, its just too annoying to be played. The best levels by far though, are the ones in which you drive the motorcycle. They present a much faster sense of speed and overall, they edge out the car missions completely.  

There are a few other levels that don’t fit any of the typical Bond categories. For example, the Helicopter isn’t exactly a car, but it plays pretty much the same with a more dynamic control scheme. Also there is an on rails shooting level in which you stupidly allow Serena to drive a tank and you are forced to protect her while she “races” to her destination. There are a few other missions with vehicles but I wont say anything more (can we say tank? Oops).  

Everything else aside from what I stated above is pretty much the same as any other Bond game or movie would do it. Depending on your interest in Bond, your opinion may change, or it may not. The game has one glaring problem that seems to pop up everywhere though. The enemy AI is completely erratic. Sometimes they will be easy, and other times they will be too hard, and sometimes that will happen in the same spot as before. I clap for EA in the way that they programmed the enemies in their behavior, but you will notice a lot of cheap shots and completely unfair number differences. The boss AI fairs a lot better to make them quite entertaining. Luckily, EON has enough on its presentation side that will keep pulling you back to keep trying. Length wise Everything or Nothing is a considerably long action game, but most importantly it’s the longest Bond game. All of the previous titles were simply too short, and its finally time that we have a Bond game of decent length.  

Everything or Nothing is all about presentation and that is what is clearly evident from every inch of the visuals and sound. The graphics are crisps, detailed and dynamic allowing for a believable world that reflects Bond’s style. While the character models and animations are a bit lanky (Bond looks as if he has an appointment with “#2”), the facial features are striking. Pierce Brosnan looks just like his real life counterpart, along with the other characters. Framerates stay consistent in both the Xbox and GameCube versions, dipping a bit on the Playstation 2. The difference in each version is mild but the Xbox takes the lead with a crisper look. It is simply the most striking realization of the Bond universe ever put into polygons. The audio benefits a lot from the star power provided to EA. Pierce Brosnan, Dame Judy Dench, John Cleese, Shannon Elizabeth, Willem Dafoe, and Heidi Klum all provide voice work for the game and it could only have helped it. Each character is expressed exactly how they should be and none of them ever feel forced. It just goes to show that when you flash the big green bill, presentation is no longer a problem.  

James Bond 007 has finally appeared in a current console game that fits his name. Everything or Nothing is by far the best Bond game since Goldeneye, and in many respects surpasses even that. Those who complete the game should look forward to trying the other difficulty levels that include tougher AI (as if its needed) and the opportunity to unlock things such as art and cheats. A multiplayer mode has been included that allows you and a friend to play two no-name agents under orders from “M” to complete several missions together. If it had been longer, it could have been a game on its own, because each of those levels is a blast to play, but such is the way the world works. Everything or Nothing is a game worthy of your collection whether or not you even know the name Bond, James Bond (yet, why would you not know his name?).