Gaming Target - PlayStation 2: James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing

Written by John Scalzo on July 18, 2003

First Impressions: If Denise Richards can be a nuclear physicist, then Shannon Elizabeth can certainly be a computer hacker.

GoldenEye. It changed console first person shooters forever. Every Bond game since its arrival is inevitably compared to the game and competed against it. It has been both a blessing and a curse to its star and genre since its release. Blah, blah, blah. We all know the story. There's no need to go slogging through it again. Except this time the newest Bond game is not a first person shooter. This time it's different.

This time EA has decided to develop the game themselves and are pulling out all the stops when it comes to creating the ultimate Bond presentation. Like NightFire, Pierce Brosnan and John Cleese will once again be lending their British vocals to James Bond and Q. But EA has also gone the extra mile by signing Judi Dench as M, and they managed to get Richard Kiel to don the metal mouth one more time as Jaws. We'll forget the fact that Jaws was last seen in Moonraker, renouncing his criminal past and settling down with the pigtail girl. In fact, let's forget Moonraker completely (except for Q screaming out "I think he's attempting re-entry!", that's classic). So EA has the standard Bond cast down, and they've decided to populate the rest of the game with more big names. Willem Dafoe provides the voice of this game's arch villain, Nikolai Diavolo. Shannon Elizabeth plays computer hacker Serena St. Germaine. And Heidi Klum joins in as Diavolo's assistant, Katya Nadanova. Each actor will also have their likeness scanned into the game to provide a true cinematic experience. The game's story and dialogue are also being written by Bruce Feirstein, the screenwriter behind GoldenEye, Tomorrow Never Dies, and The World is Not Enough.

But the biggest reason why this James Bond entry is different this time is that Everything or Nothing is the first Bond game to deviate from the first person shooter genre. It will be a third person action game that will focus on the stealth elements of James Bond, opening up a whole new array of hand-to-hand combat moves. Even with all these changes, some things will remain the same. Q Branch gadgets will naturally be a large part of the game and vehicle levels designed by the Need For Speed team will once again make their presence known. Roughly eight of the game's twenty plus levels will involve vehicles of some kind, with this game's stock including a Russian tank, hovercrafts, a helicopter, a Triumph motorcycle, and the Vanquish from Die Another Day. Each of these vehicles will be armed to the hilt, and with the previous vehicle levels in Bond games, I'm sure these levels will not disappoint.

The game's new focus on hand-to-hand combat should give Bond fans plenty of new thrills as well. EA's flagship scene so far in Everything or Nothing shows Bond rappelling down the side of a building dodging fire from Diavolo's men as he shoots back. This scene ends with a huge battle on a platform as Bond uses his Double 0 training to fight off his attackers one by one. EA has also said that in addition to guns and fists, Bond will have the ability to pick up almost any object to use as a weapon against the henchmen. This new fighting system will show a more faithful trait to the movies' portrayal of Bond's fighting style, and should fit in well with the stealth movements EA says the game will require.

Visually, the game is looking very impressive. The character models especially seem to fit very well with the actors they are based on. And to match the cinematic look of the characters, EA is adding in a new feature known as the "Bond Zone." Much like "Bullet Time," a press of the Bond Zone button will slow the action down so that James can dive behind a table to avoid enemy fire or zero in on an enemy's head to show off that perfect 007 marksmanship. While all of this is happening, the camera twists and turns to create a movie style effect. This feature should be a nice companion to the Bond Moves bonus system that is currently set to make a third appearance in the series. Rounding out the package, EA has said Everything or Nothing will also include a two-player cooperative mode and a four-player deathmatch mode that will not be split-screen, but rather will place every character on a single screen -- which should be interesting to say the least.