007: Everything or Nothing

[Sharpe]

Intrigued by the reviews, I bought this for the XBox and its a pretty enjoyable experience so far. It's a 3rd person action game, with shooting and stealth, and driving, and Bond gadgets (and some fairly cool rappelling action). Its hard to describe exactly but the overall experience is like playing a Bond movie. I doubt that it will considered a very good shooter, or a very good driving game, etc. But overall it has a lot of atmosphere. It has a big name cast with the likenesses and voices of Pierce Brosnan, Willem Dafoe, Heidi Klum, John Cleese, Judi Densch and so forth.

On the downside I've heard its very very short, and b/c of EA's idiocy it doesnt have online multiplayer for the XBox. And some of the gameplay is of the "try it one, die, try it again" school. But the coolness factor is extremely high.

Has anyone else tried this? Doesn't seem to be much buzz on it but I have to say its pretty cool.

Dan

[Michael Fitch]

Greetings:
I played it for a while yesterday. I agree that they do a good job of capturing the "play a Bond movie" feel, particularly on the front end. The farther I got into the game, though, the more obvious it became to me that each level is just a series of hoops you have to jump through, and since you have to start each level over from the beginning if you fail, that got really tired.

It's definitely worth taking a look at; I think it might be a better rental than a purchase, since you can play it all in a weekend, and the unlockable stuff is fairly trivial unless you're a hardcore Bond fanatic.

It has been nice to see that the Bond franchise is improving. Nightfire was a lot better than Agent Under Fire, imo, and Everything or Nothing fixes a lot of problems that Nightfire had--thank god they finally got the save/skip timing right on storytelling cinematics.

For what it's worth.

Michael.

[Dirt]

It would be tres cool if they offered different skins so you could also play as the Connery Bond and Moore Bond.

[Union Carbide]

MGM is fairly strict with their licensing for the Bond games. I don't remember a lot of the rules, but the two that I DO remember are that there can only be one Bond (so no Bond in multiplayer), and that Bond does not kill enemies, he subdues them.

EDIT: Oh, I picked it up on wednesday and played through the first couple of missions. I like how it drops you right into the thick of the action on the first mission, but in a position where you are momentarily safe, then gives you the tutorial popups as you fight.

Oh, and Shannon Elizabeth is stunning. :shock:

[dannimal]

Bond does not kill enemies? Do they watch the movies? Do they not realize he has a LICENSE TO KILL?

[Sharpe]

I'm pretty sure the new Pierce-Brosnany-Bond does kill people. I sure killed the hell out of a lot of dudes in the levels of Everything or Nothing I've played so far. Not just with weapons but with neck snapping too. Some of the neck-snapping is pretty graphic.

I've completed the two tutorial levels, all 4 of the Egypt levels, and the first South America level. Still enjoyable, although the gameplay is a bit thin. Its a game that gets by on atmosphere and a fairly clean set of controls, with pretty damn impressive graphics, especially in the driving missions.

I have to say the first driving mission with the motorcycle in Egypt is out-freaking-standing.

Dan

[Schplamm]

Bond has always killed the bad guys - he's got a license to kill, ya know? And he *always* offs the head baddie, most of the time in some crazy-yet-humorous way (although it has varied somewhat from movie to movie).

I think UC was talking about the no blood/limbs rule - mow 'em down with whatever means you have at your disposal, just don't show blood when the bullets/grenades/whatever hit, no exit wounds and no limbs and/or pieces-parts flying - the equivalent of a Teen rating in our world.

>>>>I have to say the first driving mission with the motorcycle in Egypt is out-freaking-standing.

I agree. The driving levels in this title are superb and the real highlight. Heck, I wouldn't mind of the whole game revolved around the driving. It's like Stuntman done right (with MGs and RLs).

You know that you can play that mission with a car as well? While on foot, go left instead of right when you start the mission.

Cheers,
Con@Atari

[Union Carbide]

Oh, sure, it may LOOK like he's killing lots of people, but check your stats at the end of the level. Yep. He subdued em all. :roll:

The licensing rule just says you have to call it subduing instead of killing.

[yossarian]

James Bond in License To Subdue.
Out this March.

[TomChick]

MGM is fairly strict with their licensing for the Bond games. I don't remember a lot of the rules, but the two that I DO remember are that there can only be one Bond (so no Bond in multiplayer), and that Bond does not kill enemies, he subdues them.

Are you sure about this, Union Carbide? You do have special insight into the matter, but this doesn't sound right. I know MGM is pretty strict with the license, but this sounds like one of those urban legends like Wal-Mart not selling M-rated games (which they certainly do and always have).

I seem to recall a recent Bond game on the 'cube (Agent Under Fire?) in which multiple players could choose Bond models for some hot Bond-on-Bond action. And I don't recall the game ever trying to imply that the people you shot weren't killed.

-Tom

[Union Carbide]

We had to change the readme file for the patch for the PC version of Nightfire to change "kill" to "subdue", so yeah, I'm fairly sure.

I also think the only one Bond thing is a relatively new restriction, it may have first appeared in Nightfire.

[synic]

James Bond in License To Subdue.
Out this March.

Hehe :lol:

Just makes Bond seem like a big "pacifist" doesn't it? Yeesh.

Glad to hear they made a Bond game finally since Goldeneye that doesn't suck.

[Gary Whitta]

Just started with this. Definitely the best Bond game to date, particularly in capturing the "play the movie" sense -- it's the first game that's really captured the style and overall feel of the Bond films.

Nice mix of gameplay so far -- it was probably a smart move to go directly after the MGS market -- and the flying/driving stuff is fun too.

I'm impressed that they got so many key players to take part (Brosnan, Cleese, Dench, etc) and the cinematics and dialog are surprisingly good. I was tickled when mention was made of Max Zorin and Bond said: "Yes, I remember him. We played Bridge together once. He lost." Nice little nugget for the Bond fans there.

[Sharpe]

I am still enjoying this, in a very casual way - I tend to play a bit of it every so often when I want a Bond fix. The gameplay itself becomes fairly weak (primarily you need to figure out the paint by numbers approach - step here, kill that, duck here, so on). However the Bond style factor continues strong throughout, and as I learn the missions I may find myself replaying certain missions simply to enjoy the ambiance :0.

I'm on the New Orleans missions now, and I have to say the graphics on the driving missions in New Orleans are outstanding - they really make that Aston Marten look great.

Its only a mediocre *game* IMO but its a pretty good entertainment nonetheless. Recommended for Bond fans.

Dan

[Jazar]

What I'm amazed with is how much fun the coop is. It has competely different levels that encourage actual cooperation in order to complete them. There are also challenges within each level to increase replayability.

[Sunny the Unemployed]

I'm really quite torn about this one. On one hand, it's one of the better Bond games released in years (let's not forget Goldeneye). The visuals are good, the authentic voice acting is a huge plus, and the game mechanics are fairly sound. On the surface, I really want to like this game. It has some great moments. But it also has:

1) Excessive amounts of scripting. You can scout ahead with your little spider bots, but it really won't do any good. Much of the time the bad guys only spawn when Bond moves into the area. This sort of design also makes it so that your ass is always ambushed or taken unawares no matter how careful or stealthy you are.

2) Bond Moments are cool in concept, but the weird Bond Vision used to spot them is dumb. I'm tired of constantly pausing the game to see if I can shoot a crate or barrel. Perhaps if they made this more dynamic ala Max Payne/Matrix bullet time it wouldn't feel so disruptive.

3) Awkward camera angles. I've been shot in the back one too many times. God help you if you're flush against a wall looking around a corner and an enemy comes running behind you. Note to designers....spawning enemies behind the player, especially with high powered weapons like shotguns, is stupid and annoying. People don't like having to look behind them every thirty seconds to avoid restarting the mission because some enemy will come shoot them in the back of the head. The fact that most of this is scripted is just salt in the wound.

4) The thermal vision is terrible. Although the enemies are clearly marked in a rainbow of color, everything else turns blue! It's almost impossible to navigate because you can't see any details. I'll concede that it may be my television screen, but still...

5) I almost never get to use the personal cloak because I can't find enough batteries.

6) The New Orleans cityscape is laughable in its authenticity. But it was cool to have a mission on the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway. That was pretty awesome. I always think it's cool when my home town pops up in a game.

7) I played the Coop mode a bit, and was a little underwhelmed by the run-n-gun gameplay. It can also be frustratingly hard at times, and I can't find a way to turn off friendly fire.

Anyways, it's a solid game when it comes down to it. Maybe not a purchase, but definitely a good rental to pass the time.

[Jason Becker]

The Everything or Nothing title is a pretty good description. One level you might get through in 5 minutes on the first try, then the next you have to try 5 or more times to get all the parts right. The skydive level is a cool idea but was really frustrating to complete. The problem with that style of design is the level is cool if you get through it without to much trouble and enjoy the bond style action but if you have to repeat it a half dozen times its no longer fun.

[gnmarsh]

the motorcycle chase on the highway was amazing. I do think this game is hard though, and not in a good way. The way lock on is done is incredibly annoying.

[MattKeil]

And by "annoying," I assume you mean "totally non-functional." I can't count the number of times I've gotten my ass killed because some guy behind me was shooting me in the head and the lock on just would not acknowledge his presence until I had him dead center in my viewfinder. And damn, Bond turns slow.

Close, but no cigar. I'm hoping for the next one that they keep the same level of production, but maybe make the third-person sequences playable without some cheap-ass autolock solution. If Brute Force and Armed & Dangerous can do it, Bond can do it.

The driving missions are pretty awesome, though. I suspect the NFS team(s) must have had some input there.

[Jason Becker]

The driving missions are pretty awesome, though. I suspect the NFS team(s) must have had some input there.


They made the driving parts.

[tromik]

On the downside I've heard its very very short, and b/c of EA's idiocy it doesnt have online multiplayer for the XBox.

http://www.penny-arcade.com/images/2003/20031105l.gif