The best Bond game in years...
Ever since the release of Goldeneye in 1997 for the N64, Bond games have had raised expectations in the eyes of many gamers. Unfortunately titles like Agent Under Fire and Nightfire were mediocre at best, doing nothing new in terms of gameplay and boiling down to rehashes of the genre. That’s why Everything or Nothing comes as a pleasant surprise and because it dares to stray from the classic 007 formula, is one of the best Bond games to date.
Everything or Nothing continues the next-gen trend of being independent from the 007 films but from the production quality of EA you’d barely know the difference. The premise of Everything sees a former KGB agent steal secret nano-bot technology and use it to attempt to take over the world, one country at a time. Of course it’s up to Bond to stop him and that’s where you come in, controlling the international super spy to once again save the globe. The story really could be worthy of a Bond film and even I had a hard time convincing some people that this game was not based on an upcoming Bond film.
One of the first things you’ll notice is the departure from first person mode; Bond has moved to the third person scene and EA has given us a near flawless transition. As you move Bond around the levels, 27 of them to be exact, you will need to utilize forms of cover to protect him from enemy fire; make no mistakes, running through the level guns blazing will usually result in you getting killed, even in the normal (Agent) difficulty mode. Everything or Nothing changes the run-n-gun formula from past 007 titles and puts the emphasis on pacing and strategy. This is made easy by including two features; crouching will enable you to hide behind boxes or low-lying pipes and the wall-hugging feature will allow you to straddle the wall and use the camera to peek around corners.
While covered you can use the game’s lock-on system to track enemy guards and subsequently take them out. Sometimes, however, targetable objects will get in the way of enemies and instead of aiming at a guard you are aiming at a computer screen or empty crate. This is usually enough time for said guard to round the corner and give you some well-placed buckshot to the belly. The targeting system doesn’t always target the closest guard either, sometimes when an enemy is charging it will lock on a foe in the background, resulting in you taking damage. It’s not a major problem but it is still frustrating at times when spare body armor is at a minimum. This targeting system is enhanced though by the newly-introduced “Bond Sense” mode which, once activated, puts the game into super-slow motion and reveals interactive objects like shootable barrels and throwable items which you can use to your advantage. Bond can also quickly scroll through his weapons in this mode but cannot move so anything headed your way will most likely hit you if you aren’t aware.
As expected in any shooter there are the guns to which complete your objectives. Everything features nine weapons of low destruction, all different and having a role. Sniper rifles, sub-machine guns, shotguns, rocket launchers, and pistols are there so that every type of player can feel satisfied. Some weapons have decreased effectiveness at longer ranges however and the amount of ammo that can be carried is limited; you’ll sometimes find yourself with nothing left but your fists, which is fine thanks to Everything’s new hand-to-hand combat system. Bond can now attack, execute throw moves, action roll, and even blunt an attacker’s moves with the new system. If you absolutely must use a weapon you can scour the level for usable objects like liquor bottles, metal pipes, crowbars, and wrenches to make ends meet. The controls for the combat system seem slightly sluggish, more often than not pressing the two buttons required to perform a throw won’t register and you’ll take a punch to the gut before getting in your retribution. This is minor however and doesn’t really take that much away from an otherwise solid gameplay element.
Weapons aren’t the only element to a super spy however and Bond has a plethora of gadgets to use. Climbing and descending from place to place is made all the easier with Bond’s rappel device and should you encounter a sticky situation you can always disappear with the nano-suit which renders Bond invisible, provided his battery has enough power. For those of you with an explosive personality Bond is also equipped with a few variations of the standard grenade; fragmentation for those pesky infantry types, EMP to disable nearby electronics, and strobe to blind any of your adversaries. If you should happen to be blinded by any low-lighting you can just throw on your thermovision which enables you to see heat signatures of objects around you; perfect when the lights have gone out or later in the game when you come across enemies dawning pesky nano-suits of their own. By far the most quirky of all the gadgets would have to be the Q-spider, a deployable drone that can cloak and be used for recon, prick enemies with a dart to knock them out, or even explode to open a secret area or just send enemies flying across the room.
For you guys wondering about vehicles, Everything features multiple cars, a motorcycle, and helicopter for you to mess around with. The vehicle missions help flesh the game out and provide a welcome change after the long and often nail-biting, on-foot missions. The cars feature the standard Bond compliment of rockets, machine guns, and bumper-spewing acid to slow down baddies behind you. The helicopter lets you launch rockets, bombs, and missile-absorbing flares. While both of these vehicles are fun, the motorcycle is the one I had the most fun with by far. Featuring rockets, side-mounted flamethrowers, and a handy dandy shotgun to reach out and touch someone with, the Trident Daytona 600 is one badass bike. There should be a law against getting the amount of satisfaction I got when taking a shotgun to the enemy bikers. The vehicles all handle and control decently but the bikes controls seem almost too tight and can cause maneuvering problems at greater speeds. The three cars you get to drive all can stop on a dime but when all is said and done, how many of you actually care about the reality of the physics in a game like this? Ultimately EA did an excellent job of making the vehicles fun to use.
The AI is impressive and will give you a run for your money. In the lower difficulty, even occasionally in the mid-range agent mode, you’ll be able to set up kill zones on some levels. Watch out though because the enemy can be incredibly tricky and will flank you to get the kill. Enemies are incredibly accurate at closer ranges and you’ll be begging for more body armor in the later half of the game. Don’t expect enemies to stand idly by either, they’ll duck behind boxes and blindly fire their weapons to score a cheap hit or two. Waiting behind boxes for any length of time will usually see a grenade or two thrown your way with incredible precision. Especially on 00 Agent difficulty, the AI may just humble you.
After you’ve played around in single player you might want to check out the game’s multiplayer options as well. Featuring a dozen co-op levels that you and a friend can play, this brings, at a minimum, two hours more gameplay in addition to the basic 10-15 hours you get from the single player element. If finishing the co-op levels to completion isn’t enough you can also race to see how fast you can do it and even compete with your fellow agent to see who can score the highest in one of multiple categories. There is also an arena mode which lets up to four players battle it out in a small level in what can best be described as Wrestlemania with booby-traps and heavy weapons.
EA gave Everything an entirely new graphics engine and it is a beauty. Characters, weapons, and levels are all textured with a generous amount of detail. Even in thermovision mode you can still clearly make out each individual character’s face. Levels are varied and rarely have the same layouts and designs. Bullets leave incredible looking sparks and the fire is some of the most realistic to date in any engine. Surprisingly, with this amount of graphical goodness, the frame rate rarely drops; even in multiplayer co-op mode with over half a dozen enemies on the screen. Graphic junkies won’t be let down at all.
Sound is handled superbly in the game, the voice quality is top notch as the game features the voices of the actors from the Bond series itself; Judi Dench, John Cleese, and Pierce Brosnan Shannon Elizabeth, Willem Dafoe, and Heidi Klum lend their voices, and likenesses, to their characters and help immerse the game in an atmosphere fit for a Bond movie. The title song is performed by R&B starlet Mya and is reminiscent of past Bond theme The World is Not Enough. Besides the voice talent the sound effects are all ace as well. Each gun sounds realistic and hearing the Q-spider’s tiny metal legs clink on the floor as it moves is a joy. In hand to hand combat you’ll hear each bone shattering punch to the face and when you hit someone in the gut you can hear, almost even feel, their pain.
Overall, Everything or Nothing is a welcome addition to the 007 library of games. It takes the series in an entirely new direction and is refreshing in its approach. This game sets the bar for future Bond games just as Goldeneye did some seven years ago. Fans of action games will definitely not be disappointed with it and is a must buy for any Bond fan.