User Rating: 8.6 | James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing XBOX
The past few years that EA has had control of the Bond license they’ve never really been able to put out a game that really felt like a Bond movie or that could compete with Rare’s N64 classic Goldeneye. But finally with Everything or Nothing they’ve got their act together. You could even say that Everything or Nothing is the best bond game out there. The last couple of Bond games they've come out have been played from the first person perspective which EA has decided reduces Bond to a faceless hero, so they’ve gone with a third-person viewpoint this time. Which makes since cause if they’re going to make this dude look like Pierce Brosnan we might as well get to see him. This might worry a few of you since the disastrous Tomorrow Never Dies was played from the third person, but rest assured this game is much much better. Bond is capable of some pretty good spy moves. He can hug up against a wall and shoot around corners, duck behind boxes or crates to shoot from cover, and has a roll move (like Snake in MGS2). The game also has a nice hand to hand combat engine. Bond has some cool punch kick combos, can throw enemies and will attack whichever enemy is around him, which gives it a more cinematic look. You could also pick up objects such as glass bottles or tools to bash enemies with. The guns are pretty cool too, there’s a good variety and Bond locks onto his enemies and inside the lock on circle there’s a targeting dot that you can move around. Sometimes this makes things easy as you can just lock on and point up to get a quick headshot in. You’ll also be doing some driving in the game and sometimes you’ll even get to pick which vehicle you want to use. Bond’s got a motorcycle, a Porche, and an Astin Martin V12 Vanquish (the rather awesome car from the 20th Bond film, Die Another Day). All the vehicles are armed with what you’d expect a 00 agent’s car to be armed with: missiles, machine gun, a cloaking device, and some others. The driving levels for the most part handle pretty well, one has you flying down a highway on a motorcycle and it’s pretty intense when the thing is at top speed. Bond’s also got some cool gadgets such as a rappel gun, camo suit, and remote control spiders, which can be used to take out unsuspecting guards. Graphically the game looks pretty great. The models for Bond, Q, M, and Nicolai look very much like their real life counter parts. The landscapes are pretty exotic too. From piloting a helicopter through ancient ruins to driving a tank through Moscow the locales really make it feel like a Bond film. There’s also some “Bond moments” that you can pull off like shooting out a bridge or destroying the interior of a building with your tank, and most often these moves are quite breath-taking with great looking explosions and debris flying around. This game also sounds really great. What helps the most is that Pierce Brosnan, John Cleese, Judi Dench, and Willem Dafoe all lend their voices to their characters. Why Willem Dafoe hasn’t been a villain in a Bond movie yet I don’t know, he’s absolutely perfect for a bad guy. Shannon Elizabeth, Heidi Klum, and Mya (whom also does the game’s opening theme song) also lend their likeness and voices to the game, but they really don’t do as good a job as the others, oh well, better to have annoying actresses in a game rather than an actual Bond movie. The beautiful Misaki Ito plays Ms. Nagai, Q’s assistant, she’s much better looking and sounding than the other three ladies, I’d rather they’d given her a bigger part in the game and made Elizabeth Q’s assistant. Though you won’t hear much from him Richard Kiel does portray Jaws, the classic henchman from the Roger Moore films. The game’s music also sounds good. You’ll hear the Bond theme, but they don’t over use it, like say they did in Agent Under Fire. As they’ve been doing the past few games they’ve created an original Bond storyline instead of basing off one of the films, although the bad guy this time is a protégé of Max Zorin, the villain from A View to a Kill. While the story isn’t anything grand or epic it is good and is comparable to many of the Bond movies. There’s also a good bit to unlock in EoN. After you beat a level on the 00 Agent difficulty you’re given the option to go through it again with an added objective (for example you might have to beat the level in a certain time) to get a Platinum medal. Collecting Platinum medals unlocks cheats within the game; for example collecting three will net you a code enabling better traction for your car. There’s also a co-op multiplayer mode, however, it doesn’t have online play like the PS2 version. All right so it’s a good game. So it’s got great graphics and gameplay and about everything else. But of course whenever a new Bond game comes out you have to ask “How does it compare to Goldeneye?” The answer is yes and no. As a game overall Goldeneye is probably better, it’s a classic FPS with lots of weapons, stages, and mission objectives, not to mention it’s stellar multiplayer. But which is the better James Bond game? That would have to be Everything or Nothing. It does a much better job of making you feel like you’re James Bond and capturing that movie feel. They’ve gotten the real life characters to portray themselves, have more varied missions that capture the many feats that Bond does, and has some cooler gadgetry. They just went all out and really made it feel like a Bond game. So if the last few games have left you shaken not stirred then you really ought to go give Everything or Nothing a try, it’s the best Bond game yet. 
