When I first bought this game, I was expecting disappointment. EA's last Bond title, Goldeneye: Rogue Agent, failed to impress me and overall I was dissatisfied. However, Everything or Nothing marks a turningpoint in Bond game history that I'd have liked to see be improved on.
The gameplay in this game is top-notch. Shooting enemies is simple and satisfying, due to the innovative (or maybe not) lock-on system. Within a few hours, you'll be able to pop off enemies and create moments that look ripped right from a Bond movie. A key gameplay feature is the Bond Sense. The directional buttons will bring you to the weapon select menu, which will rest at the bottom of the screen. Meanwhile, the game screen tints blue and goes in super-slow motion. Bond can look around and pinpoint key things such as a Guard's status (health and awareness), shootable and throwable objects, etc.
A little-known thing is something that people call "Bond Sense shooting". Essentially, Bond sense shooting is like a manual version of the Mark and Execute system in the upcoming Splinter Cell: Conviction. It allows Bond to pop off multiple enemies in rapid succession on the fly, in a matter of a second in-game. Basically, you lock on to an enemy, headshot him, go into bond sense, target the next enemy (albeit strategically), headshot, etc. It sounds unimpressive but in execution, it looks cool and feels incredibly badass.
While this is a Bond game, one thing I noticed is an absence of stealth as a serious option. Yes, you can sneak around and kill people without anyone noticing, but it's impossible to go a whole level without being seen. Eventually, there will be a part where rappel guards jump in and everything turns into an epic firefight. I'd equate it to Uncharted 2's stealth system. It's there, but don't rely on it for the whole time.
Bond controls exceptionally well. The controls work well and are incredibly fluid, and the aforementioned lock-on system makes moving, rolling, covering and shooting a breeze. Bond's moveset is not limited at all, and he will be able to do various rolls, cover manuevers, and fighting moves.
The hand-to-hand combat system is new, and a welcome addition. The Square and Triangle buttons handle punches, and while it may seem incredibly simple, pressing the two simultaneously will allow Bond to do a neat-looking takedown move that will instantly disable the enemy.
I wish the fighting system were a bit more polished, though. I found it possible to run up to a guy, press Square and Triangle simultaneously, and immediately tackle him and throw him over my shoulders, killing him instantly. It's not hard to pull off and it feels a bit cheap, but sometimes hand to hand combat can dock you a bit of health, so it's not completely biased towards Bond.
The mission types are great fun and incredibly varied. You'll find yourself in epic firefights, behind the wheel of tanks, motorcycles, helicopters, you name it. Once you complete a mission on 00 Agent difficulty, you can choose to complete Platinum challenges which will unlock cheats (Golden Gun, Infinite Ammo, Infinite Battery, etc.). I usually find things like this to be gimmicky and boring but the Platinum objectives are so fun and challenging that it's very much worth going for them. Just to give you a general taste, Platinum challenges usually involve going through a level in an alloted time limit, or without taking damage or using any ammo.
The graphics are very good. Not Splinter Cell, but good. Models look great, textures are decent res, and shadows are present as opposed to the cheap "dark circle on the ground" trick that some devs try to pull. Animations flow beautifully together and there is high attention to detail, especially present in the driving segments.
The voice acting is top-notch. Pierce Brosnan, Willem Dafoe, Judi Dench, and John Cleese all provide a voice cast that is indistinguishable from their performance in the movies. The bad guys communicate with each other and sound like stereotypical Bond henchmen.
Overall, this is one of the best action games on the PS2. I'd highly recommend it, especially to fans of the series. Make no mistake; this game makes you feel like James Bond.
(Replay Value: High)Get more detail about
James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing.
