James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing for Xbox

If there is a franchise in need of fresh air, it's definitely the James Bond series. The movies have been boring and the games they've inspired recently have been just as lackluster. Electronic Arts has decided to revive the series through James Bond: Everything or Nothing; A game which is inspired by Bond but not based on any movie. Overall, it's a successful attempt but one that's not without it's flaws.

EA really attempts to create a Bond flick on it's own by writing a unique, albeit typical story for the world's favorite British superspy. EoN finds Bond trying to thwart the evil Nikolai Diavolo from unleashing nanotechnology upon the earth. As all Bond do, the game starts with a nice opening montage complete with song and naked girl. But what really adds weight to this production is the voice talent. Peirce Brosnan is, of course, Bond. John Cleese and Judi Dench reprise their roles as Q and M. Diavolo is played by Willem Defoe and Shannon Elizabeth and Heidi Klum lend their voices, as well as bodies for the roles of the vixens. Richard Kiel is even featured in his classic portrayal as Lockjaw. With such Hollywood stars, you can really feel the expenses that EA must have incurred in producing this game. But it is a game, and all that talent would go to waste if the game sucked. Thankfully, its doesn't.

Bond games have been traditionally a FPS which is great if you want to run and gun. But Bond never struck me as a guy that would get through situations by blasting everything that moves. Instead, Agent 007 is the kind of guy that relies on gadgets and stealth to accomplish his missions. So, to suit that style, EA has decided to use third person in EoN and does it rather well. Drawing heavily on Metal Gear and Splinter Cell titles, Bond now is a mixture of shooter and stealth. On foot, Bond can usually move through a level by simply blasting everyone in his path or sneak around, taking out guards with his silenced weapon or just breaking their neck from behind. 007 is aided by a couple of neat gadgets that feature prominently in the game. He's got a neat rappelling device that allows him to climb up or down walls in certain spots. At times, rappelling is necessary to get into areas but sometimes it allows you to obtain extra armor, weapons or find alternative paths through a level. I also enjoy the spider: it's basically a mechanical spider that's able to scout ahead for you or, with a bomb attached, take out enemies.

Bond wouldn't be Bond without cool vehicles to ride around in however. In certain missions, you're required to drive around in a Porsche, Aston Martin and even a motorcycle. Of course, these vehicles are equipped with guns and rocket launchers. I can't say I was a big fan of the vehicle missions in this game. Something about them felt incomplete. The controls aren't that tight for the vehicles so I found myself crashing into things a lot.

Speaking of controls, I found the targeting system maddening. Bond can lock on to targets. This helps when you're pressed against a corner and need to shoot enemies taking cover. What I did like was the fact that once you lock on to a target, you can use a little red dot to place your shots precisely. That way, when an enemy pops his head up, you can be sure to get him in the forehead. Yet the targeting system frequently locks on to enemies that don't pose an imminent threat while passing over people that are actually shooting you. It's a bit like the GTA targeting system and I've often died because I wasn't shooting at the right person. In addition the camera is kind of flawed. Enemies will be outside of the viewer range, sometimes behind you and sometimes above you and you won't be able to lock on to them. EA really needed to develop a system where you can use the system but also fight enemies that you haven't locked on to.

But those are my two chief complaints about the game. Otherwise, I found the graphics to be quite nice but not remarkable. The sound is pretty solid but again, nothing special. I would recommend Everything or Nothing as a rental. It's the kind of game you can finish in a week or two so it's not worth the expense of actually purchasing the title.