James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing

Gameplay

The gameplay is a mix of third-person shooting/action sequences and vehicle sequences. In third-person missions, Bond can typically use cover, engage in hand-to-hand combat, use gadgets and perform some context-sensitive actions, while driving sequences primarily involve racing to a specific objective.

Plot

Opening in Tajikistan, Bond infiltrates a stronghold where an organization sells a stolen Soviet suitcase bomb. Opening fire and causing conflict, Bond uses the confusion to steal the device and escape.

The game then cuts to Bond detonating a research facility in Egypt, with the intent of destroying a nanobot stolen by terrorists that is capable of repairing damaged nuclear reactors without danger to humans. Rescuing its inventor, Dr. Katya Nadanova (Heidi Klum), Bond dispatches his captors, including Jaws (Richard Kiel). Unbeknownst to Bond, Nadanova then gives a vial of her nanobots to Nikolai Diavolo (Willem Dafoe), a former KGB agent with ties to Max Zorin.

Some time later, Bond is sent to investigate a Peruvian platinum mine, where agent 003 was last seen. Enlisting the aid of an American geologist, Serena St. Germaine (Shannon Elizabeth), Bond finds 003, only for Diavolo to mortally wound the latter; after 003 mentions New Orleans before dying, Bond rescues Serena and heads for America.

After NSA double agent Mya Starling (Mýa) is discovered, Bond rescues her and they track Diavolo's operations to an abandoned plantation in Louisiana; Bond discovers Diavolo has altered Nadanova's nanobots to eat through all metals but platinum. Destroying the laboratory, Bond finds a tanker of nanobots which is being driven by Jaws to the levees with the intent of flooding New Orleans. Bond destroys the truck before it can reach the levees, and returns to Peru.

Winning a race Diavolo holds, Bond finds he has captured Serena, allowing Diavolo to escape to the mines. After saving Serena, Bond reaches the mines, but is captured by Nadanova. Diavolo explains that he intends to use the nanobots to destroy the Kremlin and use his army of tanks, armored with platinum to make them immune to the nanobots, to control Russia, and then overthrow Europe. Tied in the path of a mining drill, Bond escapes his shackles and flees the mines in a helicopter piloted by Serena.

Following Diavolo to Moscow, Bond steals one of Diavolo's platinum tanks and uses it to prevent the release of the nanobots in Red Square and heads for a missile silo hidden under the Kremlin. Deactivating the nanotech missiles, Bond then shoots down a Soviet jet containing Diavolo and Nadanova, killing the latter. Ejecting from the jet, Diavolo reaches a control tower; Bond detonates it, but Diavolo reactivates a missile before falling to his death into the missile silo. Bond then destroys the missile as it launches, before kissing Serena outside the Kremlin.

Cast

Recurring characters:

Other characters:

Development

Everything or Nothing's game engine evolved from the engine used in Agent Under Fire. Like its predecessor, the driving sections were developed using a separate engine by EA Canada. The driving was based on the engine from Need for Speed.

For the first time in any James Bond game, Electronic Arts hired many actors to model the characters after, as well as their voice talents. In addition to Pierce Brosnan, Judi Dench and John Cleese reprised their roles from previous Bond films, the game features well-known actors Willem Dafoe, Shannon Elizabeth, Heidi Klum and Vladimir Cuk as well as actor Richard Kiel, who played Jaws in the classic 007 films. Everything or Nothing is also the second James Bond game to have its own original theme song but the first to be sung by a well-known singer: R&B artist Mýa, who also has a part as a Bond girl in the game.

Music

The game features a title song of the same name performed by Mýa, who also plays the character of the same name. It also has the distinction of being the only song from a James Bond video game that was performed live. A "jazzier" version was performed by Mýa on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

The in-game music was composed by composer Sean Callery, with additional music by Jeff Tymoschuk. Later in 2006, Electronic Arts published Callery's score appeared for sale exclusively on Rhapsody. Notably, the album does not include the main theme song "Everything or Nothing". "Everything or Nothing" is available to purchase on iTunes as a single; however its jazz and dance remixes are available only a rare CD single of "Everything or Nothing."

Reception

Everything or Nothing received positive reviews. Aggregating review websites GameRankings and Metacritic gave the PlayStation 2 version 84.75% and 84/100, the GameCube version 84.41% and 84/100, the Xbox version 83.10% and 83/100 and the Game Boy Advance version 69.58% and 73/100. GameSpot gave it an 8.8, calling it "a really great game, perhaps the best James Bond game ever made". IGN said "EA shakes things up and gives us a fresh new perspective on how good Bond can be."

However, some critics were not as impressed. UK gaming magazine Edge gave the game a 5/10, saying that "It's perhaps because the title benefits from such a high production spend, in fact, that the average design and execution becomes more pronounced."

Game Informer bemoaned the Game Boy Advance version's poor controls and awkward isometric camera, saying that "I’m not a big proponent of the isometric view, and marrying it to sloppy stealth-style gameplay only exacerbates the problem. It’s sort of hard to plan your next move when you can only see about 10 virtual feet in front of you, and as a result it’s usually easier to just run and gun your way through the levels."

Some publications were more favorable. GameSpot's review called it "A brief yet satisfying action game that faithfully captures the look and feel of a typical James Bond movie." Likewise, 1UP.com thought that the game as a whole was serviceable, save for how short it was, saying that "The only serious black mark on EoN is its length -- you can bulldoze through Bond's story in a few short hours, and the extra difficulty levels will likely not be enough to entice you to try again."

Even non-video game publications praised the game's feel. Maxim gave it a perfect ten and stated that players can "race through a shitstorm of artillery fire in a Porsche Cayenne Turbo (complete with “Q-cloak” invisibility feature) or missile-firing Triumph Daytona 600." The Times gave it all five stars and stated that "the over-the-shoulder style does allow for the seamless integration of glossy scenes to drive on the plot and add a more genuine movie-like feel to the game." The Cincinnati Enquirer gave it four-and-a-half stars out of five and called it "An ambitious but successful interactive adventure that blurs the lines between motion pictures and video games." Entertainment Weekly gave it a B+ and said, "Action addicts still get their share of mayhem, however, as EON delivers some spectacular levels, including a breakneck highway chase on a flamethrower-equipped motorcycle. Her Majesty would definitely approve." The Village Voice gave it a score of eight out of ten and said, "The seamless action—now presented in third person—is spit-shined and ever shifting."