From Russia With Love Preview

Secret agent 007 has been enjoying a renaissance of sorts with Electronic Arts' recent games starring the venerable spy. Last year's Everything or Nothing marked a breakthrough for the franchise, as the third-person action game's mix of gameplay styles struck a chord with critics and consumers. For its follow-up, EA is taking a page from Bond history and serving up a game based on one of the best films in the film franchise, From Russia With Love. We've seen the game on and off over the past few months and have been pleased by the promise it has showed. Our latest exclusive look allowed us to see if EA will be lucky enough to have lightning strike a second time.

Given that From Russia With Love is based on a film that's been around for a few decades, the team obtained the blessing of Ian Fleming's estate (author of the novels that introduced Bond to the world) to expand on the story a bit. Even if you're familiar with the novel and the film, the upcoming game will still feature some new bits for you to enjoy. It will feature a new opening for the story, a modified middle section, and a new ending that will contain a twist to the denouement. You'll also encounter new characters that are going to be integrated into the narrative. Although you might think that any kind of tinkering with a classic story would come across as awkward, the additions aren't obtrusive and they fit well.

The structure follows the same linear, objective-based style as its predecessor, although there's a good deal more to do this time because of the smart design work. You'll go into each level with a set of objectives to complete, and in some cases this list will change on the fly depending on what's going on. As you complete your objectives, you'll have the opportunity to nail extra tasks, such as trigger "Bond moments," which have you performing a particularly cool move at the right place in a level or finding hidden items or pickups. Research points are something you'll want to collect, and you'll earn these by taking out enemies in specific ways. The points will let you customize your weapons by adjusting their firing speed, ammo capacity, and the like, which will have a dramatic effect on how you go through the game.

Bond's move set has been expanded, due in part to the team's desire to build on the work done in Everything or Nothing, and because Connery's Bond has a very unique style. The end result is a good mix of old and new moves that wind up offering a very satisfying array of options as you beat fools up. Besides your standard shooting mechanic, which has been buffed up thanks to an enhanced focus mode, you'll be able to perform some slick melee-based takedowns. When you're not beating your foes on foot, you'll find yourself tearing through the streets in a tricked-out car, or zipping around with your own jetpack. The game manages to dole out these opportunities smartly, which results in better pacing for the whole experience and quite a bit more fun.

Besides the single-player game, there are offline multiplayer modes that support split-screen. While we've been disappointed to see the game lack online play options, the offline game features enough content to satisfy. The ability to customize your Bond ends up offering a degree of unpredictability to the experience, which keeps things fresh, as it's doubtful everyone will spec their Bonds in quite the same way.

The visuals are top-notch, thanks to a new graphics engine that retains the best elements of its predecessor and expands on them (in some cases, exponentially). Bond and the core cast of characters all look fantastic, with Sir Connery having the best photo-realistic look of the bunch. The secondary non-player characters and assorted grunts don't look quite as sharp, but they're still fetching. The environments are impressive due to the technical merits of the engine, which pumps out large, detailed, and destructible environments. The locales are also notable, thanks to a keen attention to detail that nails the look of the film. From a performance standpoint, the game hums along at a steady clip, even in its current work-in-progress state. There are still occasional inconsistencies in performance, but nothing terrible.

The audio is on par with the cracking visuals, due to the impressive work across voice, sound effects, and the soundtrack. The voice work comes with a stacked deck, thanks to the presence of Sir Sean Connery, who voices his virtual alter ego with the grit that made his take on Bond so popular. The rest of the supporting cast is on point, although not quite as awesome as Connery. The sound effects are a nifty collection of gunfire, explosions, and ambient noises that nail the feel of the film. Finally, the game's soundtrack makes good use of original tunes and the classic Bond themes we all know and love.

Based on what we played, From Russia With Love is hitting all the right notes for it to carry the momentum forward that was started by Everything or Nothing. The game is fun, it looks good, and it has Sean Connery, which should be just what the doctor ordered for action fans and Bond aficionados. While we obviously would have liked to have seen an online multiplayer component to the game, the offline options appear to be solid enough to get by. From Russia With Love is currently slated to ship next month for the GameCube, PlayStation 2, and Xbox. Look for our final review of the game then.