It is very true to the bond franchise, and actually makes you feel like Bond. Plus, it is cool to see Connery in a game.
From Russia With Love, for those of you who don't know, was actually the second ever bond film released back in the 60's (I wasn't even close to being born then just to clarify). It was also the second to feature Sean Connery as secret agent 007. I'm sure there aren't too many gamers that were around then while Connery was all the rage, but even if you are a young bond fan like myself, you should have a great deal of respect for the man. It is great to see that EA has made him so perfectly in the game, and believe me, his face looks perfectly spot on. probably even better than the Pierce Brosnan model in Everything Or Nothing, even though that was very impressive as well. Anyway, they actually got Sean Connery to do the voice work over again, and even though he does sound rather old, I'm sure that was never really the point anyway.
I have seen the actual film myself, and plan to get the DVD somewhere now since I can only slightly remember the movie. I remember he used to wear a hat in the film, which he doesn't wear in the game... I also remember a train scene of Connery slapping a woman around, which has obviously been removed from the game's story. Anyway, most of the scenery and music remains pretty true to the film, but naturally the entire game is really just a tribute to the whole classic series of 007. This means that you'll see some stuff that was never even in the movie. Like for example, the jet pack, which was never in the movie plays a very large role in the game, and the gadget itself was actually in Thunderball (another Connery 007 film). Also, the evil organization from the old films called SPECTRE is now called OCTOPUS... But it doesn't get to me, even though that organization played a big role in the classics so, it is weird that it got changed.
The graphics are actually quite great. Even though there are a few blurry textures from time to time, all the environments look pretty convincing and life like. Also, the 3D Connery just compliments all the scenery, making everything look better. The water also looks nice, and has a pretty nice realistic effect to it most of the time.
The thing that I really love about this game is the gameplay. At first it took me a while to adjust to it, but after a while, a rather long while, I was using the bond focus mode and everything very efficiently and it was a blast. You lock on to enemies with L and fire with R. This works quite well, but can be annoying when you lock onto the wrong person. Either way, it works, and the bond focus mode is pretty nice as well, and once you get the hang of it, you'll be using it in the middle of all the action with not a care in the world. You lock on with L, and then press B to enter the focus mode, a little yellow marker shows up on the opponent and you can fire at key points for a better score and a quicker kill. Sometimes there is a grenade on the enemies belt which can be shot off to kill a large group at once. All of it feels pretty true to bond, and very cool to do. You can also crouch with Z, which comes in handy. One of my favorite things is that you can hide up against a wall with Y. Once in this mode you can go back and forth of the wall and still aim at enemies and shoot with the same method while still keeping your cover. This is especially bond like, and very enjoyable.
The multiplayer is a nice feature to have, but it isn't as great as single player. There are some good characters, like Dr.No and Goldfinger. However, the most disappointing thing is that you can't be Bond, which they also did in Everything Or Nothing and really ticks me off. I mean, ever since Goldeneye 007 people have wanted to be Connery in MP, and now that he is in the game, they don't even let you be him in death matches. It can still be fun though, and definitely beats no MP at all. It has no bots just to let you know.
All in all, I really enjoyed From Russia With Love, and it makes me sad that just as EA is starting to make great Bond games, Activision gets the license... But, I guess we'll just have to wait and see what kind of Bond games Activision will make, and we'll probably have to adjust to Daniel Kraig as Bond in the games, which won't be bad, but I hope they make a game with every bond in an awesome MP. However, this game is great, and definitely cool that Connery finally got a good game.