Ever since the success of Goldeneye, many James Bond game have tried to piggyback on it and create a new genre defining game. Tried and failed. Clumsy controls, lackluster graphics, and a fun factor of a paper cut have all been obsticles that these game had never been able to overcome; except now. James Bond: Everything or Nothing combines all the the right elements of a good game to finally challenge Goldeneye for it's title of "Best Bond game". For one thing, the controls are tightened and actually useable this time around. You move and look around with the anolog sticks, aim with L1, shoot with R1, duck with L2 and flatten yourself against walls with R2. Simple, but effective. The aiming system is also redefined for more shooting control: Holding L1 will bring up a target wuith a red dot in the middle. You can move this dot with the right anolog stick to choose where exactly you want to shoot. Sometimes this is too easy, but it propels you into the Bond universe and gives you a sense that this is actually how he shoots. The close quarters system for hand to hand combat is also redone and very effective in small places. You use the circle and triangle button to use offensive buttons and holds to down your opponent. The square button is used to counter attacks and turn them into offensive attacks. Simple, but yet again effective. The controls as well as all of the gameplay mechanics make EoN a fun game to play. Something that really stands out in this game is the voice acting and the star studded roster to back it up. Peirce Brosnan finally supplies his vocal talents for the game and does a great job as usual. Backing him up is the supermodel Hedi Klum, John Cleese, Willem Defoe, and singer Mya. All of them turn in a great proformance and really help this game maintain it's movie-style feel. The guns all sound as if they were taken from a movie which helps convay the realism. The random enemy dying sound is a little overdone in a few places as most people should scream after being shot in the head, but it does the job. Graphically Everything or Nothing does the job. All of the main characters are modelled after their real life counter part and all of the enviroment are realistic. The explosions are some of the best done on the PS2 to date. A nice effect on this game is when you are killed, the game slows down and it shows the bullet enter your body. It helps you out when you're trying to figure out where all the baddies are coming from. It's also a neat effect when it goes into a slow blur when you nail an effective hand-to-hand move. Little movie like details like that really help the game achive what it tries to do. So in the end, all of the elements of a good action game come together to make an enjoyable game in the same veins of Goldeneye. If you see this game for cheap, I throughly recommend it to anyone with even a slight intrest in it.
Other Helpful Reviews for James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing
The Good: Presentation is quite solid; Aston Martins, Heidi Klum, Willem Dafoe as the villain - this could've been turned into a film; Good mix of action; Has it's own theme song by Mya - just like being in a Bond movie... Read Full Review
I bought this game expecting it to be a fun spy game that would have a short story line and many James Bond picking-up-women moments. Boy, was I wrong! Stealth coupled with shoot-em-up moments makes for a perfect combina... Read Full Review
