EA's 'From Russia With Love' - The Best? What's Hot: With Pierce Brosnan out of the picture, Electronic Arts has decided to go retro with its upcoming James Bond title, From Russia with Love. Based on the film of the same name, the game recreates the classic 1960s Bond environment while adding several very special additions including reworked parts of the story, melee combat, precision aiming, an impressive character customization system, jetpacks, multiplayer support, and voice acting from the original Bond, Sean Connery! Currently in development for the Xbox, PS2, and GameCube, From Russia with Love may become EA's most celebrated Bond title yet. In-Depth Preview: To say that EA has mishandled the James Bond license is a huge understatement, especially considering the debacle that is the Nintendo DS version of Goldeneye. By now though, after several years of these decent games, something's got to give, because I don't understand why, with all of its money and talent, EA hasn't been able to capture the very simple magic of Rare's N64 hit, Goldeneye, the celebrated FPS that's nearly a decade old. However, Rogue Agent notwithstanding, the company has been slowly moving towards the ultimate Bond experience, its most notable accomplishment being Everything or Nothing. Come this November, From Russia with Love will be dropped into our laps, and let me tell you, this one's looking good. With Pierce Brosnan out of the picture, EA decided to keep it old school and base its game off the 1960s film of the same name that stars arguably the greatest Bond of all time, Sean Connery. This should be very exciting for fans of the franchise, especially since the character model looks exactly like Connery, and he's decided to provide voice work. Factor that in with a reworked intro, ending, and a bunch of story elements in between, and what we're being treated to is a special edition or director's cut of the film, so not only are we getting a game with extremely high production values (more on that in a bit), but also a different version of the movie. Also lucky for us is MGM's decision to grant the game's developers full access to its archive, so expect to hear classic Bond music, possibly voiceovers from the film, and lots of other cool stuff. Presentation is key but gameplay is king, something EA hasn't lost sight of. While From Russia With Love will sort of play like Everything or Nothing it'll feature significant changes and special features, one of the most notable being Bond's ability to actually jump, so navigating him through city streets and alleys littered with debris has just become a whole lot easier. This also means you'll be able leap across holes, though at this point I'm not sure how much damage Bond will take if he misses and crashes to the floor. I haven't seen any cool uses of this feature, but I'm hoping there will be a few overly dramatic leaps through windows and off buildings Resident Evil 4 style. Another interesting feature is 007's melee attacks, which are a mixture of throws and punches. We're also being treated to an enhanced targeting system that makes shooting bad guys in the face a whole lot easier. In fact, precision targeting will allow you to do just that; pinpoint a body part or even a weapon. What this means is you'll be able to end a thug's life quickly by nailing him in the head, slow him down by shooting him in an arm, or send him to an explosive end by firing at a grenade he or she is carrying. Of course, you should expect to see the usual assortment of Bond 1960s weapons with one notable asterisk (that I know of), that being the jetpack. It doesn't make an appearance in the film (and I have a good feeling that there will be lots of new weapons and gadgets), but that really doesn't matter because the flying segments look amazing. The sense of scale when Bond's sailing over London is quite impressive. What's also going to be cool is the character point and upgrade system, which has been overhauled to give the game an almost action RPG feel. During the course of your adventure you'll earn points that can be used to unlock a host of extras, though at this point EA hasn't announced what we'll have access to, though, given the source material, I'd wager some of it will be classic movie posters, possibly interviews with the cast, behind the scenes featurettes, and characters/levels for the game's multiplayer mode. Aside from the points, you'll also acquire cash that can be used to purchase some of Bond's many weapons and gadgets, though rumor has it that this system is a little deeper than simply unlocking goodies and purchasing machine guns. While you'll always play as Sean Connery, there may be ways to upgrade his abilities, which basically allows you to create the ultimate Bond, or at the very least, one who excels at certain things. Some of the most impressive levels in EA's 007 games are the vehicle segments, mad dashes through crowded streets and through alleys driving some of the series' more famous muscle cars. However, while these levels are cool, we could never actually get out of the car, mow down some bad guys, and then hop back in and continue driving, but From Russia With Love's developers are going to grant us that freedom. EA's been hard at work integrating on-foot and vehicle segments into one seamless gameplay experience. Hopefully, the cars will be able to take damage and explode, and in typical GTA fashion Bond will be able to just dive into another vehicle. Electronic Arts' upcoming extreme snowboarding fest SSX: On Tour won't feature online play and From Russia With Love unfortunately follows suit, although the four player split screen gameplay does look promising, especially since you'll still be able to blast apart all sorts of stuff and ride around in jetpacks, which is the mode's greatest appeal. Sending people plummeting to their doom and watching as they explode should be a very satisfying experience. Even though the game's not finished it's a visual tour de force. Connery looks practically photo realistic, and the developers have also done a nice job on the various character models and environments, many of which reflect the time period and feature a specific type of architecture. What's also impressive is the high level of destruction you can cause. Buildings and assorted objects can be blown to smithereens and even catch on fire. There are exploding barrels, bridges, cars, tanks, and a host of other things can be completely obliterated. It's quite an exciting concept actually, given the mess that James Bond normally leaves in his wake. In addition to pummeling a bunch of no-name enemies you'll also go toe to toe with a few truly titanic bosses, and some of the battle sequences are just breathtaking. One such encounter, Bond's (with jetpack) run in with an attack helicopter near Big Ben promises to be particularly thrilling. If we ignore the dreadfully atrocious FPS Rogue Agent, EA's Bond games have really been picking up steam, so I think From Russia With Love will turn out to be the publisher's finest 007 title. The numerous gameplay enhancements, slick-looking visuals, and the inclusion of jetpacks (both in the single and multiplayer modes) should make it one of this holiday's hottest titles. Of course, I can't forget about the quality voice acting as well as the musical score, which promises to be just as good as the soundtracks found in the James Bond films. There will be tons of quality videogames coming out this fall, but I recommend picking up From Russia With Love when it's released November 1, 2005. In the meantime, cross your fingers and hope that Timothy Dalton can be unlocked! Um...or not. |
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