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I'll admit....I considered every game after goldeneye for the nintendo 64 less than stellar, even the recent movies games for the next-gen consoles were to me beneath the quality and majesty that was goldeneye. So when I heard about Everything or Nothing I was a little skeptical but I picked it up anyway, why? I had a couple of bucks and I was on a buy a bunch of games kick way back then. I'm glad I did and I'm also partially glad that my 360 crapped out on me so that I could check this gem out.
First, let's get the good out of the way. The Voice work on this game is great, every actor that EA wrangled for this game put on their A game before they walked into the booth. From 007 himself Pierce Brosnan to M Dame Judi Dench turn in great performances, which only helps gets players involved and invested in the game. Even the Non-Bond Movie Veterans Heidi Klum, William Defoe,Mya and Shannon Elizabeth turn in great performances, Mya herself does Double Duty with the theme song which I'll admit isn't a classic movie theme but fits perfectly for the game itself.
The Presentation is great, the simple nod of a section pre title screen action which doubles as a tutorial does wonders to players involved with both the story and game. The between mission screens as well the title screen evoke sheer "Bondness" if there is such a word, ah screw it for this review it is.
The Story itself is what will make players believe that they aren't playing a movie tie-in game since the story itself isn't tied to any of the bond movies. William Defoe plays a Russian who is bent on taking over the world, which is nothing new as every bond movie is the same in that respect, what ties Defoe's character to the Bond-verse is the fact he is the former apprentice of Max Zorin another classic Bond Baddie. Now how is he going to accomplish this task? with Nanobots of course. The story itself is silly like all bond movie stories are but the fact that it's original and still feels like a Bond is great and gives the game an air of authenticity.
The mission setup is another great point of the game, not only does each mission have an overall objective but also break it down to several other mini objectives that help players along the way. The Variety of the mission is also a breath of fresh air for the game, one part of a particular mission has Bond infiltrating a enemy base at the beginning but near the end of the mission Bond is free falling to catch a Bond Girl. The real treat comes in the form of the Driving missions which have all the flare of the Need for speed games but the fun of Bond Movie chase which includes; Missiles flying in every direction, flamethrower flaring and enemies meeting some grizzly ends all the while Bond sits pretty in his various modes of transportation.
Now for the bad stuff...or should I say the not so good stuff as the game as a whole is great but there are some things that hinder it from being better. First off is the camera and the camera controls, normally in a game such as this the camera is either locked or semi free, this game has the camera completely under the control of the player. While some if not most players will not have a problem with this, there are some who will especially when in a firefight with various henchmen when with the flick the analog stick the camera is looking at the wall in front of you. The controls themselves are a little bit on the cumbersome side, accessing the inventory while in action is a little confusing since you have access to both gadgets and weapons from one direction on the d-pad and in the middle of a firefight or a timed driving mission can cause problems.
All in all Everything or Nothing is a wonderful game that has and will have players feeling like 007 from the productions values to the story this game has it. Even with it's small faults this game is still a cut above the rest in license games.
