James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing


James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing is a third-person shooter video game, in which the player controls James Bond. Bond is modeled after and voiced by the former James Bond actor Pierce Brosnan. Developed by EA Redwood Shores and published by Electronic Arts, it was released for the GameCube, PlayStation 2, and Xbox consoles. The Game Boy Advance version was developed by Griptonite Games and when linked to the GameCube version via the Nintendo GameCube–Game Boy Advance link cable allowed unique premium content. The game achieved Platinum Hits status on the Xbox.
Written by Bruce Feirstein, Danny Bilson and Paul De Meo, Everything or Nothing centers around Bond dealing with the use of nanotechnology as terrorism. It is the second Bond game played in third-person after Tomorrow Never Dies, and is the first Bond game to feature a two-player cooperative mode. The game features returning actors Richard Kiel, John Cleese and Judi Dench, as Jaws, Q and M respectively.
Electronic Arts retired this game's servers on or around January 13, 2006.

Gameplay

The gameplay is a mix of third-person shooting/action sequences and vehicle sequences. In third-person missions, Bond can typically use cover, engage in hand-to-hand combat, use gadgets and perform some context-sensitive actions, while driving sequences primarily involve racing to a specific objective.

Plot

Opening in Tajikistan, MI6 agent James Bond infiltrates a stronghold where an organization sells a stolen Soviet suitcase bomb. Bond triggers a firefight between the two factions making the exchange, using the confusion to steal the device and escape.
The disappearance of Oxford scientist Dr. Katya Nadanova, who oversees a top-secret Nanotechnology humanitarian project, leads 007 to a weapons research facility in the Sahara, where he is ordered to rescue Nadanova and prevent the theft of the nanobot prototypes. Destroying the facility, Bond follows the kidnappers onto an armored train where he encounters and dispatches Jaws. Bond discovers Nadanova and rescues her before pursuing the terrorist via helicopter through the Valley of the Kings. Bond defeats the terrorist and takes Nadanova to her safehouse, where it is revealed that she is working in conjunction with Nikolai Diavolo, a former KGB agent whose mentor and friend was Max Zorin. The two intend to re-purpose the nanobots for far sinister purposes than their original intention of repairing nuclear reactors.
Upon returning to MI6, M informs Bond of the disappearance of another 00 agent, 003, who was last seen investigating a platinum mine in Peru. Bond is sent there to track down 003's last known contact Serena St. Germaine, an American Geologist who may have a clue to his whereabouts. Serena takes Bond to a mining complex where he discovers 003 is being tortured by Diavolo. Before succumbing to his wounds, 003 informs Bond that Diavolo intends to move his operations to New Orleans. Bond learns of Nadanova's ties with Diavolo when she captures Serena and throws her out of a helicopter. Bond dives off a cliff to rescue her through the use of Q's rappel gadget and the two escape Diavolo's mercenaries via tank.
Searching New Orleans, Bond learns that Diavolo has enlisted a war criminal named Arkady Yayakov to help re-purpose the nanobots. Bond infiltrates a factory owned by Diavolo and uncovers a lead pointing to a local nightclub owned by Yayakov, where he crosses paths with Mya Starling, an NSA field operative who is also investigating Diavolo. However, Starling's cover is blown and she is held by Yayakov is a 19th century graveyard. Bond rescues Starling and dispatches of Yayakov's remaining men.
007 tracks Diavolo's operations to an abandoned plantation in Louisiana, where he discovers he has altered Nadanova's nanobots to eat through all metals but platinum, disintegrating everything they come in contact with. Destroying the laboratory and killing Yayakov, Bond finds a tanker of nanobots which is being driven by Jaws to the levees of New Orleans with the intent of flooding the city. Bond destroys the truck before it can reach the levees, and returns to Peru to further investigate Diavolo's platinum mines.
After winning a rally race hosted by Diavolo, Bond finds he has captured Serena, allowing Diavolo to escape to the mines. After saving Serena, Bond reaches the mines, but is captured by Nadanova. Diavolo explains that he intends to use the nanobots to destroy the Kremlin and use his army of tanks, armored with platinum to make them immune to the nanobots, to control Russia, and then overthrow Europe. Tied in the path of a mining drill, Bond escapes his shackles and flees the mines in a helicopter piloted by Serena.
Following Diavolo to Moscow, Bond steals one of Diavolo's platinum tanks and uses it to prevent the release of the nanobots in Red Square and heads for a missile silo hidden under the Kremlin. Bond kills Jaws and deactivates the nanotech missiles. Diavolo and Nadanova then pursue Bond with a soviet fighter jet. Bond destroys the jet and Nadanova is killed, although Diavolo ejects just in time. Diavolo reaches a control tower, reactivating one of the missiles and targeting it at London. Bond destroys the control tower, where Diavolo launches the missile before falling to his death into the silo. Destroying the missile as it launches, Bond prevents the catastrophe and reunites with Serena outside the Kremlin.

Cast

Everything or Nothing's game engine evolved from the engine used in , and is the last game to release prior to id Tech 3's open source release in 2005. Like its predecessor, the driving sections were developed using a separate engine by EA Canada. The driving was based on the engine from Need for Speed.
For the first time in any James Bond game, Electronic Arts hired actors to model the characters after, as well as their voice talents. In addition to Pierce Brosnan, Judi Dench and John Cleese reprised their roles from previous Bond films; the game features actors Willem Dafoe, Shannon Elizabeth, Heidi Klum and Misaki Ito as well as actor Richard Kiel, who played Jaws in the classic 007 films. Everything or Nothing is the second James Bond game to have its own original theme. It was performed by R&B artist Mýa, who also has a part as a Bond girl in the game.

Music

The game features a title song performed by Mýa, who also plays a character of the same name. It also has the distinction of being the only song from a James Bond video game that was performed live. A "jazzier" version was performed by Mýa on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.
The in-game music was composed by composer Sean Callery, with additional music by Jeff Tymoschuk. Later in 2006, Electronic Arts published Callery's score for sale on Rhapsody. Notably, the album does not include the main theme song "Everything or Nothing", which is available to purchase on iTunes as a single; however its jazz and dance remixes are available only a rare CD single of "Everything or Nothing".

Reception

Everything or Nothing received positive reviews. Aggregating review websites GameRankings and Metacritic gave the PlayStation 2 version 84.75% and 84/100, the GameCube version 84.41% and 84/100, the Xbox version 83.10% and 83/100 and the Game Boy Advance version 69.58% and 73/100. GameSpot gave it an 8.8, calling it "a really great game, perhaps the best James Bond game ever made". IGN said "EA shakes things up and gives us a fresh new perspective on how good Bond can be."
However, some critics were not as impressed. UK gaming magazine Edge gave the game a 5/10, saying that, "It's perhaps because the title benefits from such a high production spend, in fact, that the average design and execution becomes more pronounced."
Game Informer bemoaned the Game Boy Advance version's poor controls and awkward isometric camera, saying that "I'm not a big proponent of the isometric view, and marrying it to sloppy stealth-style gameplay only exacerbates the problem. It's sort of hard to plan your next move when you can only see about 10 virtual feet in front of you, and as a result it's usually easier to just run and gun your way through the levels."
Some publications were more favorable. GameSpot's review called it "A brief yet satisfying action game that faithfully captures the look and feel of a typical James Bond movie." Likewise, 1UP.com thought that the game as a whole was serviceable, save for how short it was, saying that "The only serious black mark on EoN is its length -- you can bulldoze through Bond's story in a few short hours, and the extra difficulty levels will likely not be enough to entice you to try again."
Maxim gave it a perfect ten and stated that players can "race through a shitstorm of artillery fire in a Porsche Cayenne Turbo or missile-firing Triumph Daytona 600." The Times gave it all five stars and stated that "the over-the-shoulder style does allow for the seamless integration of glossy scenes to drive on the plot and add a more genuine movie-like feel to the game." The Cincinnati Enquirer gave it four-and-a-half stars out of five and called it "An ambitious but successful interactive adventure that blurs the lines between motion pictures and video games." Entertainment Weekly gave it a B+ and said, "Action addicts still get their share of mayhem, however, as EON delivers some spectacular levels, including a breakneck highway chase on a flamethrower-equipped motorcycle. Her Majesty would definitely approve." The Village Voice gave it a score of eight out of ten and said, "The seamless action—now presented in third person—is spit-shined and ever shifting."