Hello Enthusiasts,
Today I will be reviewing the 2005 game James Bond 007: From Russia with Love. This title was published by EA Games and was released for the PlayStation 2, GameCube, and XBOX consoles. It is based on the film of the same name, which was released in 1963 (which was based on a novel that was released in 1957).
For those unfamiliar with the story, I'll fill you in. In both the film, game, and novel, From Russia with Love takes place not long after the events of the previous installment, Dr. No. The organization known as SPECTRE (though in the game they are called OCTOPUS due to some apparent legal disputes) sees James Bond as a threat after he eliminated one of their top guys, the aforementioned Dr. No. So, the organization sets up a trap for MI6, baiting them with a Soviet encoding device called a Lektor. They have a member of their organization pretending to defect and offer the Lektor up, but only if she gets to be picked up by 007 himself. All the while, the real plan is to have a different agent assassinate Bond when the opportunity presents itself. Of course the defecting female agent ends up falling for the ever-charming Bond, and the rest of the story is a whirlwind of action, suspense, and everything else you love about a James Bond movie.
The game itself is a third-person shooter that utilizes an auto-aim feature. The maps are mostly linear, with some hidden areas in each of the maps, many of which include unlockables. There are also some missions that utilize vehicles, like the Jet-pack from Thunderball that shows up a few times. The game features both a single player campaign that follows the story above, as well as a split-screen multiplayer.
So the game stays pretty true to the story, though with several liberties taken. There are several extra missions and areas in the game that weren't featured in the film, like when Bond breaks into the OCTOPUS headquarters at the end of the game. Still, a lot of the scenes are pulled straight from the movie, like the gypsy shootout and train scene (although there is more added to all of them, of course). EA was even able to get the same James Bond himself, Sean Connery, to do the voice acting, which adds a lot to the game for me. The graphics are solid for their time, and the controls are intuitive as well.
On the negative side of the chart I would go ahead and put the difficulty. If you've a lot of my previous reviews, I like a game to progressively get more difficult. However, this game had spots that were incredibly difficult in a game that is otherwise pretty middle of the road in that regard. The function to select a current weapon also leaves something to be desired, as you will find yourself scrolling through the options to find what you're looking for, rather than just utilizing a weapon wheel. I would have also appreciated bots in multiplayer, as the battles can be a little lackluster if you onlybhave two players. It's little things like this that hold the game back from really knocking it out of the park.
Deapite any grievences, this game is a lot of fun. I felt like I was playing an alternate universe version of the movie, and it truely was enjoyable. I suggest picking up a copy, and I hope you like it as much as I do.
I give James Bond 007: From Russia with Love an 8 out of 10.
Sincerely,
The Bored Enthusiast
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