James Bond 007: From Russia with Love - Review
Added November 3rd, 2005 by Kisan Parikh
Introduction:
With the previous Bond game, Everything or Nothing, displaying a shift to third person for the popular franchise, EA had high hopes that their latest addition to the franchise could expand upon the success of its predecessor. From Russia with Love presents a classic James Bond experience by following the plot of the original movie and even bringing back Sean Connery to be the voice of Bond. Let’s see what From Russia with Love has to offer.
Gameplay:
From Russia with Love does a great job of launching you straight into the action. Instead of making you wade through a menu, the game throws you into the midst of a mission during your first load. In this mini-mission, you are able to familiarize yourself with the game’s controls and playing style. One of the first things you will notice is the shooting mechanics. Instead of the typical aiming system, EA has implemented a system similar to the one found in Grand Theft Auto. To take down an enemy, you must use the left trigger to lock on to an enemy and use the right trigger to shoot. This system works well, but it obviously has its limitations. For one, it requires less skill than the standard aiming system. In addition, it is a bit less flexible, because it doesn’t always know which enemy you wish to shoot.
With the previous Bond game, Everything or Nothing, displaying a shift to third person for the popular franchise, EA had high hopes that their latest addition to the franchise could expand upon the success of its predecessor. From Russia with Love presents a classic James Bond experience by following the plot of the original movie and even bringing back Sean Connery to be the voice of Bond. Let’s see what From Russia with Love has to offer.
Gameplay:
From Russia with Love does a great job of launching you straight into the action. Instead of making you wade through a menu, the game throws you into the midst of a mission during your first load. In this mini-mission, you are able to familiarize yourself with the game’s controls and playing style. One of the first things you will notice is the shooting mechanics. Instead of the typical aiming system, EA has implemented a system similar to the one found in Grand Theft Auto. To take down an enemy, you must use the left trigger to lock on to an enemy and use the right trigger to shoot. This system works well, but it obviously has its limitations. For one, it requires less skill than the standard aiming system. In addition, it is a bit less flexible, because it doesn’t always know which enemy you wish to shoot.
To offer some form of manual aim, From Russia with Love has a Bond Focus mode. Once you have locked on, you are able to fine-tune your shot. This feature can provide for some entertainment as skilled shooting allows you to take out a guard’s radio, break an enemy’s grappling line, and more along those lines. Another element to the shooting system is the melee attack. Once close to a foe, you are able to use one of the face buttons to lay the smack down on him.
Staying consistent with the Bond games from days gone by, From Russia with Love features a huge arsenal of weapons, gadgets, and even clothing. This year, however, you are able to upgrade your equipment. For instance, you can increase the clip capacity of a gun. Additionally, each weapon has special ammunition that is more effective than the typical round. Each upgrade must be purchased with Research Points. Research points can be earned by finding schematics plans located around a level. Sometimes they are just lying around, and sometimes you have to search through file cabinets. This gives you an incentive to explore each level a bit more thoroughly.
The levels follow the plot from the movie version of From Russia with Love, with some adjustments made to accommodate the game. The missions are expansive, featuring multiple parts. Levels aren’t necessarily divided by part, and this means that you will have to drive and go on foot in some levels. However, not all levels are created equal in this game. The exciting ones will have you driving around, blowing up a garage with your car, and destroying a tank in the same level while others have you disarming bomb after bomb. Due to this, the game can feel a bit too linear at times.
Also adding to the linearity of the game is the unimproved AI. I had hoped to see an improvement from Everything or Nothing in this department, but sadly this is not the case. The AI has a slow trigger finger, and doesn’t prove to be that challenging. The only difficult shootouts are created when you face a large swarm of adversaries. The fact that some levels have you going from room to room killing the two to three enemies found inside doesn’t prove to be that much fun.
Fortunately, the game redeems itself in the more exciting and ‘Bond-like’ moments. These include times when you use your jetpack to face enemies in the air, blow up enemies from your 1963 Aston Martin, and infiltrate an area with your Q-Copter.
The gameplay of From Russia with Love, despite the obvious flaws, finds a way to be entertaining. The game’s style is definitely geared toward the mainstream crowd. Those seeking a challenging third-person shooter will be disappointed.
Graphics:
From Russia with Love has been given a very noticeable graphics boost when compared to its predecessor. The most impressive visuals are seen in the cut-scenes. Here, facial expressions are very well executed and everything looks great. The graphics aren’t much worse during in-game action either. The environments are depicted solidly, but there isn’t anything spectacular about them.
Staying consistent with the Bond games from days gone by, From Russia with Love features a huge arsenal of weapons, gadgets, and even clothing. This year, however, you are able to upgrade your equipment. For instance, you can increase the clip capacity of a gun. Additionally, each weapon has special ammunition that is more effective than the typical round. Each upgrade must be purchased with Research Points. Research points can be earned by finding schematics plans located around a level. Sometimes they are just lying around, and sometimes you have to search through file cabinets. This gives you an incentive to explore each level a bit more thoroughly.
The levels follow the plot from the movie version of From Russia with Love, with some adjustments made to accommodate the game. The missions are expansive, featuring multiple parts. Levels aren’t necessarily divided by part, and this means that you will have to drive and go on foot in some levels. However, not all levels are created equal in this game. The exciting ones will have you driving around, blowing up a garage with your car, and destroying a tank in the same level while others have you disarming bomb after bomb. Due to this, the game can feel a bit too linear at times.
Also adding to the linearity of the game is the unimproved AI. I had hoped to see an improvement from Everything or Nothing in this department, but sadly this is not the case. The AI has a slow trigger finger, and doesn’t prove to be that challenging. The only difficult shootouts are created when you face a large swarm of adversaries. The fact that some levels have you going from room to room killing the two to three enemies found inside doesn’t prove to be that much fun.
Fortunately, the game redeems itself in the more exciting and ‘Bond-like’ moments. These include times when you use your jetpack to face enemies in the air, blow up enemies from your 1963 Aston Martin, and infiltrate an area with your Q-Copter.
The gameplay of From Russia with Love, despite the obvious flaws, finds a way to be entertaining. The game’s style is definitely geared toward the mainstream crowd. Those seeking a challenging third-person shooter will be disappointed.
Graphics:
From Russia with Love has been given a very noticeable graphics boost when compared to its predecessor. The most impressive visuals are seen in the cut-scenes. Here, facial expressions are very well executed and everything looks great. The graphics aren’t much worse during in-game action either. The environments are depicted solidly, but there isn’t anything spectacular about them.
The animations are well done for the most part. The only flaw lies in the fact that movement seems a bit stiff and unnatural. Something about the way characters moved just seemed off. On the other hand, explosions are done very well. On the grand scheme of things, the graphics seen in From Russia with Love are well done, though not breathtaking.
Audio:
The most notable aspect of the audio department in From Russia with Love is the fact that Sean Connery plays the voice of bond. Having Connery do the voice of Bond was cool in its own right, but his voice doesn’t seem to reflect the age of the young James Bond shown in the game. In regards to the soundtrack, the original theme is featured in the game. Obviously, this was the only thing that would have seemed fit.
The in-game sound is a very solid aspect of the game. There is a very large assortment of explosion and shooting noises that are all flawlessly depicted. Overall, the audio is a solid element of the game, but Sean Connery may have outgrown his role.
Controls:
The control scheme is very easy to pick up and you will pretty much have complete control over the game after the initial mini-mission. As mentioned earlier, the shooting mechanics utilize the two triggers and this method may be a bit too easy to master. The only real element of skill lies in taking pinpoint shots at various targets. Unfortunately, this isn’t really necessary to ensure success. Other than that, the face button layout, which allows you to crouch, roll, and take cover works perfectly. The entire on-foot control scheme feels very natural. The driving mechanics, however, might feel a bit odd for racing game fans due to the fact that the right trigger is tied up with shooting. This causes you to use the face buttons to speed up and slow down.
Replay:
The missions will only take ten to twelve hours at the most to complete. Luckily you will find that there are a few more levels to unlock. Additionally, you are able to buy extras such as clips about Sean Connery or Bond Girls with your points. Unfortunately, the multiplayer mode proves to be a complete disappointment. Absent from this year’s game is an online multiplayer mode. The split screen multiplayer that is included does offer a bit of fun with its free-for-all, sabotage, and dogfight modes. Sabotage allows you to play in a game type similar to CounterStrike. One team must detonate a bomb while the other tries to prevent it. The Dog Fight mode is the same thing as free-for-all, but all players have jetpacks. Jetpacks and vehicles are allowed in some of the levels, but the fun only lasts for so long without Xbox Live compatibility.
Audio:
The most notable aspect of the audio department in From Russia with Love is the fact that Sean Connery plays the voice of bond. Having Connery do the voice of Bond was cool in its own right, but his voice doesn’t seem to reflect the age of the young James Bond shown in the game. In regards to the soundtrack, the original theme is featured in the game. Obviously, this was the only thing that would have seemed fit.
The in-game sound is a very solid aspect of the game. There is a very large assortment of explosion and shooting noises that are all flawlessly depicted. Overall, the audio is a solid element of the game, but Sean Connery may have outgrown his role.
Controls:
The control scheme is very easy to pick up and you will pretty much have complete control over the game after the initial mini-mission. As mentioned earlier, the shooting mechanics utilize the two triggers and this method may be a bit too easy to master. The only real element of skill lies in taking pinpoint shots at various targets. Unfortunately, this isn’t really necessary to ensure success. Other than that, the face button layout, which allows you to crouch, roll, and take cover works perfectly. The entire on-foot control scheme feels very natural. The driving mechanics, however, might feel a bit odd for racing game fans due to the fact that the right trigger is tied up with shooting. This causes you to use the face buttons to speed up and slow down.
Replay:
The missions will only take ten to twelve hours at the most to complete. Luckily you will find that there are a few more levels to unlock. Additionally, you are able to buy extras such as clips about Sean Connery or Bond Girls with your points. Unfortunately, the multiplayer mode proves to be a complete disappointment. Absent from this year’s game is an online multiplayer mode. The split screen multiplayer that is included does offer a bit of fun with its free-for-all, sabotage, and dogfight modes. Sabotage allows you to play in a game type similar to CounterStrike. One team must detonate a bomb while the other tries to prevent it. The Dog Fight mode is the same thing as free-for-all, but all players have jetpacks. Jetpacks and vehicles are allowed in some of the levels, but the fun only lasts for so long without Xbox Live compatibility.
Summary:
From Russia with Love proves to be a solid game, but it does have its flaws. While the general gameplay is fun, the aiming system needs to offer a bit more manual control. Additionally, the AI should have received an upgrade this time around. The game looks decent visually with the cut-scenes displaying some nice detail. Having Sean Connery as the voice of James Bond sounds great in theory, but they should have considered the fact that he is much older than the character portrayed in the story. The game doesn’t offer that much in terms of replay value due to the fact that it is short and the multiplayer doesn’t offer online play. I recommend this game to the more casual gamer and those who love everything James Bond.
From Russia with Love proves to be a solid game, but it does have its flaws. While the general gameplay is fun, the aiming system needs to offer a bit more manual control. Additionally, the AI should have received an upgrade this time around. The game looks decent visually with the cut-scenes displaying some nice detail. Having Sean Connery as the voice of James Bond sounds great in theory, but they should have considered the fact that he is much older than the character portrayed in the story. The game doesn’t offer that much in terms of replay value due to the fact that it is short and the multiplayer doesn’t offer online play. I recommend this game to the more casual gamer and those who love everything James Bond.
