007: Everything or Nothing (GBA)
Graphics - 3/5
Controls - 2/5
Story/Premise - 4/5
Fun Factor - 4/5
Overall Rating - 4/5
Keeping? - Definitely!
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Review:
As the name suggests, this game is a James Bond 007 franchise piece that seems to stand alone apart from the films — at least there was no directly corresponding film to relate to this game that I could find (didn’t look too hard). Pierce Brosnan lends a certain amount of nostalgia to the title that had me reminiscing about many hours spent playing Goldeneye for N64 as a youth, and I had fun seeing how many of the low-res actors I could recognize in the plot (Willem Defoe, is that you?)
That being said, 007 has a very different vibe with its GBA pseudo-realistic pixel art and isometric map style. The character renders, while recognizable, were a mixed bag of impressive and creepy in that uncanny valley kind of way. The level details were nice and plentiful, and the UI decently intuitive, though it took a bit of trial and error for me to remember the visual difference between a land mine and a “Holobond” (a holographic James Bond that draws bullet fire for a short time) when swapping between items.
Basic combat is simple enough — you have your gun and ammo which depletes and refills with enemy drops and loot crates, and you’ve got your unarmed melee for kicking and punching when no bullets are available. Where the game really seems to shine, in my opinion, is the pseudo Assassin’s Creed-style stealth mechanics. The game offers a mini map that shows the location of enemies, as well as the direction they are facing, so that you can plan your strategy accordingly before ever even seeing them come on screen. In addition to this, there is a visibility meter that can also be employed to see whether or not you are being spotted by an enemy, and fills to varying degrees based on just HOW visible you are, which lets you modify your plan before being shot at. The game awards “style points” based on stealth kills, an optional objective added to each level that affords you some nice points payout (to be spent on upgrades between missions).
I’ve always been piss-poor at stealthy finesse games, preferring to go in with guns and knives blazing, but thankfully this game is pretty forgiving with fumbles; the number of times I snuck up behind an enemy just to swing wildly and not connect was… a non-zero number, but I still managed to eke out the style point bonuses regardless.
The story is definitely undeniably Bond-Flavored with its cartels and big bads, as well as its high-speed car chases — the first of which I struggled with laughably before I realized that I was handicapping myself by using the joystick instead of the d-pad. It still tickled me to see the Aston Martin DB8 make an appearance with its campy spy shenanigans like oil slicks and rocket launchers.
Over all I very much enjoyed the hour I spent playing this game — even the 10 or so minutes I spent clipped out of bounds, hilariously mountain-goating my way along cliff faces trying to reach the exit of the level so I wouldn’t have to restart (a success, thankfully).