007 - The World Is Not Enough

Release Date: November 7, 2000

BEAUTIFUL WOMEN, HIGH-TECH GADGETS, AND MEGALOMANIACS. NO, NOT THE PSM OFFICE ; THE RETURN OF MR BOND TO PS1 IN THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH

There’s nothing better than James Bond. And anyone who disagrees is wrong. No argument. And the rule holds for videogames too. For example, it's no coincidence that one of the best games ever made, Goldeneye, is better than its sequel, Perfect Dark. Why? It's got Bond in it. Deep down, you see, everyone wants to be Bond. Even the girls.

Which Is why, as a PlayStation owner, it's a little embarrassing to admit the grey box's only attempt at the Bond licence ■ Tomorrow Never Dies - was about as useful as giving 81 of eld a comb.

Which brings us to The World Is Not Enough, Once again trailing behind the film to an embarrassing degree and once again developed by Black Ops. But this time the developer has, by Electronic Arts' own admission, been given much longer to come up with the goods,

"We know that Tomorrow Never Dies wasn't brilliant" understates a candid Albert Rene 11 o, producer of the PlayStation 1 version of The World Is Not Enough, "but to be fair to Black Ops time was against them," And in truth, a co-licence with MGM didn't help EA exert control over how game looked. For The World is Not Enough EA has obtained a full licence from MGM and Bond-producer Danjaq, granting it much more creative freedom.

The most important difference between the two games is the move from a third to first-person perspective. This time round you get to feel that you are Bond, rather than his documentary cameraman. Tou shoot the bad guys, you disable the bombs, and you get to snog the women, (The last possibility should not be taken too literally.)

“You feel that you are Bond. You shoot the bad guys, you disable the bombs, you get to snog the women”

Naturally, The World Is Not Enough gives Bond his requisite collection of heavy weaponry. While the Walther PPK has always been: Bond's weapon of choice, shady commerciaI deals dictate that the Wolfram P2K is now the preferred silenced sidearm. When accuracy isn't an issue, but the spraying of bullets is, the P2K is bolstered and the Meyer Tact feat Machine Pistol drawn instead. Greater precision can be gained from the Koffier & Stock KS5, while body armour won't help anyone faced with the punchy Munitions Belgique PS1OO. The game also includes a number of weapons that weren't found In the film, such as grenades, gas bombs,, satchel charges and a rocket launcher (see the Going Down boxaut),

One of Danfaq's licence stipulations is that the game include a zero-tolerance policy on the killing of innocents. If they haven't got a weapon and you gun them down you forfeit the entire level.

Fortunately R IQ's lanky sidekick, played by John Cleese in the film - a timely introduction considering Desmond Llewelyn's tragic death In a motor accident) is here to help. Standard spy issue is the mobile phone, which includes a high-energy stunner (no, hot Denise Richards) to nullify rather than kill

Much of the excitement surrounding The World Is Not Enough is that It looks so fabulous. "I don't think you'll see a better graphics engine on PlayStation 1" boasts PenelIo, and he Isn't exaggerating. Black Ops has seriously overhauled the Tomorrow Never Dies engine, ensuring that The World Is Not Enough has long draw distances and plenty of action up dose.

“The game includes a number of weapons that weren’t in the film”

"Thanks to the CD format of the PlayStation 1 we've been able to include lots of high resolution textures" says Penello. "Each character looks a lot more detailed than before, while the locations draw further into the distance than ever before. We've got one level where you can look up a spiral staircase, built using curved surfaces, and 1 think it's about as far as you can see in any PS1 game. The level designers are given a frame rate counter, so they can keep packing more detail In until they reach our set limit"

Part of the deliciousness of the look is the motion-capture of actors (Keanu Reeves no less! Ah, wait. Sorry, Keanu Reeves' stunt double from The Matrix), Everyone has a number of hit points on their bodies, so that if you shoot someone in the leg they'll hop or fall over. Arms are grasped if fired at, while head shots are generally pretty conclusive*

The other important aspect of the first person shooter is the intelligence of the Marketers you're trying to outfit, "Soldiers are now much smarter when they engage you" enthuses Penello. "They call to each other for assistance, and understand which parts of the map they can hide behind."

Certainly The World Is Not Enough looks stunning and the few levels we have played, although a little rough and ready, are satisfying and scary- All that's missing from this most stunning of Christmas releases Is any kind of Multiplayer Made. It seems as If the graphics engine Is so detailed that there's no way the PlayStation can handle split-screen action. "We could have attempted a multiplayer flame" admits Penello, "but we were concerned that the single-player game would suffer. We've focused on upgrading the graphics engine with this version, and we're very happy with the result."

We think you'll be happy too. Prepare to shoot the Iiving daylights out of the enemy Mr Bond.

“It looks stunning and the few levels we have played are satisfying and scary”