From Russia With Love [PS2]

There is absolutely nothing modern about James Bond. The character is a throwback to a time we now deem simpler than ours. The suave, charming womanizer incarnated by Sean Connery is the ultimate male fantasy figure, able to save the world and get laid at the same time. So it makes a certain kind of sense that EA's From Russia With Love, which revisits the classic film, should itself be throwback to a simpler, bygone era of gaming.

EA's last third-person Bond title, Everything or Nothing, wasn't a masterpiece, but it was a fine action title that captured a lot of what makes the character fun. A mix of foot-based and vehicle levels were given an extra dash of spice by cool little "Bond Moments" and stealth gameplay. On paper, From Russia With Love seems to have all the same ingredients. So why is it a lamer, cardboard experience?

We'll go into specifics, but the basic reason is simple: From Russia With Love is an overly liner, repetitive action game with very little personality. It dictates almost every moment that players can use Bond's cool gear, and how they can use it all. Gunplay is reduced to its most basic elements, and there's little AI to speak of, other than the occasional swarms of goons that appear on the most difficult setting. Even at its most difficult, however, the game is barely a challenge, and simply isn't much fun.

With abilities like Bond Focus, you'd think otherwise. Target an enemy, and press the focus button to zoom in and highlight weak points. Bond might be able to shoot a guard's grenades, or the rockets protruding from a backpack. A soldier hanging from a rappel line might be brought down by shooting the wire.

While using focus, these weak points show up as small circles on the enemy. Bond's sight is a small dot, which the player can move. But it can only be moved in a small area around the targeted enemy. A guard might be standing next to an explosive tank, and the obvious solution is to focus and shoot the tank. But the tank might not be targetable (the system is finicky) and if the guard is more than a foot away, players can't aim far enough off the body to shoot the tank. It's silly and frustrating.

Even in a straightforward setting, gunplay doesn't offer much of a challenge, however. It's easy enough to shoot the little circles offered up by Bond's focus; better yet, just aim higher and pop off a couple headshots. All but the toughest foes will crumple.

This was a problem in Everything or Nothing, too, and here the focus rewards, which keep players aiming away from the head, seem like the studio's workaround. That's absurd, of course, since the game ends up rewarding players for hitting targets that are slightly easier to hit. Why not just make gunplay more demanding and give points for a headshot?

But From Russia With Love wants players to play its way. The grapple belt is a great example. In Everything or Nothing you could grapple from any suitable surface; while there may not have been much reason, at least there was the illusion that Bond could go anywhere. Here, each level will have a couple of very specific places in which the grapple can be used. Players run up, press 'X,' and off they go. That's not gameplay -- it's barely Dragon's Lair.

Driving has also been robbed of its excitement. Cars handle terribly, making sharp turns at the slightest provocation. Pop out the wheel spikes on Bond's Aston Martin and the car next to you doesn't get a flat tire -- it explodes! Not even a wisecrack from Connery about the other guy getting a blowout. This is James Bond after all, but shouldn't a line be drawn somewhere? Explosive tires would seem to be it.

It almost seems terrible to go on, but even the Bond Moments have been stripped of their glory. Instead of treating the player to a unique outcome or at least a thrilling cutscene, a Bond Moment just... passes. They're even listed in the pause screen, so that players know whether or not they've had the best experience from the level. But some are as thrilling as finding a secret room, while others are actually counter-intuitive.

EA has packed in quite a few collectable items, primarily extra costumes and attache cases filled with research points. If found, plans and schematics also give Bond research points which can be used to upgrade weapons. But in a franchise noted for gear and gadgetry, upgrades provide such mundane improvements as clip size and the ability to hold more ammo. It's all very disheartening, and not at all Bond.

The one area in which From Russia With Love improves on the last game's design is integration. Levels are bigger and may contain shooting, driving, and stealth. The play areas can be quite large, and though extremely linear and filled with repetitive enemies, might feature a short stealth sequence, followed by a shootout and theft of a boat. But when none of the individual actions are as good as what we've played before, does it really matter?

Plenty of noise has been made about From Russia With Love being Sean Connery's return to Bond, and hearing his voice in the role is pretty cool. But he doesn't get much to do. A few lines here and there and a few major cutscenes is about it. His presence is more of a bonus than a selling point; it certainly doesn't change the nature of the game.

And for all that Everything Or Nothing was arguably too dark, it stands as a more impressive looking title than this. Textures are flat and every bit of character animation seems to be skipping frames. In short, there's not much detail, and while all the designs are obviously based on stuff from the film, none of it has much life.

This outcome really shouldn't be a surprise. The Bond films have been playing it very safe for years, and this is the gaming equivalent. Players are handed everything on a platter, with no need to think, feel, or even really play. The next game should just complete the picture by including a gadget that would play it for you. That would be innovative and let us spend time playing the few good Bond games, instead of watered down follow-ups.