Back in August of 1997, Rareware released a little game on
the Nintendo 64 named Goldeneye 007, a James Bond shooter
based on the movie of the same name. With little marketing
push and hardly any public attention beforehand, it was a
surprise how quickly the game’s popularity caught on like
wildfire. But, why should it have? After all, Goldeneye was
one of the first FPS games on any platform to truly redefine
how a shooter should be played, incorporating stealthy,
intelligent single-player campaigns with an incredibly
addicting multiplayer mode. Three years later, people are
still huddling around a TV to get a quick dish of Bond
multiplayer action, which proved a testament to both Rare’s
technique and the game’s overall quality.
Sadly, that would be Rare’s only 007 showing, for the
license was a one-shot deal. Following that was Electronic
Arts, the behemoth 3rd party developer, whom
quickly swooped down and picked up the rights to produce
future James Bond titles. Their first offering, Tomorrow Never
Dies, was a large disappointment on the PSX, failing to live
up to the legacy which Goldeneye bestowed upon that lucrative
Bond title.
EA is once again back for another attempt at 007 stardom,
and this time it looks like they’ve got it right. Based on
the latest Bond flick "The World Is Not Enough" and
utilizing id Software’s Quake 3: Arena engine, it appears as
though EA putting all its resources into making sure that
TWINE will live up to the glory of Goldeneye on N64. TWINE
will loosely follow the movie’s script, but thankfully
EA is not planning on using a linear design. While you’ll
have the same plot objective at the beginning of a mission,
TWINE will open doors for multiple ways of defeating a puzzle
and/or foe, ala Eidos’ smash hit Deus Ex.
But what good is Mr. Bond himself without all his weapons
and gadgets? Of course, EA was not going to forget the most
exciting part about 007 experience. In The World Is Not
Enough, over 20 weapons and tools for James to play with will
be included. PK99, X-ray glasses, laser watch – just about
every staple of the Bond universe should make an appearance.
Levels will be spanning all over the place as seen in the
big screen version itself. TWINE’s developers found that a
few of the movie’s action sequences were a tad too short to
replicate into a game, so they decided to add a couple more
elements to spice things up. What this means is if you saw any
of the chase scenes in the movie (which most of should be in
the game), varied – though still unannounced -- objectives
will be implemented so that the levels themselves don’t fall
short on length.
The World Is Not Enough will be pushed by the Q3 engine,
which, at this point in time, is showing that it can display some
of the best graphical physics seen today. Light sourcing,
textures, architecture design; it’s all sweetness for 007.
Character models and the levels themselves are filled with
lush colors and crammed with the tiniest details. One problem
that is plaguing the design team is the PlayStation 2 itself,
however, since the complex geometry of the Quake 3 engine
combined with the already-puzzling PlayStation 2 hardware is
putting a strain on the game’s development. This seems to be
a common factor with a lot of the first-generation PS2
software and one annoyance that doesn’t appear to
be going away any time soon. Hopefully EA will be able to
clean up on the dilemma at hand so the game doesn’t end up
getting set back numerous times.
Bond’s PS2 multiplayer is still in the shadows, though.
Obviously there won’t be any online-compatibility for it
(unless the game gets pushed back ‘till around the time that
Sony intends on launching it’s network), but 4-player
multitap action would be a good filler in any case. Whether EA
Studios can keep a 4-screen deathmatch playing smoothly is
still up in the air, but I’m sure that TWINE’s multiplayer
mode will not go to waste, especially since Goldeneye’s
biggest draw was it’s deathmatch duels.
All in all, The World Is Not Enough is looking hot right
now. If EA can over come the development issues, the game
should by all means be a success. The PlayStation 2 hardware
truly expands a game’s potential, so here’s to EA being
able to exploit that. TWINE is still half a year off from
launch (March ’01), so check back in the future to PSGF for
more screens and updated info on our favorite super spy’s
next romp.
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