007 Game Rankings: Number 13. "Tomorrow Never Dies" (Ps1)

                                                                            

With "EA" given the rights to create Bond games after the legendary successful "Goldeneye 64" by "Rare," how do they top it? Making it a third-person shooter, having only half the levels that its predecessor had, and not providing a multiplayer experience. It's a downgrade. Now I personally (retrospectively speaking) don't mind changing the game from a first-person shooter to a third person; I find it quite as ambitious as 007 Racing. A change with potential, and games like Everything or Nothing and From Russia With Love are pure examples of how to make a third-person shooter Bond game. But like 007 Racing, it fails for the same reasons. Trying to move Bond is just as much of a chore as steering the vehicles in 007 Racing. Whether I'm using the D-pad or an analog stick, I could barely keep Bond in a straight line, as I would find myself walking into walls or directly in the line of enemy fire. And instead of being pushed back by a bullet or still moving when being shot, he freezes for a second making it difficult to avoid further gunfire, especially if there's more than one opponent. There's a cool stealth feature of sneaking up behind a guard and punching him out, except half of the time, my gun will fire instead, so clearly Bond has to be at a particular spot, which is difficult to achieve. In half the levels, I'm usually stuck with the challenge of trying to spot the enemy before being fired upon. That reason is thanks to having graphics looking as bad as the ones in 007 Racing. But I have to give the worst game on the list a little credit because at least I could see everything when in this game, enemies are either camouflaged with the background, or they're already firing before the other side of the level can fully load. And if it's not the graphics, then it's the difficulty of keeping the camera from running away when pursuing a target. I was about to give up on the game right from experiencing all these problems during the first level but pushed through the mission for the franchise (and the help of cheats).

I should note that this game wasn't originally going to follow the Tomorrow Never Dies storyline. Initially, it would function as a sequel titled Tomorrow Never Dies: The Mission Continues until focus groups demanded it should be like the movie. The change shouldn't bother a casual player or even a Bond fan since it follows the story with a few tweaks. The only time the game completely derails from the story of the film are missions 6 and 7. However, knowing what the game could have been based on its promo featuring Q's actor Desmond Llewelyn, it sounds more exciting than telling the same story. Plus, the graphics looked better, and has cool missions that are not featured in the game (including an additional driving level). That said, the story can still be garbage. The new levels and mechanics could be near unplayable (an underwater level with these controls, I think not). And as good as the graphics may seem, EA did have a tendency of making the graphics in their promos look better than the actual product. I'm just saying; we could have had a better, if not as good as Goldeneye Bond game. 

Despite having most of the same problems as the previous game I ranked, I did have more fun and interest in it by comparison. The graphics may be as bad, but it still has more personality through its vibrant colors and level design. I enjoy visiting the snowy mountains of Russia, sneaking into Carver's lairs, checking out of Hotel Atlantic, and firing through the night streets of Saigon. The game's soundtrack isn't half bad either. It's not as memorable as its predecessor, none the less it still puts me in the right mood when playing each level, adding to the atmosphere when the soundtrack in 007 Racing was just noise. And for all my complaining about the mechanics, I'm at least happy the game spares the pain of having no auto-aim. I kind of like how the game gives the player ability to lock on to a target in third person and aim in first-person, making me wish the game made it optional to play in either setting. 

Unlike the poor attempt at storytelling in 007 Racing, this game does very well take it a step further from Goldeneye. All the game's cinematic cutscenes are mission briefings, this time making the player feel like M is directly telling him or her what to do with the use of visual aid, as opposed to just reading instructions and comments from the characters. Since the game doesn't have the budget to produce cinematic cutscenes, heavily edited clips of the movie can be shown at the end of certain levels to either conclude it or set up the next one (including the film's title sequence with the game's credits replacing the film's). Admittedly, there are two things 007 Racing did do better with telling its story. It was the first Bond game to feature cinematic cut scenes of Bond in action, and it used one to end the game. This game ends so abruptly that there's no real sense of accomplishment. Bond jumps on a getaway boat with Wai Lin; it says Mission Complete like all the other missions, and that's it. I understand a harder difficulty unlocks a montage of the game, that's a little better, but it doesn't feel any different from watching the mini trailer played at the very start.

I know what I'm about to say may sound a little blasphemous, and I'm not saying this to put a gaming legend down, but the game does have a little bit more variety than Goldeneye.  I have no problem walking around blasting enemies and using different means to complete an objective. But really think about what the game offers in comparison. There's skiing, a fighter jet a player can activate to cause mindless destruction, an infrared snipper, a chance to play as a character other than Bond in the story Wai Lin, and hey, did I mention about a driving level in my last post? How does none of this sound just a tad more exciting? They are spoiled by the problems that hold the game back from fully succeeding, but even so, I can still happily say I had some amusement. The times when I had to ski, for instance, was fun, where I felt the weight of going down the mountains performing stunts while leading enemies into trees. What ruins half of the fun is the lousy controls for steering Bond, and the chase coming to a bit of a halt for when I need to fight off opponents with ski poles.

                                                        Overall Thoughts

Tomorrow Never Dies suffers from what 007 Racing had. The game had promising potential that the franchise would improve that's ruined by inadequate controls, low-quality graphics, playing the story safe, and ignoring everything that made Goldeneye a hit. But unlike how I most likely would rather watch someone else play 007 Racing on YouTube before even thinking about playing it again, Tomorrow Never Dies is one I wouldn't mind as much re-experiencing. Despite what it does wrong, it offers new and exciting ways of playing as Bond in its crude stages but can still be enjoyable, making the experience less of a pain.

                                             Least Favorite Mission: Ski Ridge

Ski Ridge is one of the few levels that has nothing to do with the film's story at all. I don't mind additions to the story, except this level is the same as the first one. I'm once again up in the snowcap mountains skiing and penetrating into enemy territory. The only significant difference is Bond gets into a boss battle with the criminal, who was only briefly seen at the beginning of the movie Satoshi Isagura. Now that I think about it, this mission could serve as a hint to what the game's original story would be about. Since Isagura's fate is unknown in the film, it is possible that he was going to be the game's main villain with the motivation to unleash nerve gas on Yokohama as his main plan. It's by far the only clue of the game's original story; that goes without saying the mystery of it is more fascinating than the level itself.

                                            Favorite Mission: Hotel Atlantic

When I was looking up clips of the game before buying it, this level is what made me interested in giving the game a chance after hearing so many negative reviews. I love exploring the many different rooms as I am firing upon the assassins, especially the bar. And though it's evident from the start that all these staff workers will become your enemies since each of them is casually wielding guns, it's great that the level doesn't start right away with the action, allowing the atmosphere to sync-in. The level's highlight is the game's first boss battle with one of the best throwaway henchmen ever in the film franchise Dr. Kaufman. The only criticism I have is the game's handling of Bond's former lover Paris, who you have to protect on the way out of the hotel and doesn't die. On the one hand, I'm happy to protect Paris in the game and see her live because I did grow a fondness for the character in the film. But on the other hand, when the level is over, she's never seen or heard from again, making it pointless for the game to keep her alive.

007 Game Rankings: Number 14. "007 Racing" (Ps1)

 

Yes, a Bond game that strictly focuses' on driving does exist, and I was shocked to find out as well. The idea of a racing game involving the Bond vehicles sounds fun for a multiplayer mode, but to carry on an entire game sounds boring and ridiculous. Well, after buying a copy of the game and popping it in to give it a try, though it was still bad, it wasn't as terrible or stupid as I anticipated. Instead of getting a cheap "Mario Kart" knock-off as the title and tie-in may suggest, I was pleased to see more variety to the missions. They'll be times where a player would have to race to an objective before time runs out or before another villain gets there. But then there would be tasks involving destruction such as destroying a certain number of enemy cars, demolishing a base, and of course, recusing a Bond girl. And the best part is, despite having similar objectives, the missions don't all feel the same; there's always something new added to keep them from feeling repetitive. For instance, while one mission involves Bond to plant detonators' to destroy a base and rescue an ally, another level with a similar objective has Bond controlling the car through the perspective of a faulty security camera in night-vision that unexpectedly changes angles and glitches. There are plenty of missions where the player has to chase down a villain and damage the vehicles to apprehend them, but different methods are used for each level, such as lasers, ramming the car at a weak spot of a vehicle, or gathering ammo for a rocket launcher before giving the enemy the final blow. While on the topic of picking up ammo, there are also missions where Bond has to collect a certain number of items while also making a deadline. Some of those missions include collecting homing beacons while racing against a female assassin or collecting antidotes while escaping an underwater facticity during an explosion and making it out the blast doors before they close. The mission that always stands out to me regarding this type of objective is the one that rips-off the film "Speed" where Bond is forced to drive a rental car at a certain speed or else the bomb attached to it will explode. As a second mission, this could easily involve Bond driving fast until the player reaches the destination to dump the car, except the bomb is on a timer that will still eliminate Bond. Therefore, the gamer must locate transmitters to delay the bomb's set time to explode before dropping it in the ocean. It's a little much to throw in so many obstacles so early in the game (the level following the limos towards the end of the game would have made for a better swap), but still an intriguing challenge none the less. 

Unlike the past Bond games based on the Brosnan films released at the time, this game marks as the first Bond video game with an original story with new characters. However, the game's story does feature characters from other Bond films, including JAWS, Jack Wade, Xenia Onatopp, Zukovsky, Sheriff J.W. Pepper and Whisper. It's a cool concept of creating a new story while still incorporating classic foes and allies in the franchise to throw in some nostalgia. And above all, this game gives fans the chance to explore the world of Bond in video game format in a completely different way.  The only way to drive one of Bond's cars before this game was the BMW 7 in the video game Tomorrow Never Dies, which was the only driving level in the game. This game allows fans to control various Bond vehicles they can only dream of driving, such as the Aston Martin DB5, the BMW Z3, and the Lotus Esprit. And instead of just firing missiles and machine guns, the game features other devices to stop an enemy, including oil slick, and an emp. 

In theory, this sounds like a fantastic game, but it's overall quite dull and frustrating in practice. The plot of the game itself is not bad, it just needed a better way of telling the story. There are only three cutscenes in the game's story mode, as two are shown at the very beginning, while the other is shown at the end. And aside from a mission briefing cutscene, the other two focus on driving that don't add much to the plot. The game's usual way of telling its story is through mission texts. That's fine, but unlike how "Goldeneye N64" would have a non-diegetic mission briefing, a diegetic mission briefing from M, and advice from Q and Miss Moneypenny to capture the feel of being in Bond's shoes, most of the texts in this game read like a "Choose Your Own Adventure" book. Occasionally a general mission briefing from M would appear, other than that the actions that Bond does off-screen are read, where the word "You" replaces any mention of Bond's name or number. And for the lack of visuals, the new characters become forgettable quickly after playing. Their voices are heard, a picture of them can appear occasionally, and two of the girl's Bond meets are featured in the first and last cutscene of the game. But because these characters are hardly shown in the game, it's hard for them to leave an impression. I remember the characters from other Bond movies that appear in this game than any of the new ones. And even the characters from the franchise that do appear here (with the exception of R and M) all feel like they're just thrown in for cheap fan service for how little their importance to the story is. 

If the gameplay and graphics were good, having lousy storytelling wouldn't be that much of a distraction, except the game doesn't offer that either. Now I'm not an expert when judging a video game by its graphics or mechanics, but these are pretty terrible. The cutscenes are visually good (with the exception of the faces), while the rest of the game appears so blocky and blurry that it's bland. The game features exotic locations like New York City, Mexico, Louisiana, and Eastern Europe, and they all look so empty and glitchy with such a lack of personality in design to make them appealing. The only memorable location that comes to mind, is the science lab with a giant laser, and that's only one room out of an entire level. But it doesn't matter how unappealing these locations look because since you're always on a timer or chasing after someone, there's very little time to explore or play around with the weapons. When activating the cars for each mission, I never felt like I was in full control compared to other games (including "Tomorrow Never Dies"). Usually, I find myself crashing for how unreliable the steering is, and when trying to break the car at certain locations where the mission wants me to carry out an objective, I still have to reverse or move forward to get the car to the right spot. Using weapons isn't much fun either. It seemed promising in the first level until I played the third level to discover that using any explosive weapons will most likely damage my health whenever I use them, even if I'm distances away from the blast. I could use the submachine guns instead, but they take longer than they should to destroy an enemy car. I honestly can't remember if I ever succeeded in blowing up a car with the sub-machine guns; all I know is it works perfectly on henchmen firing outside of their vehicles. And while I lose health from terrible steering mechanics and weapons that are either inefficient or will do me as much damage as the thugs I have to fight, I'm forced to listen to R yelling at me constantly. It's usually hilarious hearing Q or R beg Bond not to damage the cars he's given, and I was thrilled to hear John Cleese's voice badgering me to be careful. But after the fifth time when replaying a mission listening to him aggressively giving the same useless instructions as before, he becomes irritatingly fast to the point where I had to turn off the character voice option. 

                                                         Overall Thoughts

The game has a ton of potential, which can be seen as a rough prototype for future Bond games when establishing driving levels and pushing for the games to have original stories. As much as I appreciate what it was trying to do and what it will inspire for future Bond games, it's still overall a very aggravating experience to an ugly looking game that's typically overlooked for a good reason. From the Ps1 era of Bond games, I find myself having more of a blast playing the driving level in "Tomorrow Never Dies" than I do with any of the levels in "007 Racing." 

                                                      Worst Mission: Ambush 

All the problems I have with the game's mechanics can all be summed up in this level. Destroying all eight dodging cars had me realize how terrible the weapons are, as I have already used up all health packets after finishing them off. Then I find out I have to disable two forklifts that are nearly invincible and could take ages to destroy if I don't lure them to boxes filled with explosives if I'm lucky enough not to blow-up myself because of the steering. And by the way, R doesn't tell Bond to lure them to those crates, I had look up this information for myself. Out of telling me to "return fire" knowing it would risk my health 99% percent of the time, and to "pick up a health kit" when I have used them all at that point, it would be more helpful to tell me what I could do to weaken an unnecessary powerful forklift?! And just when I thought that the nightmare was over, I have to crash into a lab and carefully park my car towards each of the ten computers to disable them with an emp (that always needs charging) before time runs out. It just never ends for how needlessly long it is!  

                                                             Favorite Mission: Escape

If I have to pick a favorite, I will say racing against Xenia Onatopp with Valentine Zukovsky in the passenger seat, concluding with activating a Union Jack parachute attached to the car off a cliff is pretty awesome. Thankfully for each replay I don't always hear Zukovsky making the same sarcastic comments over and over, therefore coming across as genuinely funny for when he unexpectedly does say something.   

Ranking 007 Video Games: Introduction

Regarding video games, I'm not much of a diehard gamer. I just don't keep up with the medium like others due to how expensive and time-consuming it is. Above all, I am not as critical of games as I am of movies or shows. I don't pay too much attention to judging the graphics, gameplay, or story unless these problems stand out. For me, as long as I am having fun playing the games with a story that keeps me invested, graphics that look decently appealing, and an environment I can get lost in, the game has served its purpose. I simply don't think as deeply about games as I do with other mediums. While I'm not a big gamer or critical of video games compared to others, I still love playing like Grand Theft Auto, Crash Bandicoot, Super Mario, Red Dead Redemption, Kingdom Hearts, Mafia, Sly Cooper, and many more. I certainly value the medium, not just for its playability but for how it helped expand my love for films. I wouldn't have been big into Lord of the Rings without the games based on the last two movies. I'm glad that my introduction to The Warriors was through the PS2 game. And The Godfather games help cemented my love for the franchise and its lore. What's even better about video games is that I can play as my favorite characters. I could swing endlessly around the city as Spider-Man. I am thrilled when I get to cause mayhem while saving Springfield as the characters from The Simpsons. And to play as Tony Montana, taking back what he lost, though goes against the message of the film is an exciting alternative experience. You know what you're looking at is not real, but interacting in environments and with the characters makes you feel you traveled into the world in the shoes of the protagonist, almost forgetting you're just watching a screen and pushing buttons. That's part of the charm and unique experience of a game that a film doesn't capture since you cannot control how a character performs their actions when watching a film or exploring every angle of a location. 

To further prove and celebrate how much video games have played a significant role in my love for films, I am not only going to review a game series based on a popular franchise but also write about them in the order in which I rank them based on my personal enjoyment for them. Picking a franchise was not hard at all; in fact, I knew what to pick from the very beginning without a second thought. That franchise is...

                                                        The 007 Game Franchise

The Godfather is my favorite franchise, but my favorite franchise that is always in progress goes to Bond. If it wasn't for playing the 007 games back when I was a kid, I would not be as obsessed with the franchise as I am today. At the time, nothing was more remarkable than playing as a well-known secret agent using gadgets, visiting exotic locations, driving cool cars, wooing the ladies, and fighting against some of the most tremendous forces of evil to save the world. Before I start, I have to mention a few essential things, which I will list below. 

1. I am Not a Gaming Critic: After explaining how lightly I look at video games, expect these reviews to not be based on the mindset of an expert on games but more from the perspective of a casual gamer who is judging the games on playability and capturing the spirit of the franchise.
2. Expect Me to Talk About my Relationship with Some of the Games: If I sounded vague about how much the games mean to me, I will indeed discuss my nostalgia with them, since part of the reason for this list is to express my relationship with the games that helped me become a Bond fan.
3. I'm Only Talking About Bond Games for Certain Systems: As much as I would love to play every single Bond game, I am only sticking with the games for the PlayStation, GameCube, and Nintendo 64. This means I will not be including Bond games for systems such as the Gameboy, Atari, Wii, or PC. Not only do I not have the resources to play the games, but looking at them, with the exception of NightFire for the PC, and Goldeneye for the Wii, there's hardly anything for me to talk about because of how dull and lacking theatricality they are. 
4. I Will Not be Reviewing Online Multiplayer: While I plan to review most of the multiplayer modes in the games, I will not be reviewing online multiplayer. Barely anybody plays the online campaign (One of the reasons I'm not a fan of multiplayer games made for strictly online), and I do not have the resources to take part in online mode at the current time. 
5. Bonus Section: As a special treat, at the end of each review, I will have a bonus section talking about my favorite and least favorite mission.

Now that I have filled you in, get ready for my review series as I rank 14 of the 007 Games, that will start in a few days.