Genre: Action
Perspective: Behind view
Published by: Electronic Arts
Developed by: Black Ops Entertainment
Released: 1999
Platform: PlayStation (PSX, PS1)
A spy thriller from a third party, based on the film of the same name. It should immediately warn: this game has little to do with the movie of the same name. The fact is that the creators of 007: Tomorrow Never Dies were not originally going to create an interactive version of Bond's adventures for the PlayStation, reproducing the relevant events. Commented one of the creators of the game, Michael Guttentag: "What we were really going to do is create a game that would convey the atmosphere of the James Bond movie." And what is the atmosphere of the Bond film? In fact, it's not some kind of feeling that causes a single film, but it's adventures, events that create an image that is remembered from various series of his adventures, and our concept is to create a game in which such "Bond" moments would suffice. "
In accordance with the storyline, the action of the game begins at the moment when the film ends. Agent 007 confronts the next villain - mass media tycoon Eliot Carver, who expects to achieve world domination by severing Britain and China. His main weapon is disinformation and money, which he pays to his mercenaries.
So, your next adventure begins somewhere on the Russian border with China. Winter. Drifts on the shoulder. Carver's secret base. Naturally, James needs to penetrate there and precisely establish the location of the enemy's communications system in order to give the correct orientation for the bombing of the enemy. And then, while the fast-paced allies did not equal you to the ground together with the enemy base - it's time to get on the skis! And briskly drive on the snow, until the enraged snipers do not have extra holes in an expensive suit. And then it would be nice to drop into the enemy arms market, catch up on the insolent villains. And, of course, you will have to sneak up the plans of a super-secret bomber from the burning crumbling building (typical story: how many times have you seen, and now try yourself!). Or, for example, you need to meet with another agent to transmit the necessary information, get the keys to the car, and then catch up and destroy the enemy convoy. And you can still fight in the shopping area of Saigon, being surrounded on all sides by opponents. And that is not all...
As you can see, the tasks are exactly in the style of Bond films, adequately recreating the appropriate atmosphere. In fact, Tomorrow Never Dies is trying to create a multi-mode game, giving the player the opportunity to participate in the battles for his two, at the wheel of the car, on the above-mentioned skis, and plus to this, even under water and in the air. It is quite obvious that an attempt to kill many hares from one gun at a time is not always successful. But, frankly, among all the games in which such a concept was embodied, Tomorrow Never Dies - the best option. To create several modes "in one bottle" it was quite possible, and the vinaigrette, fortunately, did not work.
Honestly, being from the graphic side performed on a quite decent level, Tomorrow Never Dies falls short of some revelation. In fact, the graphics are pretty good, but not impressive. Animation sometimes leaves much to be desired, but you quickly get used to its "jerking", and it ceases to be as nervous as it was in Mission: Impossible. Other sad glitches include stuck in objects and walls, which, by and large, is more serious.
The camera is done very well and is equipped with a number of quite dramatic points of view, between which it is perfectly oriented. In this regard, I want to note the fun-realized option of the Bond auto car. It is rather difficult to describe this, of course, it's better to try it yourself, which is what. At the initial stage of development, the authors had serious problems with this matter, but, apparently, they coped well with everything.
Control is clear and smooth enough, without epileptic jerks and adequately corresponds to the variety of movements of agent 007. As well as it is necessary to the hero, he runs, jumps, walks by step, rolls over, crouches - in general, is in perfect sports form. As, however, and its military arsenal.
The developers have completed Bond on the most "I can not" all sorts of spyware and twists. In Tomorrow Never Dies a lot of cool secret weapons are realized, which is absolutely in the spirit of films, it is useless to describe all this laser-exploding-tracking set (especially since these names can not be intelligibly told in Russian) - this should be tried. Try in action, like mines or a sniper rifle with an optical sight. Or as a grenade launcher with night vision goggles (it's all not banter - it's really there THERE!).
Talking about what we will destroy the villainous villains, it would be nice to mention the villains themselves. AI - yes, it will be about him. To my surprise, he was pretty strong. I liked the fact that if an enemy shoots in the head, then he will give the ends immediately and irrevocably, but if you shoot at the body, then you need four hits. Of course, in the Medal of Honor it was even brighter done, but still nice. It is also pleasant that the adversaries do not want to die at all - but they are eager to call for help, and if you have to attack, do not wait for the assault on your forehead. No, the villain will run to you zigzagging, crouching and dodging bullets.
The game process is built in such a way that it can be saved only at the end of the level, destroying the enemy and completing the task. Naturally, this does not always happen really from the first time, so you have to replay. Plus, Tomorrow Never Dies turns out to be too short - just ten missions. Let the gameplay is dynamic enough and active, but this, to put it mildly, is not enough. Only, as they say, you will manage to disperse, then you end. You can, of course, replay on another difficulty, but in fact, everything remains the same. With the complexity of 007 only the characteristics of the opponents' endurance change and your own, and nothing more. In this mode, you can go through the game, only paying the most attention to its espionage elusiveness.
As a result, I want to note that Tomorrow Never Dies turned out to be a very controversial product. Of course, that for fans of Bond, he is included in the category of games "mandatory." This is the best multi-mode game for PlayStation at the moment - there's no doubt about it. However, such shortcomings, as a small length in time, a modest schedule can embarrass some players. However, in general, Tomorrow Never Dies - a very memorable, worthy work, which is really worth playing.