Genre: Action
Perspective: 1st-person, FPS
Gameplay: Shooter
Narrative: Spy / Espionage
Published by: Electronic Arts
Developed by: Black Ops Entertainment
Released: 2000
Platforms: PlayStation (PSX, PS1), Nintendo 64 (N64), Game Boy Color (GBC)
For more than three years has passed since that momentous moment, the code of the world saw an unrivaled, unique Golden Eye. In 1997, the creation of the English publishing house Rare made a real revolution in the world of video games. The brainchild of Rare sold out in huge numbers and is still considered by many to be the best game about 007. Since then, the glory of Golden Eye clearly does not give rest to game developers of this genre. From year to year in the market of video games there are products, which took as a basis the sensational project. Later on the players were presented Medal of Honor and Tomorrow Never Dies. Rare itself recently recently brought to our attention a clone of its own game called Perfect Dark. But none of these projects could not surpass the magnificence of the Golden Eye.
But just recently, namely the eighth of November, a new creation of Electronic Arts called The World Is Not Enough (TWINE) appears in our field of vision. The novelty was based on the eponymous film about the secret agent 007 with Pierce Brosnan in the main role. We can not say that the creation of EA is doomed to complete failure, but for the title of hit, even, rather, for the title of just a good game, TWINE clearly does not hold out. Obviously, the team of developers from Black Ops decided to just create something of this kind, but only that this "something" bears a big name that will provide the company with good fees. Even with the naked eye, one can immediately see that the game was created in a hurry, and that no one really thought about the quality of the final product. True, compared to last year's Tomorrow Never Dies, there have been quite noticeable shifts for the better, but still the game and close will not reach the level of the Ninetovo Golden Eye. But still you should not think that there is nothing good in TWINE, and that it should not be paid attention to. Just Golden Eye was so good that almost every game of this genre is fading against its background
So what is TWINE? Before us is a typical first-person shooter, in which the player will have to overcome eleven levels, shooting at those who meet on his way. As I said, TWINE took as a basis the recently published self-titled film by Michael Apted (Michael Apted) and completely transferred it to a 3D polygon world. Communication between levels is carried out with the help of video inserts from the film. The very atmosphere of the game is a little disappointing, since from the point of view of the graphic performance it is far from perfect. TWINE uses the same engine that was used in Tomorrow Never Dies, but now it is significantly improved and improved. Disappointing is the fact that the levels are too short, although they are pretty well worked out. In my opinion, in his creation, Black Ops does not pay due attention to detail. Unfortunately, those rare moments when the textures in the levels really look good, the player probably will not notice - all the stages in TWINE have to be completed in a certain time, so most often the player will have to run out of control in a hurry and make some tasks in a hurry.
Now about the models of the characters of the game. Alas, there is obvious obvious defect on the part of the creators of TWINE! All the characters are similar to each other as twins, and their animation leaves much to be desired. Character models look too simple, too primitive to play this level. Artificial intelligence of enemies is simply completely absent. It will be very easy for you to creep under the enemy's nose and go unnoticed, or he will look directly at you or through you and not notice your presence. The role of AI creators of the game is clearly underestimated. Fortunately, the situation improves slightly when you play at the level of complexity 007. The merits of the game include the fact that unlike the Golden Eye and Tomorrow Never Dies, TWINE presents several fairly original levels, analogues that have never met in past games this series. First of all, I'll tell you about the level called Russian Roulette. At its core, this is not even an action-level. Here, the player will have to play in a casino in order to win 25,000 dollars, which will not be an easy task for a beginner. At a level called Night Watch, our hero will have to tiptoe almost tiptoe from point A to point B, lulling on the way of the guards. City of Walkways Turncoat and Meltdown will present the player with the opportunity to shoot a lot from the rocket launcher. The goal is to shoot down helicopters. These levels are able to diversify the game process quite well and make some kind of originality in TWINE. In TWINE, we can choose from a large number of very diverse weapons, most of which we already know from the previous games of the 007 series, as well as many different spyware from Bond's arsenal.
In terms of sound design, TWINE is also not ideal. After sitting in front of the screen of your TV and listening to the music of the game, you will understand that most of the tunes are one or another variation of the main musical theme. To the voice of the main characters, the creators of the project also did not show proper attention. The voices of the characters are either too loud or too quiet and illegible. True, we must pay tribute to the fact that the sound effects are performed very qualitatively: from time to time your enemies will talk among themselves, and in the case of using the Dolby Surround system, it will be easy to understand which side of the enemy you are approaching. It is also gratifying that the management in the game is sensitive enough and responsive, but it also has a drawback - sometimes it is very inconvenient to change weapons, which, in some situations, it is possible to hinder and make you nervous.
The merit is that the team tried to diversify the game process to the maximum, creating eleven highly different levels, in which you will not only have to shoot on the path of your numerous enemies, but also play a Russian roulette, ski down the steep snow-covered mountain slope, free the hostages, neutralize the bomb, study the submarine and perform a whole lot of different tasks, so that in general, you will not have to be bored! Although it should be noted that the levels in TWINE are rather short and light, so the average gamer can easily go through the game in a couple of days.
To summarize, I must say that in general TWINE is not a complete failure of its creators. And although this project even remotely does not reach the level of quality that Rare introduced to us in its time, TWINE is still much better than last year's Tomorrow Never Dies. Undoubtedly, the developers of Black Ops tried to create something new, something special, they wanted their project to become popular in the gaming industry, but what they dreamed of, unfortunately, did not come true in the final product. Perhaps the creators of the game did not have enough experience and Rare-craftsmanship. TWINE is too short, too unfinished and is, in fact, just an ordinary shooter. No more and no less. The game is clearly designed for fans of the endless adventures of James Bond, those who, for the sake of magic numbers 007 on the box, will be ready to accept it as it is. If you decide to still try yourself as a secret agent and at the same time want to enjoy a really thoughtful and elaborate gameplay - choose though an old, but still unmatched Golden Eye.
Unfortunately, The World Is Not Enough, unlike the Golden Eye, will not make a breakthrough in the gaming industry. It is not worth waiting for anything absolutely new from her. This is another not very successful game with the 007 digits in the title "(Based on the site materials)
Interestingly: The version of the game for Nintendo64 is more in line with the spirit of the legendary game (again for N64): GoldenEye 007. The version for PlayStation and N64 has a number of significant differences.