Does 007: The World Is Not Enough live up to the high standards set by that masterpiece of digital entertainment? Alas, the answer is no. TWINE lacks the refined polish and game play innovation of that legendary title. But if you are in the market for an entertaining, spy–themed first–person shooter, TWINE fits the bill nicely. It’s no GoldenEye, but it’s no Hexen either.
First of all, it’s worth noting that EA Games opted for the cheaper N64 cartridge that lacks onboard memory storage, so you’ll need a Controller Pak to save your game. This is a pet peeve of mine that’s annoying from the outset. Shame on you, EA! 007: The World Is Not Enough is a solid first–person shooter with a strong dose of spy–inspired twists. The core game play takes its cues from GoldenEye, in that every level (there are 14 total) presents multiple objectives. The failure to accomplish a single objective (avoiding civilian casualties) will cause the failure of the entire level, such as making one mistake (shooting a friendly librarian), and it’s back to the beginning. Naturally, this makes for challenging and varied action — one minute you are mowing down bad guys, the next minute you are cracking a safe with a cool gadget. The level design is, as mentioned, clever enough to provide some long term challenges. As with GoldenEye, there are three different skill settings that guarantee you’ll be coming back for more.
Did someone say gadget? 007: The World Is Not Enough is loaded with classic Bond gadgetry such as exploding pens and x–ray glasses. There’s no doubt that the gadgets add to the overall Bond atmosphere, although using many of them is no more complex than pushing a button.
All of the Bond characters are here, naturally — there’s Q and M and Moneypenny, all of which have mastered the uncanny ventriloquist’s skill of talking without moving their mouths (007: The World Is Not Enough has plenty of great audio speech, but lacks facial animation). The story unfolds through a series of cutscenes in which Bond chats it up, ventriloquist style, with assorted characters.
Overall, the game play is reasonably varied, but at times it feels a little too much like a shooting gallery. Unlike GoldenEye (and its unofficial successor, Perfect Dark), the AI of 007: The World Is Not Enough is lackluster. Your opponents are not a clever bunch at all, as they charge forward into a hail of bullets without fear. The body count of this game is very high, but of course the same is true for GoldenEye and every other FPS. Yet despite all of the carnage, there is surprisingly little (if any) blood! The action is violent, but not gory. Moving from one level objective to the next is fairly straightforward. Some levels contain actual directional signs (such as Q–Lab This Way) to aid navigation. I for one appreciate the obvious clues, as they eliminate pointless wandering around in the various levels.
007: The World Is Not Enough has been designed for the N64 Expansion Pak, and the graphics are quite good. The game runs with enhanced visuals when using the Pak; however, unlike Perfect Dark, the game is 100 percent playable WITHOUT the Pak. From a graphics standpoint, TWINE would have been a cutting edge N64 product two years ago. However, in the wake of more recent N64 titles this one merely looks good. The environments certainly lack the polish or detail seen in PC FPS titles, and at times they date themselves. There are occasional problems with clipping (a gun poking through a closed door), but overall the framerate is acceptable.
The animation of the assorted characters is not terribly impressive, at least not when compared to GoldenEye. One of the sadistic pleasures of GoldenEye (it’s ok to admit it) was shooting the guards in various parts of their bodies, and watching them react accordingly. Here characters quickly crumple in a heap on the floor; there are none of the agonizing (and bizarrely entertaining) death dramatics of GoldenEye and Perfect Dark.
The audio of 007: The World Is Not Enough is satisfying, if not outstanding, although I won’t be picking up a CD of TWINE MIDI music anytime soon. I found the various weapon noises to be accurate in terms of decibels, but I thought it odd that the classic James Bond theme is not to be found here!
And speaking of weapons, there are more than 40 total weapons and gadgets in 007: The World Is Not Enough, enough to keep the most trigger–happy individuals plugging away for weeks. Overall the weapons are well designed, and feature satisfying discharge and reload sounds.
Overall, 007: The World Is Not Enough is a well–crafted FPS that will satisfy the majority of folk looking for a bloodbath of a N64 title. The general entertainment value vaults TWINE into the upper echelon of N64 first–person shooters. However, the best N64 games in the genre remain GoldenEye 007 and Perfect Dark. If you have mastered these two titles and are itching for a new challenge, then TWINE may indeed — be enough.
"007: The World Is Not Enough is more than adequate."
