Electronic Arts World IS not Enough

Description: Considering the success Rare's GoldenEye 007 has had on the Nintendo 64, Electronic Arts designers had their work cut out for them in making another 3-D shooter using the James Bond license. The World Is Not Enough is a smashing success in terms of i.... Read More

Description: Considering the success Rare's GoldenEye 007 has had on the Nintendo 64, Electronic Arts designers had their work cut out for them in making another 3-D shooter using the James Bond license. The World Is Not Enough is a smashing success in terms of its graphics and sound, as well as in how it weaves the movie's plot into the gameplay. Unfortunately, this Bond game has just enough flaws to keep it from achieving classic status. If you've seen the movie on which this is based, the game's levels will all be familiar. There has been a kidnapping and it's up to you to scour the globe, rescue the victim, and untangle a twisty plot laced with betrayal. It wouldn't be a Bond game without myriad gadgets to help you along the way, so there's plenty of stuff to play with, including a multifunction laser/stun gun/grappling hook watch, safecracking equipment, and x-ray glasses. Weapons range from Bond's signature 9 mm automatic to shotguns, assault rifles, and everything in between. The game takes full advantage of the N64 Expansion Pak to pump up the graphics, and the game uses speech compression to give all the characters spoken dialogue. This makes the missions far more engaging than they would otherwise be, but brain-dead enemies really spoil the fun. The average Bond movie henchmen don't exactly have Einstein- caliber IQs, but shooting wave after excruciating wave of soldiers who do little more than blindly rush at you is just tedious. At least most missions throw innocent guards and bystanders into the mix so that even if the enemy isn't thinking clearly, you still have to be on your toes to prevent civilian casualties. The World Is Not Enough is a solid game that should appeal to fans of the movie, but stick with GoldenEye 007 or Perfect Dark if you want to experience a truly good 3-D shooter on the N64. --T. Byrl Baker Pros: Good graphics, and the clear speech is a nice touch Tough missions are filled with fun objectives The need to protect innocents adds a lot of tension to the game Cons: Don't even think about it if you don't have an Expansion Pak Games must be saved to a memory card Generic opponents don't provide much of a challenge Minimize