From Russia With Love Review

Multiplayer

From Russia With Love also has a multiplayer mode that is entertaining for a few hours. There is no online play, which is somewhat disappointing, but the splitscreen play is fairly solid. You’ll find a bunch of levels and play modes including standard deathmatch as well as capture the flag and a mode where everyone gets to use a jetpack. There are also “Bond Moments” just like the single player game where you’ll get to relive some classic Bond shenanigans. The only problem with all of this is that the same lock-on shooting mechanic as the single player game is available in multiplayer so matches boil down to seeing who can lock on the quickest and pull the trigger and there is pretty much nothing you can do about it if you are on the short end of the stick. It is somewhat entertaining for a while, but you’ll likely only play the multiplayer once before it goes on the shelf for good.

Graphics and Sound

Graphically, From Russia With Love is impressive in some areas and just run-of-the-mill in others. The character models, particularly James Bond himself, look absolutely amazing. The skin actually has flaws and wrinkles rather than looking like smooth plastic in other games. Also, the clothing just looks really nice. There are some great looking explosions and weapon effects as well. Unfortunately, even though the levels are fairly close to their counterparts in the movie, there is a definite lack of detail that doesn’t match up too well with the nice looking characters inhabiting them. Another complaint is that the animation during gameplay is pretty robotic and doesn’t look too slick at all.

The sound is pretty good all around. The classic James Bond theme and all of the rest of the music is great and used in all of the right places. Sound effects for weapons and explosions are also well done. For the most part the voice cast does a good job, but Sean Connery’s performance leaves a lot to be desired. It is super cool to have THE James Bond come back and play the role, but he is a lot older now and his Scottish accent is thicker and it just doesn’t match the young look of Bond in the game.

Bottom Line

From Russia With Love delivers a lot of the thrills you expect from the James Bond license, but it lacks that little extra oomph and spark that have always made Bond special. The vehicle levels are uninspired and the game overall is too darn easy and simple for its own good. There is still a lot of fun to be had and the game definitely has its moments, but the fact remains that it isn’t as good as EA’s last third-person Bond game Everything or Nothing. With all of that said, die hard James Bond fans will still really get a kick out of it, but for everyone else I have to recommend renting it first or picking it up when it hits the bargain bin.