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World domination. The same old dream. Our asylums are full of people who think they're Napoleon. Or God. And only one man can stop them. That man is Bond. James Bond.
If ever a company could pull off wearing Gucci, it would be EA. The megalomaniac corporation is using all of its forces to bring another suave suit into an adventure of global significance. (You know, EA is getting so big that we think it wouldn't be a bad villain for the next Bond film.) We recently had an inside look at the game, and have a slew of new details to create a better picture of EA's first-person shooter.
EA has secured the exclusive rights from MGM Interactive and Danjaq, LLC, for many years to develop and publish multiple titles using the Bond character, and The World Is Not Enough is the first in that deal. The PC and PS2 versions will be built out of the Quake III engine, enhanced for the international superspy's PS2 debut. Using the formula that Rare employed so well with Goldeneye on N64, EA's internal team is implementing a mixture of stealth and action elements into the gameplay across 10 missions (which will probably each have sub-missions of their own) for the PS2 game. TWINE is based on the movie of the same name, but EA is taking creative license to enrich gameplay situations and is adding new villains into the mix. According to its own producers, the gameplay involves situations in which more than one solution to a dilemma can get Bond out of a dangerous situation.
Although most industry folks were sure that EA had received PS2 development kits aeons ago, TWINE's development team assured IGNPS2 that it put its hands on a dev kit right around January 2000, just like everyone else. With any early game, you have to use a little imagination, and TWINE PS2 is no different. As you enter the first room, you can pummel stationery 3D enemies with every last bit of ammo and they don't move an inch. What you could clearly see are some great gameplay elements from previously successful first-person shooter console games. Bullets literally spray across the room like a rooster tail from a carving jet ski. The bullets hit the walls and leave permanent marks on every surface. And from what we understand, bullet spray may hit certain surfaces and bounce off, hitting unsuspecting victims.
Perhaps the best reason that reflecting bullets is important is because the environments are interactive. While EA hasn't worked out all of the details just yet, the all too familiar FPS explosive barrels will play a big part in your ways in and out of a tricky situation. Peg a barrel in a 10-on-one situation and you may get out a live with only a little damage, instead of having to start all over.
Of course, a game that stars James Bond has got to be packed with action. So, rightly, the special effects must impress, too. From our early look at the game, these don't disappoint in the least. The level of special effects in this early demo was quite spectacular. Exploding barrels with shrapnel and fire was one thing, but the wisps of smoke and dust were quite impressive. And with spraying bullets, the sight of sparks and particles was undeniably fancy.
When EA first announced TWINE, it said it wanted to work on enemy AI, and creating a game that enabled players to figure out more than one way to beat a certain level. In its first step in that direction, the team is implementing complex villains. The enemy models in TWINE have as many as 25 sections, or targets, on them that react to your gunfire. That's a mammoth amount of reaction, folks. You could shoot an enemy in the shoulder, and he'll grab it in pain, or you could hit his foot, knee, hand, elbow, ankle...you get the picture, the list is huge. That doesn't mean that he dies either, he'll keep coming until you kill him dead.
With the PlayStation 2 providing far more power than most console developers accustomed to using in development, several aspects of the design are immediately apparent. The ceilings are twice as high as they were before, the rooms are twice as big. The models the team is using for the game are very similar is not exactly like those used in the movie studio. The overall effect of this shift in size is one of great luxury and freedom, even if the gameplay doesn't actually take advantage of the space at this point.
TWINE sets gamers in several international locales, including the Caucasus Mountains, Istanbul, and Baku, and pits them in many different situations, involving skiing, head to head shooting battles, and a wild foot race through Istanbul. EA also reports that the targeting system has been improved over Tomorrow Never Dies, and that as many as 20 weapons are available for pure destruction. A few of the confirmed weapons feature Bond's trusty PK99, a BGK-74 Russian assault rifle (with grenade launcher), and an AR-36 Tactical Assault Rifle (with scope).
A handful of Bond's allies will come into play during the course of the missions, including Dr. Christmas Jones, and possibly the late Q, M, the John Cleese character, R, and a few others. They will help you through the intelligently designed missions and complex levels. EA's producers said that this game differs from other Bond games, and other FPS, in that gamers can complete a mission in more than one way. Various forms of clever thinking and spontaneity will reward you, just like in real Bond movies. Intelligently designed interactive backgrounds will play a key part in how players complete their missions.
And taking a cue from Goldeneye's everlasting gobstopper gameplay, EA is planning to multiplayer capability for The World is Not Enough. With the PlayStation2's horsepower the game will at least be two player, but it also could include a four-player option. EA was conspicuously vague about the number of players who could take part -- two, four, or more -- as that side of the gameplay is still quite early. But we know for sure that TWINE won't be an Internet-ready game for the PS2, as Sony has yet to consolidate its Net plans. Could we see a four-player reminiscent of Rare's famous treat? I sure hope so. We know the PS2 can handle it, as developers such as Free Radical Design are working their magic on Timesplitters. EA surely has the development team to perform the same tricks. The question is how much texture detail is the team willing given up and how much slowdown does the team think the player accept. We'll see.
Perhaps the most significant information about the game is that EA is deep enough into development to bring the game out on PS2 by year's end 2000. That means this Christmas, folks. Make all the puns about how often Christmas comes, but get it all out of your system before the game hits stores -- after that, Bond is all about sex and action. Just how the man likes it.
--Douglass C. Perry