Unfortunately, most 007 games operate within fairly predictable first person shooter sensibilities, acting like children dressing up for the first time in James Bond's expensive tuxedo, livery poorly tailored for them. Nothing fits the license besides a liberal sprinkling of 007 logos, the signature theme music, and a few Rolex-sponsored watch gadgets to momentarily relieve players from simply shooting seemingly limitless thugs with an assortment of automatic weaponry. The World is Not Enough fits this bill for the most part, except for an exceptional, and altogether too short, excursion into generic unconventionality. In a mission titled "Russian Roulette," Bond must earn $100,000 at a casino in order to press Valentin Zukovsky for information about the activities of a terrorist known as Renard. After sneaking past the lax security detail and acquiring a $25,000 credit voucher, players step up to an empty blackjack table for a high-stakes game, continuing to gamble until the 100K objective has been completed. Amass an excessive bankroll and MI6 will issue a stern warning through your phone. Touches like these, quite uncommon still in contemporary Bond games, distinguish TWINE as a uniquely authentic 007 experience, however nascent in execution. The remaining 10 missions entertain in a more visceral fashion, alternating between levels of stealth and messy firefights. Short movie clips bracket the similarly short missions, blending sometimes seamlessly, sometimes haphazardly with the missions themselves. No multi-player mode means the PS1 version of TWINE fails to extend its lifespan beyond one or two times through, except for those curious few Bond aficionados interested in alternatives to the Call of Duty mindset of the more recent Quantum of Solace, Blood Stone, and Goldeneye 007.
P.S. Enjoy a video of some dufus playing through "Russian Roulette":
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