PS2 Review: From Russia With Love

On its face, FRWL seems like the Sean Connery version of Everything or Nothing, being based on the classic movie. Is it a worthy successor to what may be the best Bond game? There are quite a few similarities: obviously the fact that it's third person, there is gunplay, hand-to-hand combat, some driving, and the difficulty is on par.

There are some things that are better. By far, my favorite is that there are different outfits that can be found throughout the game (the classic white tux, the black tux, Connery's gray suit, the black outfit he wears for stealth applications, among others) and Connery is your Barbie, at any time in the game. The Gold/Plat system is done away with, and replaced with objectives that must be completed to purchase unlocks. It may be positive or negative based on your tastes for difficulty, but I find this to be an easier system, as the objectives need not be completed simultaneously. The unlocks themselves are quite useful, as they can be used to upgrade weapons (whereas in EoN, they gave you longer battery life, which was useful though hard, for me at least, to notice). Multiplayer also feels like a little bit less than the simple diversion that EoN was, if only for the fact that not a single-camera for everyone, which allows more of the single player mechanics (such as wall-hugging) to come into play. Oh yeah, and you get jet packs, which are pretty cool.

"Jetpacks, you say?"

However, there were a few things that didn't measure up to EoN standards. The most glaring omission is co-op. Whereas Eon had top-notch two player action, FRWL totally neglected this. Why? The hand-to-hand combat is less satisfying because instead of it having its own buttons, melee attacks come about when you are pressing the same button to shoot but happen to be closer to the target. Also, the joyous abandon of jumping off a ledge and immediately rappelling was done away with, only to be replaced by the hand-thrown grappling hook (which is cool in its own right, but doesn't seem to fit with a fast-paced, technologically inclined member of Her Majesty's Secret Service).

Comparisons aside, FRWL is a solid game, not just something with a Bond logo like GoldenEye: Rogue Agent. It offers plenty of gameplay in terms of length with enough of a challenge along the way for shooter veterans. Though I haven't gotten there myself, it seems to have a place in the trophy case of the moderate completionist. Although it is not on the same level as EoN, at its current price, FRWL is a thumbs up.