PS1 Review: Tomorrow Never Dies (1999)

When I first heard, way back in 2004, that Everthing or Nothing was going to give us a third-person 007 for the first time since PS1's Tomorrow Never Dies, I was worried. Thankfully, I was wrong about that one, but those fears were not totally unfounded. TND is a very flawed game. Not only is it extraordinarily ugly (even for a PS1 game) but trying to control Bond only makes matters that much worse. Aiming your weapon is a tedious exercise at best, and even worse, weapons cannot be reloaded manually. Stealth is practically nonexistent, and I'm not sure if this is by design or a result of the bland and foggy levels that make stealthy approaches impossible. Fortunately, though, the tedious third-person shooting is broken up a bit by the requisite driving missions. While Bond's car is slow and slippery, the real highlight of TND is the skiing sections. Truthfully, they are the very best skiing missions in any 007 title (and here, I admit, it only compares the skiing in both versions of The World is Not Enough). Even the clips from the movie that often bracket the missions are disappointing. And, of course, if you stick with TND long enough to finish the final mission, the complete lack of multiplayer features means this game goes on the shelf rather quickly and never gets dusted off. Bond fans might be moderately entertained, but everyone else can just play The World is Not Enough for their James Bond PS1 fix.