The World is Not Enough 100%, and more

PS1 TWINE, that is. Sure, it's nowhere near as good as its classic, award-winning N64 cousin, but it still works quite well on its own. As I noted in my review, if nothing else, I love the Russian Roulette stage. Besides, the PS1 version has to be one of the only decent first-person shooters on that system, which wasn't known for producing them beyond the Medal of Honor series. Alas, there's no multiplayer mode, so all that you get for achieving high scores on any particular level are cheats, such as All Weapons, Invisible Bond, and my favorite, Power Goons. Still, though, I have what Chicken Man once called the Curse of Completionism, and so I just had to see this one through. It was far easier than I anticipated. Missions scores are calculated in four ways: Efficiency, Accuracy, Health, and Time. Most levels are short if you know what you're doing, armor is plentiful (even on the hardest difficulty setting, 007), auto-aim makes marksmanship a breeze, and I'm still not totally sure what efficiency is supposed to imply, and I routinely had low scores in that category. If you don't dally around, always use your Wolfram P2K, and keep yourself clothed in armor, piece of cake, you'll have this one 100% in a day or so.

We certainly hope you're enjoying the current deluge of Bond coverage on Code Redd Net. In addition to the ongoing Nobody Reviews It Better series, we have an upcoming podcast on the subject, as well as our continuing interest in the forthcoming Skyfall film and the accompanying 007 Legends game. Stay tuned for more.

Highlights from E3: Assassin's Creed III

After being in the Holy Land during the Crusades and Renaissance Italy, Assassin's Creed III takes things to the American colonies in the late 1770s. I'm excited to see how this piece of historical fiction coincides with actual events, as I am more familiar with this era than the previous two. Also, one of the things I especially like is the fact that the title character is Native American. With the mystique and combat possibilities that Native American folklore could offer in a video game I am baffled as to why I haven't seen more major games featuring them.

Another thing that I would like to see is naval combat with this era's technology. Good thing this game has that as well:

Full disclosure here: I have actually only played the first Assassin's Creed and it was immensely enjoyable (except for the sitting through cut scenes). Fortunately, it also offers offline players with the curse of completionism that ability to do just that. Unfortunately, the tougher achievements have to do with finding hidden objects that are randomly planted in large environments, which is not always my idea of fun. What was fun, however, was the fact that it combined stealth, parkour, and interesting environments with a great presentation. So, I know I like the first game.

I feel as though my limited exposure leaves me unable to make comments about the series as a whole. However, this one looks good. It is scheduled to be available October 30, 2012.

Thrasher Presents: Thrasher's Top Ten Video Games, Part Four

Looks like the old Code Redd Net synchronicity is kicking in today. Earlier, Chicken Man picked Everything or Nothing as his next game of choice before I could. I would cry copycat, but the truth is we spent almost as much time playing that game together than we did individually. Hopefully this won't be the only time our picks match up.

A recap of my choices so far:

Freedom Fighters (PS2)
Crazy Taxi (PS2)
NHLPA '93 (SNES)


What a dumb question.

Everything or Nothing (PS2)

Talk about accolades; EoN won our awards for both Best Bond Game and Best Co-Op Multiplayer, and was also nominated in the crowded, highly-competitive Best PS2 Game category. In many ways, EoN is like the Citizen Kane of Code Redd Net. It's the rubric by which we judge other Bond games. It's canonical. As I stated in my review, no game with the license to kill can touch this one in terms of, for lack of a better term, 007ness. This game feels like James Bond, especially, as Chicken Man so precisely observed, in the hand-to-hand combat, which perfectly captured the brutality and creativity of the films. And Chicken Man will attest to this, some of our fondest memories are of playing co-op together for hours. I may have to go back and play a round or two of this tonight. I assuaged my own Curse of Completionism with this game last year, and consequently I haven't had a reason to pick it back up since. This seems like the perfect opportunity to do so.

From Russia With Love 100%, and more

You know the curse of completionism that afflicts us. I'm proud to say there's one less game that keeps me up at night: From Russia With Love is absolutely, totally, and decidedly destroyed. That means all awards, all schematics, and all attache cases. Furthermore, this means I have completed all of the Bond games for PS2; Agent Under Fire, Nightfire, Everything or Nothing, and now this. I must say, FRWL is considerably easier to 100% than any of the aforementioned games. I echo Chicken Man's assessment of this game, only stopping to add that cutscenes cannot be skipped in the single-player campaign, even if you have already completed the stage in question. In any event, Bond fans should pick the game up; matter of fact, pick all four of them up online or at your favorite used game emporium and you probably won't spend more than $12-13 max. And if you need assistance in completing this (or any other game, really) I hasten to link you over to the FRWL GameFAQs page for all sorts of guides and strategies.

Now, it seems as though Chicken Man is having a bit of trouble finishing up those gold and platinum awards in Nightfire. Considering the logistical distance between us at the present moment, I have decided to create a series of video walkthroughs for the later levels to assist him in dealing with his completionist impulse. These videos will be released as part of our Code Redd Net Home Video collection, tentatively titled, "Chicken Man, In the Hour of Need" and may feature additional games in the future.

Stay tuned to Code Redd Net for future updates, as well as our weekly feature, "Friday From the Archives" and a review of the unintentionally hilarious Driv3r.