With only a couple of months left before release, MI6 caught up with Scot Bayless, Executive Producer of the new Bond game "Everything or Nothing" at Electronic Arts HQ in Redwood City, California, to find out how things are shaping up..

"Everything or Nothing" - Exclusive Interview 2
19th August 2003

Following last month's interview about how "Everything or Nothing" is moving the Bond games closer to a movie-style experience, MI6 caught up with Scot Bayless again this week to find out more about the pure traditional-gaming aspects.

"Going to third person has led us to hugely expand the range of things Bond can do", Bayless told MI6, "particularly around stealth and hand-to-hand fighting, Everything or Nothing is like nothing you've ever seen from the 007 franchise."

"We've also worked hard to make our gadgets into real tools that you, the player, can use when you want, where you want and how you want. From day one, the goal has been to make the gameplay feel open and to let the players decide the style of play. Do you gunfight those henchmen in the open or spoof them into an ambush? Do you sneak up behind that guy and knock him out or would the silenced P99 be better? Maybe a strobe grenade? It's a long list and it's up to you."

"We've taken some pretty bold steps with multiplayer. We've added Cooperative play - the real deal. We have a full set of uniquely designed cooperative missions that hook onto the fiction of the single player game, but also extend it. We're not just repurposing single player maps. This is a completely separate piece of the game. And yeah, they're real co-op. You have to play as a team or you'll never make it through."

"From the opening level, the game is designed with alternative solutions in mind. The phrase I've used with the team from the outset is "cloud of opportunity". One of the signature characteristics of Bond is his ability to come up with clever solutions on the fly. That's the philosophical underpinning of the design of Everything or Nothing. We want you to be asking yourself, "What would Bond do?" and then reward you for begin clever, stylish and um... shall we say, non risk-averse?"

The last EA gaming outing "NightFire" came in for a little criticism that it was too short for a Bond adventure. How are the team tackling this issue with "Everything or Nothing"?

"We are planning longer missions and there will be a lot more replayability. The depth of the missions goes way beyond anything we've ever attempted before."

Many experienced gamers reported they took very little time in disposing of Bond`s enemies last time around. Extending the game length is one improvement, but what about those with sharpened controller skills?

"The short answer is artificial intelligence. We have some of our best people focused exclusively on NPC behavior. The AI's understand cover and have strong survival instincts. They won't just stand there and let you blast them and they'll try to use cover to flank you. They also work together as teams. They'll cover each other in a fight and even use sophisticated tactics like bounding overwatch. Bond isn't Bond unless he's up against foes that mean something and we've put huge emphasis on making sure the bad guys are smart enough to rate 007's attention."

More levels, longer missions, tougher villains, sharper skills... "Everything or Nothing" is looking like the first game that could rival the classic "GoldenEye". One advantage the new games will always have over the legendary title howeever, is constantly improving hardware. Will the latest title take advantage of the technology generation gap?

"We've pushed our engine technology to the very limits of our target platforms. I honestly don't think I've ever seen a game that looks so good. The character models are beautiful and the special effects are astonishing."

"Everything or Nothing" will be hitting a console near you in November 2003.

Thanks to Scot Bayless and the team at Electronic Arts for their time.

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"Everything or Nothing" - Exclusive Interview 1