The forthcoming James Bond game "From Russia With Love" has been unveiled at E3. MI6 has the full report and pictures...

FRWL E3 Report
19th May 2005

Look up! Look down! Look out! Well you don't really have to look that hard to find the latest James Bond game "From Russia With Love" at the EA Games stand at E3 Expo 2005.

A gigantic banner of Sean Connery as 007, using artwork from original 1963 posters, stands aloft the playable demo booths.

Bond is back with a bang this year, and "From Russia With Love" is enjoying a place amongst EA's front line-up this time around - a marked improvement on the last couple of shows.

 


Above: E3 2005 opened its doors on Wednesday.


007 was drawing a lot of attention on the opening day of the show (Wednesday 18th May 2005) at the Los Angeles Convention center - home to the E3 Expo. Two different demo levels from the forthcoming game were available to play.


Above: The EA Games stand has James Bond in their front line-up of titles.


Above: Pre-show setup emphasises just how big Connery was at E3
 

London
Taken from early on in the game's story, this demo mission sees 007 at a party on the banks of the River Thames, when suddenly guards burst in an take a woman hostage. Shooting is the order of the day as you dispatch goons left, right and centre using a tuned up aiming system that is far superior to "Everything or Nothing" even at this early stage.

Further on in to the mission players get to experience the "Thunderball" jetpack for the first time, and the controls are extremely easy for such a tricky piece of equipment. The action then shifts into an aerial battle with a helicopter (holding the girl hostage) around the Big Ben clock tower. Just as 007 takes care of the helicopter, a cut scene jumps in to show Bond rescuing the girl from the flaming wreck - just in time as usual.

Zurich
The second demo level comes from the warehouse location set in Zurich. The large warehouse, containing dozens of cars and even smelting equipment, is the scene for a large firefight. In the demo 007 is equipped the with jetpack (again) to fly over the gantry's and shoot the goons from afar. In the final version of the game it is expected that players can drive the Aston Martin DB5 around the warehouse as well, making full use of the "optional extras".


Above: The two demo levels were set in London (left) and a warehouse in Zurich (right).

The additional element to this mission over the previous London demo is the Q-copter. As covered in the MI6 March Report, this little device is a predecessor to the Q-spider from "Everything or Nothing". The mini drone helicopter can be used for recon as it comes with a remote CCTV type function, as well as a deadly weapon when the device explodes.

Progress Report
So far "From Russia With Love" is looking good, and even the demo missions look better than "Everything or Nothing" was at the same phase of its development, with extra polish and style over 007's last game.

 


Above: The stand nears completion

The game engine, running on the RenderWare platform, is smooth and the graphics already exhibit super explosions and spot effects. Some elements are still missing, such as the character voice-overs (film quotes of Connery were used in their place) and due to the demo being cut down versions of final missions, it is difficult to assess how varied the eventual gameplay will be. No demo of the vehicle elements were available. The aiming system is already impressive, with the new zoom function working well - enabling players to target specific areas such as head shots, radios, or even grenades clipped onto soldiers belts. The promised much-improved AI was also difficult to assess during these two demos, and as it usually only comes to fruition later in the development cycle, gamers will have to wait a little longer to see if EA deliver.

Development of "From Russia With Love" will take place at EA Redwood studios (USA) and will ship in October/November 2005 on Microsoft Xbox, Sony PlayStation 2 and Nintendo GameCube. Versions for Nintendo DS and Sony PSP are yet to be officially confirmed.

Stay tuned to MI6 for the latest unrivalled coverage of "From Russia With Love" (VG) starring Sean Connery as James Bond 007.

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