One of Bond's most impressive and fun gadgets to use is the rappel gun. This is a pistol and grappling hook that can be used to scale appropriate smooth surfaces (the usual selective use gripes apply) or instantly rappel down cliffs or walls simply by diving off them. As Bond runs over the edge, the camera impressively flips over his shoulder to realign itself down the cliff face. Bond can then absail down or climb up at leisure, utilising any of his inventory weapons. This excellent addition serves up one of Everything or Nothing's most spectacular levels early on, where Bond rappels down the entire surface of an industrial site perched atop a dam, Universal Soldier style, stopping on ledges along the way to give some of Her Majesty's enemies a quick doing over. It is at moments like these that Everything or Nothing is most impressive - when it succeeds in giving the player eye-opening set pieces.

Other levels involve Bond in some vehicular based action. These, unfortunately, are a little more ropey, with falling prey to the usual multi-style game problems. Some offer spectacular fun, with the first car section seeing Bond tear along chasing a Soviet-era train. One motorbike section offers an intense minute long race to a nearby airport, culminating in a runway pursuit to get aboard a transport plane. Simply put, the vehicle sections succeed where they are short, set-piece filled and intense. They fail badly, however, when the game mechanic becomes more stolid. One level effectively plays as a car-bound section, where Bond slowly drives around avoiding guards with the car's cloaking device. Likewise, the helicopter sections feel slower and tacked on, lacking the pace and excitement of the short motorbike and car chase sequences.

This dichotomy shows up throughout the entire game. Everything or Nothing gets it right when it involves short levels, punchy and great set pieces - of which there are plenty. When it tries to be clever and more thought out, the game suffers because beneath it all the game play is frankly a bit unrefined. The foot sections suffer from a very poor and counter-intuitive targeting system, that has to be fought to progress on the harder difficulty levels. It can be overcome, but a game this polished needs to have a control system that does it justice - instead, targeting amidst multiple enemies becomes extremely difficult. The slower vehicle sections, however, are the real low point, being overlong and not particularly exciting when compared with the rest of what is on offer. One or two levels are also prohibitively difficult, even on medium or low difficulty - the limousine-ramming New Orleans level being a particular pain in the posterior. Indeed, progress was only achieved when the limousine crashed and flipped upside down on its own, allowing a leisurely despatching after catching it up.

It's a tough game to rate, though, because while there are many negative features to the game, when Everything or Nothing is firing on all cylinders nothing really comes close. It suffers the usual problems of games that try to pull off too many tricks - it's a jack of all trades, but master of none. The foot sections have been done better by Splinter Cell. The vehicle sections have been bettered by many other games. But no single game offers quite the same package, wrapped in the EA polish and featuring some of the best cut-scenes, animation and some of biggest names in showbiz. Ultimately, you'll know yourself if you're the type of gamer that will like this title - if licensed EA produce is anathema to you, steer clear, but if you find yourself hankering for some unadulterated fun without serious gaming pretensions, then Everything or Nothing could be for you.

78%

By Nick McCrea