But somewhere along the line, Tomorrow Never Dies fell through the cracks. All of the ideas that should have been going for it turned like a double edge sword into negatives. TND doesn't come to close to Goldeneye. It doesn't have four-player -- or even two-player -- multiplayer modes, it's short (10 missions), and it's awkward in control, weapon accuracy, and just simple motion. Despite wanting to avoid comparisons, it's nearly impossible for TND to shake the legacy of Goldeneye. But if one could turn back the clock, and pretend that Goldeneye never existed, TND would be an average game at best. An average game with a lot of missed potential.
Gameplay
And that leaves us where? With only 10 levels, playable in either agent or 007 levels of difficulty, the game has a minimal amount of depth, no multiplayer levels, no stealth to speak of, and is in the end, really just a vehicle for great music and presentation. In the third-person perspective, players can walk, sneak, run, or sidestep in various environments while shooting or setting off various bombs, explosives, and other cool things that Bond loves to do. The game is not as full of secrets and powerups as you would expect from a Bond title. And it's clear that as you progress through this simplistic, bare-bones shooter that the real act of gameplay isn't to act like a spy at all, but to run and gun, shoot and sidestep, and do it all over again.
Loosely following the movie script of Tomorrow Never Dies, James Bond must stop the power-hungry Elliot Carver from creating World War III and return the world to safety. Creative license was taken to create play areas that didn't exist in the movie, such as the skiing sections, which is a nice treat. The levels range from snowy Russia in which you can ski to cars scenes (where you can drive the BMW 750I) on land to lots of walking and shooting levels, including playing as Wai Lin (Michelle Yeoh) in Hong Kong. The intro level that transforms into an scene is awesome, and is taken directly from the movie, including Cheryl Crow's lead song and the bizarre trademark silhouettes of nude, undulating women.
There are a fair amount of gadgets and guns to employ, and they do supply that certain urge to destroy and kill (videogame style, of course). Bond gets hold of an assault rifle, a sniper rifle, an auto 9MM, SMG 45, gas bombs, GL 40, a rocket launcher, an infrared sniper rifle, and STK mines. It's a good selection of weapons that players will enjoy. Gadget wise, he's got cuff links, a satellite link camera, a fingerprint scanner, an STK mine detonator, and various med kits. Each of these performs its own function, but none are them stand out for an honorable mention.
The weapons are decent fun, but controlling them is a different thing altogether. The accuracy of the sniper rifle. among other guns, is screwed up. Players seem to shoot higher, or lower, than they should to hit the desired spot. Other times they seem to aim directly at the head of an enemy and still miss, which is probably due to standing too far away. The actual Virtua Cop-style targeting icon that shows up for the handgun is cool looking, but despite its good looks, it seems to cater to first time gamers, not diehards. It's huge! Of course, since there are two levels of difficulty, one is much easier than the other, and so diehard gamers can challenge themselves with that. 007 mode is very hard, but it's not because the missions are any different, it's simply because your enemies are better at aiming and take more hits to kill. Interestingly enough, 007 mode is selectable at the very start of the game.
Controlling Bond is a hit-and-miss venture, too. Bond moves around in third-person perspective, wherein the camera swings around rigidly behind, following his every step. The overall effect is like turning Tomb Raider into a pure action game. It works to a degree, but not to the level that gamers are going to want. At least not this one. You can duck and roll, too, but it's till to no avail, because it doesn't add to the feeling of playing as a spy. And to add to the awkwardness of the controls, even walking over simple power-ups can be a task.
Disappointment continues with the skiing and driving sessions. The skiing game, which I was very interested in for the last two years, boils down to a simple 989 Studios 3Xtreme downhill event, in which you simply poke at the bad guys who attack from all sides, in the attempt to knock you down. It's a sad level. Relatively easy med packs litter the forest, and the enemies never stand a real chance of doing any harm. But the level begs a bigger question: Does a veteran spy poke at other bad guys with his ski poles? Wouldn't Bond do something cooler? Like, stab them, or force them off cliffs or into trees? (You'll be lucky if that happen here.) Or how about spin around and use his poles to shoot projectiles at the bad guys? Well, that's the way it is in The Spy Who Loves Me, anyway. The skiing section is the biggest area of missed opportunities.
The single driving event is lackluster as well. Bond uses his night vision sniper rifle to take out a handful of enemies before talking with Q, who just happens to be in a nearby hut, to explain how the car works. Then Bond chases a bunch of bad guy cars and avoids their bombs along the street, and shoots tons of missiles and bullets into their cars like an old-style Spy Hunter game. Unlike Spy Hunter, it's 1999, and the car doesn't move as fast or play as well. It's totally uninspired.
Graphics
Visually, TND is an unfinished, disturbing title that's wracked with problems. Seams litter the skiing sessions and walking areas, and clipping problems can be seen in just about every level. The animations for dying enemies are not varied at all, but enemy AI is totally transparent, too. That's just a whole separate can of worms that I don't want to get into. Bond's animation is quite rough, too. He lacks a smooth frame rate, causing his motion to look choppy and unnatural.
In terms of overall presentation, TND is quite impressive. The opening sequence (in which Bond jumps off the cliff and parachutes to safety, followed by the movie like intro) is well done. The mission briefings are quite nice, too. They are almost all bells and whistles, of course, but at least these parts of the game make you feel like a spy...sort of.
Sound
Perhaps there is something to rave over, the music. The best part of the TND rings like loud, clear bell on a quiet night. It meets the expectations that Goldeneye set up, for better or worse, for TND. In fact, the music here is better than Goldeneye's. Tommy Tallarico's various Bond themes play perfectly throughout the game with the an edge and clarity that fits the Bond game perfectly.
