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Exclusive: James Bond 007 Everything or Nothing Q&A Feature
Chris Leyton
05/02/2004
We chat exclusively with the developers to get the lowdown on the return of James Bond...
As soon as you hear anything associated with James Bond you can imagine Sean Connery, with his Scottish brogue, saying those famous words, âBond, James Bond, at your serviceâ. Now whether he actually spoke that phrase more than once no-one, apart from Bond fanatics, can inform us. The fact that we have seen many different actors take on that role is also assigned to history but what is not disputed is the fact that the Bond games from EA, of which this is the fifth, are always at the top of gamers âmust haveâ list for many. With each subsequent release new ideas, along with honing up on techniques, ensure a quality product in both presentation and in game action will have players on the edge of their seats.
Armed with nothing but our trusted notepad and ready for the unexpected we chatted with Joel Wade, the Producer of the game.
Before we began we briefed ourselves on what to expect before we delved deeper.
Returning as James Bond is Pierce Brosnan, who will lend his cyberscanned likeness and voice to the character. The rest of the cast will be familiar and new Bond girls, as well as old and new Bond villains. The original script will take players through exciting locales in four continents, including the Valley of the Kings in Egypt and the French Quarter in New Orleans.
An impressive long list of new features makes this a tasty sound game which included a new perspective, new over-the-top hand-to-hand fighting that includes the use of environmental objects such as bottles, chairs, tools, boards, etc. In fact, this sounded like the biggest transformation we had seen.
TVG: What was the main brief for the creation of this game? Was it a conscious decision to add more elements to the game like a third person view and driving segments? What else was on the agenda?
We wanted Everything or Nothing to be deeper, more varied, and more Bond-like than ever before. Moving to a 3rd person camera was a natural progression - not only does it allow the player to actually see Pierce Brosnan running around on screen, but it also opens up new game mechanics such as our new hand-to-hand combat and stealth, which are much less satisfying in first person. To be more like a Bond film, we wanted to keep all the action and over-the-top stunts but also add more tactical thinking to the mix, allowing the player to choose the best tool for an obstacle - be it firepower, gadgets, stealth, or discovering another path.
TVG: Please can you set the scene for our readers pertaining to the new story and what actors have you cast?
At Oxford University's Department of Microtechnology, prototype nanobots have been stolen, and the leading project scientist has disappeared. Though the technology was designed to repair circuits in hazardous environments like nuclear reactors, it could be disastrous if it fell into the wrong hands and was modified to evil ends. Nikolai Diavolo - a ruthless ex-KGB agent- has recently surfaced and may be involved. Bond must travel the globe from the Valley of the Kings in Egypt to the mountains of Peru, the French Quarter of New Orleans and ultimately Red Square to stop Diavolo and his plot to return Russia to it's former Soviet glory.
Without a Bond movie this year we wanted in essence to create our own. We cast this just like a movie - bringing in all the key Bond regulars, including the voice and likenesses of Pierce Brosnan as James Bond, John Cleese as Q, and Dame Judi Dench as M. Willem Dafoe also did an incredible job lending his voice and likeness to the sadistic Russian villain, Nikolai Diavolo. Of course it wouldn't really be Bond without a cast of amazing Bond girls. Supermodel Heidi Klum lends her voice and likeness to the femme fatale Katya Nadanova, Shannon Elizabeth plays American geologist and love interest Serena St. Germaine, while singer Mya plays NSA agent Mya Starling. We were even fortunate enough to have Mya write and perform an original theme song for the game, also titled âEverything or Nothingâ which runs during the opening credit sequence just like the beginning of a Bond film.
TVG: What interaction did you have with MGM studio and who has the final say pertaining to game ideas?
We have a very close working relationship with both MGM and Danjaq (the production company that owns the rights to Bond) and consult with them during all aspects of development from storyline to character design and scoring. Danjaq, for example, was instrumental in introducing us to Bruce Feirstein, a veteran Bond screenwriter who has worked on several of the recent films and was responsible for both re-inventing the M character as a woman (Judi Dench) and creating the unique voice of Pierce Bronsnan's Bond. Bruce ended up writing all our dialogue and giving it an incredible authenticity. In general MGM and Danjaq encourage us to explore new and creative gameplay as long as it's true to Bond.
TVG: What innovative games ideas do you have that you feel encompass all of the Bond qualities of a film and do you see a Bond game as being different from a standard game?
There is a little bit of pressure working on a franchise that is so well known and well loved as Bond. The hard-core fans are always extremely concerned with the way we treat Bond and all the key characters, but it's also incredibly rewarding to add to this amazing legacy.
We're particularly excited about two new features in the game, the hand-to-hand combat and the rappel gadget. For the combat system, we studied the way Bond fights in the movies very carefully and worked really hard to infuse his personality into the game. Unlike a martial artist with elaborate flying kicks, Bond fights by using whatever is nearby to his advantage. Not only can he pick up objects like bottles and use them as weapons, but he'll also smash enemies into walls, slam them into desks, and even throw them over railings if he has the opportunity. The new rappel gadget is also a tremendous amount of fun - not only does it allow the player to climb straight up vertical surfaces via a piton gun attachment, but it also attaches automatically if you need to make a quick descent. Throw in the ability to fire any weapon while attached and it makes for some great gameplay.
TVG: Do you have more latitude in this game as opposed to one based on a film?
The bottom line is that we strive to be as authentic as possible at all times. There are millions of James Bond fans out there that expect and demand nothing less. Fortunately, working with the Bond franchise allows us a tremendous amount of creativity. Unlike a single movie or even a series, Bond has an incredibly rich universe to pull from, spanning 20 films and counting. This wealth of content has allowed us to create our own original storylines for the last several games, drawing from all the best elements. Though we use traditional film screenwriters, we have them craft the plot with the game designers to create a compelling fiction built around our best level designs. Of course we do have some extra latitude simply by virtue of working in the virtual world. Our actors never need stunt doubles, we have no qualms destroying what would be millions of pounds worth of real sets and props (repairing real Aston Martin Vanquishes is not cheap), and of course Bond can die, only to get up and try again.
TVG: Highlight one exciting event in the game that really conjures up all that is the very best in Everything or Nothing?
Bond fights his way through a Peruvian platinum mine to the edge of an enormous cliff only to discover his ally and love interest Serena St. Germaine (played by Shannon Elizabeth) has been captured by the femme fatale Katya Nadanova (Heidi Klum). Hovering nearby in a helicopter, Katya smiles at Bond and throws Serena from the helicopter. Bond has no option but to jump after her.
TVG: You have used two studios in the creation of the game, is this to ensure you get the very best game and also, as always, how technology focused are you?
Splitting the development between the action (Bond on-foot) and vehicle gameplay was a deliberate decision both to push the most out of the existing hardware and tap into the expertise of multiple design groups. By using two different game engines, we were able to optimize perfectly for both styles of gameplay. For example, the action engine created by the Redwood Shores team was designed to render extremely detailed human-sized environments (buildings) and handle complex character animations including seamless blending and lip-synch. In contrast, the vehicle engine created by the Vancouver-based Need for Speed team excels at racing through huge environments (cities) at high speed, with incredible vehicle physics to match.
Building a strong technology base is essential, but of course it's only half the story. We've had teams of dozens of artists, lighters, and animators working for almost two years creating the stunning worlds you see in the finished game. Our character creation process is a perfect example. We start with dozens of high-res photographs of our actors, and often use a cyberscanning process to digitally capture the geometry of their heads. At this point it's up to our incredibly talented character team, led by Darren Pattenden, to take that raw data and turn it into a finished work of art. They'll spend hundreds of hours infusing the character of the person into the digital model, hand-retouching textures, carefully modelling the transparency of hair layers, and setting the perfect luminance or âshininessâ for the skin - all the while keeping it within the technical constraints of the engine. It's a monumental undertaking but the final result is breathtaking - a stunning re-creation of Pierce Brosnan, Heidi Klum or John Cleese.
TVG: Many games have lots of cannon fodder to ensure the player always gets a good feeling. How have you devised the challenge and with say the car chases and other events, how do you gauge the difficulty factor and does game diversity play an important part in this offering?
I can think of few titles out that offer as much gameplay diversity as Everything or Nothing, especially at the quality level we've managed to achieve. As an example, exotic vehicles are a huge part of the Bond experience, and we're giving people a lot to play with this year. For the very first time you'll get to ride a motorcycle (the new Triumph Daytona 600 superbike), fly a helicopter, drive the new 400 horsepower Porsche Cayenne SUV, and of course we wouldn't want to forget the Aston Martin V12 Vanquish. Part of our finale even involves taking the controls of a tank for a battle through Red Square!
Tuning difficulty is always tricky - balancing the right amount of high intensity action with strategic and tactical thinking. This year, however, we invested more time and energy into playtesting than ever before, literally spending hundreds and hundreds of man-hours smoothing out the wrinkles and polishing every last detail. I can honestly say that after 10 years game development, I've never been prouder of a title I've worked on.
Thank you
Car chases, piloting a helicopter, endless confrontations â“ even some superb music to heighten the experience on offer.
With all games from EA you can expect the usual high quality presentation and with the Bond games it is all the varied in game events and surprises, not one but the whole collection that makes them so appealing. You just know that there will be some key actions that have that little extra wow factor that most other games donât.
