From Russia with Love (video game)

James Bond 007: From Russia with Love is a third-person shooter video game developed by EA Redwood Shores and published by Electronic Arts featuring Ian Fleming's secret agent, James Bond, whose likeness and voice is that of Sean Connery. The game is based on the 1957 novel and the 1963 film of the same name.[1] The game follows the storyline of the book and film, but adds in new scenes to make the game more action-oriented and changes the affiliation of the main villains. Additionally, it features many elements of later Bond films to recreate the feel of the era such as the Aston Martin DB5 that debuted in Goldfinger (1964) and the jet pack from Thunderball (1965).[2]

James Bond 007: From Russia with Love
Developer(s)EA Redwood Shores
Rebellion Developments (PSP)
Publisher(s)Electronic Arts
MGM Interactive
Director(s)Stephen Barry
Michael Condrey
Producer(s)Cate Latchford
Sam Player
Designer(s)Bret Robbins
Programmer(s)Russell Brown
Louis Gascoigne
Artist(s)Dave Carson
SeriesJames Bond video games
Platform(s)GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox, PlayStation Portable
ReleaseGameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox
  • NA: November 1, 2005
  • NA: November 15, 2005 (GC)
  • EU: November 18, 2005
PlayStation Portable
  • NA: April 3, 2006
  • EU: April 13, 2006
Genre(s)Third-person shooter
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

From Russia with Love is also notable in that it is the only video game to use Sean Connery's younger likeness as James Bond and the first to include all new voice work by the actor after twenty-two years away from the role,[3] marking his eighth and final performance as Bond across any medium. From Russia with Love is the last James Bond video game by Electronic Arts marketed before they lost the rights to Activision in 2006. It is the second-to-last video game released by MGM Interactive and the last James Bond video game until the release of 007: Quantum of Solace in 2008.

Gameplay
James Bond using the jetpack seen in Thunderball to save Elizabeth Stark.
A still from the game.

From Russia with Love features a third-person multiplayer deathmatch mode.

Plot

One of the changes to the plot of the video game is the absence of the villainous organisation SPECTRE, who played a vital role in the film. Due to legal issues that have plagued the James Bond film series since 1963, the organization was renamed "OCTOPUS" and appears to lack a central leader in the same vein as Ernst Stavro Blofeld. The SPECTRE name was tied up in a long-running dispute over the film rights to Thunderball, between United Artists/MGM and the now-deceased writer Kevin McClory.

The game begins with a pre-title sequence in which Elizabeth Stark, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom's daughter, is kidnapped by OCTOPUS while attending a party. Bond was assigned to attend the party for just such an event, and he defeats OCTOPUS and rescues Miss Stark.

Similar to the film, OCTOPUS has conceived a plan to embarrass British secret service agent 007 for the death of Dr. Julius No from the film Dr. No, in which No was an agent of SPECTRE. The plan involves the theft of a Soviet encoding machine known as the Lektor with the help of a defecting Soviet agent, Tatiana Romanova. However, Romanova is being used by OCTOPUS to lure James Bond into a trap; their ultimate goal is to let him obtain the Lektor and then ambush him for it, killing him in humiliating fashion as well. Romanova is sent by Rosa Klebb, an agent of the KGB (in both the novel and film, an agent of SMERSH) who has secretly defected to OCTOPUS. Her immediate subordinate, Donald "Red" Grant, protects Bond through the first half of the game and attacks him in the second. The game ends with a final assault on OCTOPUS headquarters, during which Grant is fatally shot by Bond.

Cast

Many of the cast from the film version of From Russia with Love return in likeness. Sean Connery, the first actor to portray James Bond in the Eon Productions film series, returned to the role for the first time in 22 years since the unofficial 1983 remake of Thunderball, Never Say Never Again. Connery allowed for his likeness of Bond to be used (appropriately from the 1963 film), and also recorded new voice work for the character at Compass Point Studios in Nassau with engineer Terry Manning. In addition, two new characters were added to the story, voiced by Natasha Bedingfield and Maria Menounos, were added to the main cast (with the actress' likenesses incorporated).

Character Likeness Voiced by
James Bond
Sean Connery
MBernard LeePeter Renaday
Miss MoneypennyLois MaxwellKarly Rothenberg
QDesmond LlewelynPhilip Proctor
Tatiana RomanovaDaniela BianchiKari Wahlgren
Kerim BeyPedro ArmendárizJB Blanc
Rosa KlebbLotte LenyaKarly Rothenberg
Red GrantRobert ShawBrian McCole
KrilencuFred Haggerty
Elizabeth Stark
Natasha Bedingfield
Eva Adara
Maria Menounos

Development

From Russia with Love is the first title developed by Electronic Arts Redwood Shores to use an integrated game engine for the third-person shooter action and driving segments. It was a new engine that was not based on any of the technology used for previous titles in the series but the result was similar to Id Tech 3.[4]

The game was written by Bruce Feirstein who previously worked on the film scripts for GoldenEye, Tomorrow Never Dies and The World Is Not Enough, in addition to the script for the 2004 video game Everything or Nothing. Feirstein would also go on to write stories for future Bond games at Activision, including the 2010 remake of GoldenEye 007, third-person shooter Blood Stone, and 50th anniversary game 007 Legends.

The game's soundtrack was composed by Christopher Lennertz. Additionally, Vic Flick, best known for playing the original guitar riff in the James Bond Theme announced that he contributed to Lennertz's score.

On April 5, 2005, Sean Connery was slated to lend his voice and likeness for the game. Connery said "As an artist, I see this as another way to explore the creative process. Video games are an extremely popular form of entertainment today, and I am looking forward to seeing how it all fits together".[5] On October 20, 2005, From Russia With Love was complete.[6]

Reception

From Russia With Love received "mixed or average" reviews according to aggregating review website Metacritic.[7][8][9][10] Many points were given to the enhanced graphics and play difficulty. The Times gave it a score of four stars out of five and stated that "It's enough to make you toss your trilby on to a hat-rack in delight."[30] However, Maxim gave it a score of six out of ten and stated that though the game was challenging, "it's also sometimes pedestrian, with a host of uninspired levels and dim bad guys ruining what could have been the triumphant return of 007."[29] Within three months of its release, it had sold approximately 277,000 copies.[31]

See also

References
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  2. "EA Confirms, Previews 'From Russia With Love' – James Bond 007 – CommanderBond.net – James Bond At Its Best". 2005-01-31. Archived from the original on April 3, 2005. Retrieved 2008-03-30.
  3. Perry, Douglass C. (2005-04-29). "From Russia With Love". IGN. Archived from the original on 17 December 2005. Retrieved 2005-12-24.
  4. "PS2 Games > From Russia With Love Review". Yahoo!. 2005-11-02. Archived from the original on 2011-07-18. Retrieved 2008-03-30.
  5. "IGN: Sean Connery Back as Bond". Retrieved 27 May 2008.
  6. "IGN Page for the PlayStation 2 version". Retrieved 27 May 2008.
  7. "From Russia With Love for Xbox Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 2012-08-20.
  8. "From Russia With Love for GameCube Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 2012-08-20.
  9. "From Russia With Love for PlayStation 2 Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 2012-08-20.
  10. "From Russia With Love for PSP Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 2012-08-20.
  11. "From Russia With Love". Electronic Gaming Monthly (199). January 2006.
  12. Bramwell, Tom (2005-11-16). "James Bond 007: From Russia With Love Review (Xbox)". Eurogamer. Retrieved 2013-12-07.
  13. Ouroboros (2005-11-09). "James Bond 007: From Russia With Love". GamePro. Archived from the original on 2006-02-15. Retrieved 2013-12-07.
  14. Four-Eyed Dragon (2006-04-04). "From Russia With Love Review for PSP on GamePro.com". GamePro. Archived from the original on 2006-04-10. Retrieved 2013-12-07.
  15. Navarro, Alex (2005-11-01). "From Russia With Love Review". GameSpot. Retrieved 2013-12-07.
  16. Navarro, Alex (2005-11-22). "From Russia With Love Review (GC)". GameSpot. Retrieved 2013-12-07.
  17. Navarro, Alex (2006-04-04). "From Russia With Love Review (PSP)". GameSpot. Retrieved 2013-12-07.
  18. Steinberg, Steve (2005-10-31). "GameSpy: From Russia With Love (Xbox)". GameSpy. Archived from the original on 9 May 2008. Retrieved 2008-03-30.
  19. Steinberg, Steve (2005-10-31). "GameSpy: From Russia With Love (PS2)". GameSpy. Retrieved 2013-12-07.
  20. Speer, Justin (2006-04-04). "GameSpy: From Russia With Love (PSP)". GameSpy. Retrieved 2013-12-07.
  21. Sandoval, Angelina (2006-04-13). "From Russia With Love – PSP – Review". GameZone. Archived from the original on 2008-12-10. Retrieved 2013-12-07.
  22. Perry, Douglass C. (2005-10-31). "From Russia With Love". IGN. Retrieved 2013-12-07.
  23. Castro, Juan (2006-04-04). "James Bond 007: From Russia With Love (PSP)". IGN. Retrieved 2013-12-07.
  24. 1UP Staff (2005-11-01). "From Russia With Love (PS2)". Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine. Archived from the original on 2013-12-07. Retrieved 2013-12-07.
  25. "From Russia With Love (PSP)". Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine: 103. June 2006.
  26. Keller, Matt (2005-12-19). "James Bond 007: From Russia With Love Review (Xbox)". PALGN. Archived from the original on 2011-12-28. Retrieved 2013-12-07.
  27. Ahearn, Nate (2005-11-04). "James Bond 007: From Russia With Love Review (Xbox)". TeamXbox. Archived from the original on 2013-07-20. Retrieved 2013-12-07.
  28. Bemis, Greg (2005-12-15). "From Russia With Love Review (Xbox)". X-Play. Archived from the original on 2005-12-21. Retrieved 2013-12-07.
  29. Semel, Paul (2005-11-01). "From Russia With Love". Maxim. Archived from the original on 2013-12-07. Retrieved 2013-12-07.
  30. Kendall, Nigel (2006-01-21). "From Russia With Love". The Times. Archived from the original on 2006-09-29. Retrieved 2013-12-07.
  31. Levine, Robert (2006-02-06). "Wave of Video Game Fatigue Afflicts Sales, Not Thumbs – New York Times". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-03-30.
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