If you haven’t been living in a closet for the last few decades then you more than likely can piece together the storyline—even if you haven’t seen the movie this game is based on. You play the lead as James Bond, a secret agent in the employ of her majesty’s secret service, who has to save the world from an unscrupulous, megalomaniac who seeks to use his media/computer empire to unleash disasters upon the world so that he can be the first to cover them. Maybe a good anti-trust suit would work better than Bond, but who’s to judge? At any rate, your job as always 007 is to save the world. Her majesty is counting on you.

Starting off with the first level, you move into more and more difficult terrain during the game’s course. Your first mission involves painting a satellite dish in the arctic with a laser so the British can knock it down with missiles, then escaping down the mountain on skis parachuting off the cliff at the end. You’ve got it, from there on out I was addicted to this game. Another level has you sniping enemies, then racing your BMW down a deserted mountain road taking out each car you pass (mind you, this one is more difficult than it would seem).

Now the graphics aren’t terribly involved, but they’re decent on an action-adventure level. Of course, you get to see cuts from the movie in the game, which replace those low-budget FMVs that can be found in other games. Also, some of the weapons and gadgets you get to use can be cool, e.g. <drool> the night-vision sniper rifle </drool>. But, pretty much don’t expect the graphics to be a central aspect of this game. More than anything, this game is fun. For some reason Bond-style action appeals to my inner, male side. Now, if only I could stand to drink a vodka martini.

One of the major drawbacks for me (being one of those who rented the N64 to just play Goldeneye) is that there is no way to play a four player session in TND. The only thing this game has to offer is the adventure mode with two different levels of expertise, ‘Agent’ and ‘007’. Let’s put it this way, go through the game on the ‘Agent’ level and you’ll have a hard enough time completing it, then see if you want to jump into ‘007’ land. Oh, and another gripe of mine about this game is that at times when you’re unable to walk past something even when it seems like you have plenty of room. What I mean is that the space relationships between objects and the character (this is you) are off a little. For me this became a major drawback, especially when you have to dodge bullets and other firepower.

The default key configuration in this game outright sucks. Like its cousin on the dreaded N64, there could have been more work done on this end, but the programmers were thinking of us gamers and added a key configuration menu. In the default mode, your moves vary from the ability to crouch to side-stepping and shooting at the same time.

If you hate secret agent stories, Bond movies and the occasional Rum Collins, then at least rent the game and see how you enjoy it. If you do enjoy all of the above, then this is a game meant for you. The one thing I’m wondering right now is if they’ll be turning this into a regular series. It’d be nice to see The World is Not Enough next year and then maybe after that they could start releasing some of the older Bond movies as games. Ahhh, to wear a suit, adjust a tie and take on S.P.E.C.T.R.E. Now that would be cool.