From Russia with Love (video game)
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| From Russia With Love | |
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| Developer(s) | Electronic Arts |
| Publisher(s) | Electronic Arts |
| Release date(s) | November 1, 2005 (NA) April 4, 2006 (PSP) |
| Genre(s) | Third-person shooter |
| Mode(s) | Single player, multiplayer |
| Rating(s) | ESRB: Teen (T) (For Violence, Suggestive Themes and Alcohol Reference.) PEGI: 16+ BBFC: 12+ |
| Platform(s) | PS2, Xbox, GameCube, PSP |
From Russia with Love is a video game featuring Ian Fleming's secret agent, James Bond developed by Electronic Arts and released on November 1, 2005 in North America. The game is based on the 1957 novel and the 1963 film From Russia with Love. The game follows the storyline of the book and film, albeit adding in new scenes to make the game more action-oriented, as well as changing the affiliation of the main villains. Additionally, it features many elements of earlier Bond films to recreate the feel of the era such as the rocketbelt from Thunderball (1965) and the Aston Martin DB5 that debuted in Goldfinger (1964).
From Russia with Love is also notable in that it is the first video game to use Sean Connery's likeness as James Bond and the first to include all new voice work by the actor.
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[edit] Overview
The game was penned by Bond veteran 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.
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.
Unlike in the 2004 game, Everything Or Nothing, From Russia with Love features a third-person multiplayer deathmatch mode.
[edit] Plot summary
One of the most obvious changes to the story for the video game is the absence of the villainous organization SPECTRE who played a vital role in the film version, but not the novel version of From Russia with Love. Due to legal issues that have plagued the James Bond series of films since 1963, the organisation was renamed as 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 standard pre-title sequence in which Elizabeth Stark, the British Prime Minister's daughter, is kidnapped by OCTOPUS while attending a party. Fortunately, Bond was assigned to attend the party for just such an event, and he defeats OCTOPUS and rescues 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 (although not in the novel). The plan involves the theft of a Soviet encoding machine known as the Lektor with the help of a defecting Soviet agent, Tatiana Romanova. Romanova, however, 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, remiscent of the finale of You Only Live Twice.
[edit] Detailed Plot
After Bond rescues Elizabeth Stark, he enters a hedgemaze to infiltrate a mansion, all the while followed by Red Grant. At the end of the hedgemaze, Grant kills Bond... who turns out to be an OCTOPUS agent, disguised as Bond for Grant's training. The real Bond arrives at MI6 Headquarters, where he receives his briefing. Heading to Turkey, he meets Kerim Bey, head of Station T. He manages to escape the Russians in his Aston Martin DB5, but Red Grant blows up a Russian car. Russians take hostages in Station T, and Bond is forced to rescue them and deactivate bombs strategically placed throughout the area. In Bond's hotel room, he meets Tatiana Romanova, and there is an instant attraction. Later, Bond and Kerim head off to the catacombs under Istanbul, in order to infiltrate the Russian consulate. They manouevre their way around Russian soldiers in the catacombs, where Bond discovers a man named Krilencu is planning an attack on Gypsies - some of Kerim's allies. Kerim goes off to warn them as Bond steals the blueprints for the Russian consulate, before escaping in a jetpack.
Kerim takes Bond to the gypsy camp, where Krilencu's men attack. Bond is almost shot by Krilencu, but Red Grant saves Bond, in order to make sure Bond steals the Lektor later. Bond and Kerim defeat Krilencu's men, but Kerim is shot. He decides to kill Krilencu, and the two friends head to an alleyway, where Bond shoots Krilencu as he grabs Kerim's neck. Kerim claims he is in Bond's debt, but Bond replies, "How can a friend be in debt?" The next day, Bond enters the Russian consulate as Kerim detonates a bomb, allowing Bond to meet up with Tatiana, steal the Lektor, and escape. It is with Kerim's help - in a car - that they can escape the Russians, in a chase across Istanbul, ending as the trio of friends arrives at the train station.
At this point, however, Red Grant enters the mix, masquerading as an MI6 agent. Grant kills Kerim in his cabin. Bond is almost killed when Grant pulls a gun on him, Bond realizing that he should have know he was an assassain when he ordered "Red wine with fish", distracts Grant, and a brawl ensues. Bond defeats Grant's henchmen on the Orient Express, and he and Tatiana chase Grant and Eva Adora - another Octopus agent - across the train station. Bond defeats Grant and pursues Eva to an Octopus factory somewhere in Russia. Bond destroys the factory, recovers the Lektor, and escapes to a guardhouse, to meet Tatiana. They flee to the docks in Bond's Aston Martin, before they escape in a boat, reminiscent of the boat chase seen in the film. At Bond's hotel room in Venice, Rosa Klebb appears, but Tatiana shoots her.
It appears, however, that Octopus hasn't taken Bond's theft of the Lektor too lightly, and have stolen a nuclear weapon, threatening to destroy London. Bond parachutes into Octopus's secret island ("Not anymore," Bond quips), reminiscent of the finale of You Only Live Twice, defeats Eva in her plane, disarms the warhead and sets an explosive. As he escapes, however, Red Grant - still alive, inside a giant ceiling-mounted pod - attacks, but Bond defeats him. Grant claims Bond won't shoot him in cold blood, commenting "Not very British, old man" as Bond wavers, until Grant pulls a pistol from beneath where he is lying exclaiming "-like red wine with fish!". Bond shoots him and as he walks away, replies "That was for Kerim". He returns to his hotel room with Tatiana. Tatiana asks if Bond was disappointed in her. Bond says he'll let her know - in the morning...
There are also four bonus levels in the game. You have to locate several awards to unlock the levels: The "Tunnels" level takes place before Bond meets Tatiana, as he deactivates Russian bombs in the tunnels under Station T. The "Ruins" level takes place as Bond and Kerim struggle to reach the Russian stronghold, taking place before they steal a boat to enter the catacombs of Istanbul. The "Plaza" level takes place after the train level, where Bond defeats Red Grant. He has to defeat several Russians within a time limit. The final mission, "Airport", takes place after the level on Octopus Island, where Bond faces off against several Octopus agents in a daring firefight.
[edit] Cast
Many of the cast from the film, From Russia with Love, return in likeness. Sean Connery, the first official actor to portray James Bond in the EON Productions film series returned to the role for the first time in 22 years (previously the unofficial 1983 film, Never Say Never Again). Connery not only allowed for his likeness of Bond to be used (appropriately from the 1963 film), but also recorded all new voice work for the character.
| Character | Likeness | Voiced by |
|---|---|---|
| James Bond | Sean Connery | Sean Connery |
| M | Bernard Lee | Peter Renaday |
| Miss Moneypenny | Lois Maxwell | Karly Rothenberg |
| Q | Desmond Llewelyn | Phil Proctor |
| Tatiana Romanova | Daniela Bianchi | Kari Wahlgren |
| Rosa Klebb | Lotte Lenya | Karly Rothenberg |
| Red Grant | Robert Shaw | Brian McCole |
| Kerim Bey | Pedro Armendáriz | JB Blanc |
| Elizabeth Stark | Natasha Bedingfield | Natasha Bedingfield |
| Eva Adara | Maria Menounos | Maria Menounos |
[edit] New character bios
- Miss Elizabeth Stark
- Stark is the daughter of the British Prime Minister, whom Bond rescues in the pre-title sequence.
- Eva Adara
- The driver and henchwoman of Red Grant. She is both a driver and pilot. She is ultimately killed in the level "Octopus Base" where she attacks Bond with a parked fighter jet. When it is damaged to the point where it is about to be destroyed, she flies down the underground runway at Bond who is using a jet pack. Bond easily avoids her plane which then smashes into the closed hangar doors at the end of the tunnel.
[edit] Weapons
- Walther PP7
- Wright Magnum
- Serum gun
- Golden gun (multiplayer only)
- Platinum gun (multiplayer only)
Automatics
- Kronen SMG
- Assault rifle
Explosives
- Grenade
- Bazooka
Other
- Bosch shotgun
- Sniper rifle
- Armor piercing rifle
- Radioactive gun (multiplayer only)
- Minigun (enemy only)
Gadgets
- Q-Armor
- Laser watch
- Rappel belt
- Q-copter
- Sonic cufflinks
- Briefcase turret
[edit] Trivia
- From Russia with Love is the first title developed by Electronic Arts Redwood Shores to use an integrated game engine for the 3rd person action and driving segments. It is a new engine that is not based on any of the technology used for previous titles in the series. It is similar to the Everything Or Nothing engine.
- Like each game since Nightfire, upon playing the game for the first time, the player is thrown directly into the action, leaving a title screen and other options for after you complete the first level in the game. This is done to mimic a similar technique used in Bond movies, where there would always be an action scene (a cold opening in general) before the title sequence.
- The replacement SPECTRE organization name of OCTOPUS was also seen in the James Bond video game GoldenEye: Rogue Agent, which featured many Bond villains along with the mysterious "Number 1", an obvious nod to Blofeld, complete with the white cat.
- The friendly Guards in the first level are the "Identicon" guards from Agent Under Fire
[edit] See also
- James Bond games
- For more information on the legal wrangles involving Thunderball, SPECTRE and its leader Ernst Stavro Blofeld, see the controversy over Thunderball.
[edit] References
- ^ IGN: From Russia with Love. Interview by Douglass C. Perry with Executive Producer Glen Schofield. Retrieved on December 24, 2005.
[edit] External links
- From Russia with Love official website
- James Bond 007: From Russia with Love at the Internet Movie Database
- MI6.co.uk announcement
- CommanderBond.net announcement
- From Russia With Love Review at Gamer Mania 2
- From Russia with Love at MobyGames
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James Bond: The Duel • GoldenEye 007 • James Bond 007 • Tomorrow Never Dies • The World Is Not Enough • 007 Racing • Agent Under Fire • Nightfire • Everything or Nothing • GoldenEye: Rogue Agent • From Russia with Love |
