James Bond games

Over the past twenty years there have been numerous James Bond games featuring Ian Fleming's British secret service agent, Commander James Bond.

History

Since 1983 there have been numerous video games based on the official films, Ian Fleming's novels, and even original scripts created by the developer or publisher of the game.

The games were somewhat prosperous in the 1980s and early 1990s, featuring a mixture of styles including side-scrolling action and text adventure. The popularity of the James Bond video game didn't really take off, however, until 1997's GoldenEye 007 by Rare for the Nintendo 64. GoldenEye 007 was a first-person shooter that expanded on the film and added a multiplayer component to the game that was well-liked among "gamers". Subsequently, virtually every Bond video game has attempted to copy GoldenEye 007's accomplishment and features with varying degrees of success. In the Fall of 2004, EA Games released GoldenEye: Rogue Agent for the Xbox, PlayStation 2 and GameCube video game consoles. This is the first game based on the 007 franchise in which the player does not take on the role of James Bond himself, but rather an aspiring 00 Agent recruited by Auric Goldfinger, the villain from the movie/novel Goldfinger. The game has little to do with GoldenEye the film or the video game, and was released to mediocre reviews.

Everything or Nothing, released in 2004, is notable for being the first successful game to break away from the mold layed out by GoldenEye 007. It featured a third-person perspective and it removed the multiplayer portion of the game and in its stead replaced it with a cooperative element. It was also the first game to cast well known actors in the roles of its characters including Willem Dafoe, Shannon Elizabeth, John Cleese, and Judi Dench among others, not to mention Pierce Brosnan himself providing the voice of Bond. While Nightfire was the first James Bond videogame to have its own original theme song, Everything or Nothing was the first to have its theme song performed by a noted singer, in this case Mya Harrison who also provided the voice and likeness of one of the game's characters. Some reviewers referred to this game as 2004's James Bond film, and with Brosnan's subsequent departure from the role, the game is considered by some to be his swan song as 007.

Since GoldenEye every game, with the exception of 007 Racing has used Brosnan's likeness as James Bond, although Everything or Nothing was the first game to which he contributed his voice as well. So far Brosnan has been the only actor to be portrayed as Bond in video games, however, in 2005 Electronic Arts will release a video game adaptation of From Russia With Love, where the player will be able to play the game as Bond with the likeness of Sean Connery. This will be the second game based on a Connery Bond film (the first was 1986 text adventure based upon Goldfinger) and the first to use his likeness as agent 007. When From Russia With Love was announced the video shown by EA Games also showed Pierce Brosnan as Bond, which has led some to speculate that players may be able to choose between other official Bond actors, George Lazenby, Roger Moore and Timothy Dalton in the role.

Since 1999 Electronic Arts has held the exclusive rights to develop games based on Ian Fleming's Bond novels and any of the official James Bond films. In 2003 MGM Interactive extended their deal with EA till 2010.

Video games