Tomorrow Never Dies

• Release Date: November 16, 1999
• Genre: Shooter
• Style: Third-Person 3D Shooter
• Similar Games: Syphon Filter (PlayStation), Danger Girl (PlayStation), Covert Ops: Nuclear Dawn (PlayStation)

Game Description

A megalomaniac with a bankroll to rival Ted Turner's has decided to use his considerable power to engineer a war between Great Britain and China. How is this possible, you ask? Elliot Carver earned his wealth by shrewdly acquiring various media channels, including cable television stations, magazines and a newspaper called "Tomorrow." By using these resources, Carver plans on covering a story that he creates, one that could trigger World War III.

There's one fly in the ointment, however: a certain British secret agent with a license to kill and a love life to die for. Of course, this agent extraordinaire is none other than Bond -- James Bond, Agent 007. As the dashing spy, you must be prepared to embark on ten different missions based on the 1998 movie of the same name, each with multiple objectives.

Your first assignment is to investigate a military outpost on the Russian border. The winter climate and secured facility call for a warm jacket and plenty of ammunition if you want a fighting chance. In addition to your trademark PK7 with silencer, Q has supplied you with a Laser Designator, medical kit and unlimited bullets. From this point on, you're on your own.

Use your skills to take out the guards in the compound, borrow any weapons left behind and neutralize the radar dish. You'll then have to find a way to escape the base by skiing down the tree-filled slopes. If you're followed, and rest assured you will be, attack using your ski poles or pull off various stunts for style. Future missions require you to escape from behind the wheel of a BMW 750 iL equipped with rockets and machine guns -- nothing fancy, James.

Tomorrow Never Dies is played from a third-person viewpoint as you move around both indoor and outdoor 3D environments looking to complete your different objectives. A health meter in the top right corner of the screen will gradually change from green to yellow to orange to red as you suffer damage, but your life can be replenished by using medical kits or by finding vests of armor.

Holding the R1 button allows you to enter a Sniper mode to zoom in on your enemies, the level of which varies depending on the type of weapon you have activated. Besides the PK7, Bond can acquire a Sniper Rifle, Assault Rifle, Auto 9MM, SMG 45, Gas Bombs, GL 40 (Grenade Launcher), Rocket Launcher, Infrared Sniper Rifle and STK Mines (sticky mines).

All of the British "00" agents are allowed to use state-of-the-art gadgets to assist in their missions, and James Bond will need to become proficient with the following five devices: the Laser Designator to call in air strikes, explosive Cuff Links, a Satellite Link Camera, Fingerprint Scanner and STK Mine Detonator. Each mission will be detailed at the beginning with a voiceover from M and pictures showing your target(s).

You'll then have to complete each objective before advancing to the next stage, at which point you'll be able to save the game. Tomorrow Never Dies features analog control, vibration feedback, two levels of difficulty and memory card support (one block of space is needed to save progress). In between missions are cut-scenes from the movie (the 18th James Bond film) of the same name!

Roots & Influences

While James Bond has appeared on consoles dating back to the Atari 2600, only two games have offered shooting action within 3D environments: 1997's GoldenEye 007 for the Nintendo 64 and Tomorrow Never Dies. The PlayStation game therefore seems most inspired by GoldenEye, as levels are broken down into a series of missions with multiple objectives.

The key differences are in the perspective (first-person versus third-person), multi-player support and objectives that change according to the difficulty level. Fans of third-person shooters with a dash of covert action will want to try 1998's Syphon Filter, a game that offers many of the same elements found in Tomorrow Never Dies.

Review: Overall

There is nothing more appealing than a game that has you taking on the role of a covert agent armed with an array of secret gadgets and powerful weapons. And when such a game stars the most infamous spy in the world, it is an event that is not to be missed by any player who fancies himself the heir apparent to Her Majesty's Secret Service. Tomorrow Never Dies not only marks the long-awaited debut of suave agent James Bond to the PlayStation, but it also kicks off a planned series of games based on Agent 007 from mega-publisher Electronic Arts.

As a mission-based shooter, Tomorrow Never Dies immediately draws comparisons to arguably the best James Bond game (if not the best console shooter) as of 1999: Rare's GoldenEye 007 for the Nintendo 64. Yet considering the development delays that has plagued Tomorrow Never Dies since its inception, the first question was the gameplay -- would it be shaken, not stirred like so many of Bond's Vodka Martinis? Or would the pressure to get it out in time for the 19th movie put a damper on the overall experience?

To be perfectly blunt, Tomorrow Never Dies is no GoldenEye. There are similarities, however. For starters, both titles have been delayed more times than a flight during the holidays, causing them to appear well after the movies from which they are based. Yet while Rare spent the extra time adding multi-player modes and increasing the longevity of the single-player experience by including varying objectives across three difficulty levels, there are no signs of the expected polish in Tomorrow Never Dies.

Multi-player levels are absent, significantly hurting the game's lasting appeal, and the two difficulty settings differ only in the skill of your enemies -- they're just harder to bring down with your weapons. Otherwise, the missions play out exactly the same no matter which skill level you decide on, so there's not much incentive to go through the game on the more challenging setting.

The ten missions included are diverse enough in their locales, however, and the vehicle stages (on skis and behind the car) are actually quite fun to play through even despite their short length. The settings are taken almost exactly from the movie, so you'll begin the game infiltrating a Russian compound and then proceed to an Arms Bazaar to take photos of certain weapons. You'll then have to find a way to escape via plane before the British bomb the site! While you don't actually fly the plane, the timed nature of the mission will keep your heart pumping as you figure out a way through it.

The coolest part is that the actual opening credits of the film will play after you complete these first two missions, complete with Sheryl Crow's moody theme song and shadowy women dancing across the background. Nice touch! Of course, wouldn't you know that's about the highlight of the entire game -- the rest of the movie clips are short and don't really do much to draw you in. M's mission briefings are also surprisingly short and vague, which doesn't seem right given the CD medium. In other words, don't expect a lot of fluff in between your missions.

Other levels will take you inside Elliot Carver's printing press, on board his ship, inside a hotel, and even playing the role of Wai Lin, Bond's Hong Kong counterpart (played by martial arts superstar Michelle Yeoh in the movie). So the game closely follows the storyline of the film, and it stands to reason that if you liked Tomorrow Never Dies as a movie, you'll like Tomorrow Never Dies as a game.

Well, maybe not. The problem is that each level always seem to involve shooting first and thinking later, and the game's biggest drawbacks are precisely what make GoldenEye great: enemy AI that behaves realistically and tight control that lets you focus on the action at hand instead of worrying about getting killed. Guards in this game seem to target you no matter how careful you are in keeping a low profile, and they never seem to go away no matter how many times you clear the area. Alarms will go off only to be silenced minutes later for no apparent reason, and enemies who consistently attack you one moment seem to suffer from bouts of amnesia when you run away from the scene.

While the enemies aren't very smart, they make up for it by appearing in large numbers. They will fire all around you mercilessly and half the time you'll be moving around desperately looking for cover. Fortunately, a targeting cursor will automatically lock onto the closest target, so you never really have to fumble with the controller to aim. Yet the list of moves Mr. Bond can perform is surprising small given the third-person perspective: you can't jump, climb, crawl or do whatever you think a spy should do. Syphon Filter offers much more in terms of character control than this game, which certainly detracts from the experience.

One must also question the effectiveness of using a third-person viewpoint in a shooting game. So many games of this type are extremely tricky to control due to an awkward camera system, and Tomorrow Never Dies is no different. The benefit of such a viewpoint is the flexibility you have in controlling your character, but in this game, James Bond doesn't have a diverse enough roster of moves to make it worthwhile. While it's nice to see Bond dressed in different outfits (including a parka and tuxedo among others), the ability to see all around you is compromised when you have to constantly watch your character and avoid gunfire.

The bottom line is that there are too many puzzling elements in this game to warrant a purchase unless you are simply crazy about the character. Why offer a third-person view if you don't need to perform a variety of moves? What is the point of being a spy and using stealth when enemies swarm about you no matter how quietly you move? Why include two difficulty settings and not include different or more intricate mission objectives? And what in the world happened to the multi-player mode? These questions all point to a game that wasn't quite fleshed out before it was released on the shelves.

No, Tomorrow Never Dies is not an entirely unpleasant experience, owing considerable mileage to the whole Bond mystique, but it doesn't really grab you as it should. It is a game which, unfortunately, makes you appreciate GoldenEye that much more.

Review: Enjoyment

The game simply is missing too much to be a must-have title, although it does have its moments. The biggest knock on the enjoyment is the third-person viewpoint that makes things awkward when enemies surround your character. Even on the easiest setting, the game is challenging due to the enemies who always seem to see you coming from afar. Don't expect a game that rewards you for stealth!

Review: Graphics

The environments are clearly defined and colorful, but there are little things that detract from the overall experience. Trees will blink into view and then disappear again during the skiing sequences, polygon clipping is apparent on many of the levels and the camera angle doesn't seem to react fast enough during shootouts.

Review: Sound

The James Bond movies are known for their theme songs, and Sheryl Crow sings during the full opening credits. The rest of the music is variations of the Bond theme along with some original music as well. Characters will even talk at certain points with voices that are close to those of the actors in the film. Where are Bond's witty comebacks during each mission?

Review: Replay Value

The replay value is hurt by the lack of new missions and a multi-player mode. After you beat the game on the default setting, you have the opportunity to watch all of the video clips again! Joy!

Review: Documentation

The manual is woefully inadequate in explaining the different missions or objectives. It is very short and covers the basics: control and items.

Production Credits

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