James Bond 007: From Russia with Love is a 2005 third-person shooter video game developed by EA Redwood Shores and published by Electronic Arts. The game is based on the 1963 film of the same name, but with several changes, including additional characters, locations, and a different villainous organisation. Additionally, it features elements of later Bond films such as the Aston Martin DB5 that debuted in Goldfinger (1964) and the jet pack from Thunderball (1965).
From Russia with Love is 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, marking his eighth and final performance as Bond across any medium before his death in 2020. From Russia with Love is also the last James Bond video game developed or published by Electronic Arts before they lost the rights to Activision in 2006.
From Russia with Love was released in late 2005, for GameCube, PlayStation 2, and Xbox. A PlayStation Portable version was released in April 2006. The game received "mixed or average" reviews according to Metacritic.
Gameplay
From Russia with Love is primarily a third-person shooter, with the player taking on the role of James Bond. The game is played across 14 main levels, but includes four bonus levels which can be unlocked throughout. The player has mission objectives that must be carried out before proceeding to the next level.
The game includes several driving levels, in which the player takes control of various armed vehicles and must evade enemies, using weapons such as a machine gun and rockets. Speedboats and Bond's Aston Martin DB5 are among the armed vehicles used by the player. Jet packs, equipped with machine guns and rockets, are also used throughout the game.
On foot, Bond can jump across certain designated ledges. He can use his usual Walther PPK, in addition to other weapons such as shotguns, assault rifles, sniper rifles, bazookas, and grenades. He can also engage in hand-to-hand combat with enemies. Points can be collected throughout the game, by killing enemies in specific ways, or by collecting schematics hidden in each level. Such points can be used to upgrade weapons, or unlock bonus content such as concept art and behind-the-scene movies.
A variety of Q gadgets are used throughout the game, including a rappelling gun that is used to climb and descend to new areas. A laser wristwatch is used to penetrate bulletproof glass and destroy control panels, thereby unlocking security doors that block the player's path. Mini helicopters are used to access remote areas and can be detonated, also to destroy certain control panels. Sonic cufflinks can be used to emit a high-frequency that temporarily incapacitates enemies. A serum gun can be used to inject enemies from afar, confusing them into turning against their own. In addition, there are instances where the player must equip a gas mask to proceed through rooms that become filled with toxins.
The game includes an offline multiplayer option, with various gameplay modes, characters, and locations. It supports up to four players.
The PlayStation Portable version plays largely the same as the home-console versions, although it includes mini-games and new multiplayer levels and characters, but removes the driving missions.
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 had 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.
