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Crappy minigame versions of archetypal video games of the time slapped with the James Bond name.
Domark – a company that later rebranded as EIDOS – got the James Bond license and made quite a few games for classic home computers. The first one was A View to a Kill, based on the film. The game comprised of five sections, although only three were gameplay segments.
The first is the opening, showing a gunbarrel and some great music. The first main level is in Paris, where you have to drive around trying to find the landing spot of MayDay, who is currently parachuting. The level is a maze, with the screen split into two: the top view is a first person perspective and completely useless (enemies don’t appear on it), the lower is a top down view where you’ll be focused on.
There’s no consistency to the map, it feels completely random. Enemies show up and you’ll need to shoot them. If you drive too close to the wall, you can get stuck and be unable to turn. The beepy rendition of the film’s theme is quite funky, though.
Next up is city hall, a point and click adventure that is astonishingly clunky to control. You press fire to enter item selection mode, scroll until you have what you want (or nothing), press fire again to enter item selection mode, scroll to select your action then press fire again to do it. On the action selection, you can select “Return” to go back to standard controls of walking around. It’s extremely fiddly.
This portion of the game is aimlessly wondering around, searching everything, trying to find coloured keys and using them on coloured doors. It’s tedious. The building is also on fire, so you have a limited time before it consumed Bond (or an item you need).
The third section has you exploring a cave and combines the previous point and click elements with platforming. If you are stationary, you enter item selection, if you’re running, you’ll jump. So the horrible controls have gotten worse.
The level is a massive maze and you need to find items to get around. There’s no fall damage, so getting down is easy, but if you don’t find the winch at the right time, you’ll be stuck. The ultimate objective is to enter a code into a bomb to disarm it. To do this, you’ll need to hunt down all the numbers, which are physical items you need to pick up, then use them in the correct order so you diffuse the bomb.
You then get treated the final cutscene where Bond is in the shower with Bond and Stacey in the shower, with Bond breaking the camera with a champagne cork.
Just like Shaken but Not Stirred, different gameplay types for different scenes does make a lot of sense. Once again, though, these sections are just not nice to play. And while the two pieces of music are great, you get tired of them long before the game is finished.
The first is the opening, showing a gunbarrel and some great music. The first main level is in Paris, where you have to drive around trying to find the landing spot of MayDay, who is currently parachuting. The level is a maze, with the screen split into two: the top view is a first person perspective and completely useless (enemies don’t appear on it), the lower is a top down view where you’ll be focused on.
There’s no consistency to the map, it feels completely random. Enemies show up and you’ll need to shoot them. If you drive too close to the wall, you can get stuck and be unable to turn. The beepy rendition of the film’s theme is quite funky, though.
Next up is city hall, a point and click adventure that is astonishingly clunky to control. You press fire to enter item selection mode, scroll until you have what you want (or nothing), press fire again to enter item selection mode, scroll to select your action then press fire again to do it. On the action selection, you can select “Return” to go back to standard controls of walking around. It’s extremely fiddly.
This portion of the game is aimlessly wondering around, searching everything, trying to find coloured keys and using them on coloured doors. It’s tedious. The building is also on fire, so you have a limited time before it consumed Bond (or an item you need).
The third section has you exploring a cave and combines the previous point and click elements with platforming. If you are stationary, you enter item selection, if you’re running, you’ll jump. So the horrible controls have gotten worse.
The level is a massive maze and you need to find items to get around. There’s no fall damage, so getting down is easy, but if you don’t find the winch at the right time, you’ll be stuck. The ultimate objective is to enter a code into a bomb to disarm it. To do this, you’ll need to hunt down all the numbers, which are physical items you need to pick up, then use them in the correct order so you diffuse the bomb.
You then get treated the final cutscene where Bond is in the shower with Bond and Stacey in the shower, with Bond breaking the camera with a champagne cork.
Just like Shaken but Not Stirred, different gameplay types for different scenes does make a lot of sense. Once again, though, these sections are just not nice to play. And while the two pieces of music are great, you get tired of them long before the game is finished.