Two years ago, EA brought us one of the best film game crossovers of the Bond franchise (bar Rare's Goldeneye 007, though I promise not to reference that too much). Everything or Nothing took the concept of the Bond films and created a game that was compelling and fun compared to the disappointing Rogue Agent, which fans hoped would be the long awaited return of the now infamous Goldeneye(whoops).

From Russia with Love keeps the same basic mould of EoN and glues on some bells and whistles to push it above the rest of the action game competition. It's just a shame that these additions wear out, becoming tedious way too early into the game.

The James Bond movies should translate well to the video game format. Who doesn't want to be a spy, play with all the cool gadgets and get the girl? Who doesn't want to go globe trotting, drive the expensive cars with the machine gun discreetly packed away somewhere under the bonnet? And who doesn't want to sneak around as the legendary Sean Connery striking down an unsuspecting victim when they least expect it? FRWL offers all of these experiences but none of them seem fully fleshed out.

The game offers you a few gadgets to play around with, but only two of them are actually critically implemented within an objective to actually progress through the game. This makes them feel more like gimmicks than actual effective tools to battle the enemy with, and the player may find they choose to ignore them completely later on until forced to use them for a puzzle etc.

The thrill of watching any of the Bond films famous car chases should convert magnificently to the video game world, but here the game fumbles again. Instead of the high adrenaline, action packed chases we witness on the big screen, we are offered a drawn out and isolated experience. The vehicles in the game suffer the same fate as the gadgets. They have been integrated mainly as separate activities - almost mini games - and the split between the shooting actions to the driving can be a confusing and equally repetitive experience as the main bulk of the game. That is not to say these scenes don't have their moments. Occasionally the player will witness a few glorious seconds of how it should have been, by perhaps flipping over an attacking car with the tyre punchers and causing it to crash into other enemy vehicles causing a road jam. But these moments are few and far between and don't make up for the blatant rehash of what EoN also struggled to implement two years ago.

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The main action takes place from the same third person perspective as EoN. This switch away from Rogue Agents first person shooter perspective proved to be of great benefit to the franchise and it works again here to similar effect. The basic formula remains the same with the C-stick controlling the camera whilst the analogue determines movement. The lock on ability found in the previous instalment allows for Bond to manoeuvre around a target to avoid oncoming fire and comes in handy in close up gun battles, allowing Bond to circle an opponent or take cover behind scenery. Bond can even press up against said scenery and lean round to fire off a few safety shots. This adds a different approach to the tired run and gun mechanism of many modern shooters. Unfortunately this is about the only tactical feature in the game and, again, many players may find it more of a hassle to use rather than a useful addition to Bonds host of moves, choosing to ignore it once into the later levels and opt for the simpler (but equally, if not more effective) just aiming and shooting method. The same applies to many of Bonds other moves that prove equally unrewarding. Early on the game informs you that rolling helps to dodge enemy fire, putting this into practice however more often than not results in Bond being hit by more bullets than if he had just ran.

Thankfully there are a few interesting and worthwhile additions to Bonds repertoire. This comes in the form of 'Bond Focus mode'. This is where, once locked on, the player can target specific areas of the body. Headshots result in instant death, unless the enemy is wearing a helmet that can be shot off; a nice touch. The most entertaining deaths however result from focusing Bonds fire on one of the highlighted areas of the enemy. Aiming at these specified positions will trigger more satisfying repercussions. Shooting at the belt of a soldier for example will cause a grenade hanging from it to dislodge and blow up, much to the opposition's dismay and provides much eye candy when multiple targets are standing by. This is a nice touch and it's interesting to see how aiming at the different focus points rewards the player with different animations. This is one of the features that deserves points for pushing it above the regular action game blasting, as it serves a purpose to save ammo which can become somewhat of a burden later on in the game, especially for the more powerful weapons, and can stop unwanted events from occurring e.g. shooting a guards walkie-talkie will disable him from calling for back up.

Another nice touch is the close combat combos, which require quick reactions. The screen flashes one of the buttons to push and provided the player responds in time, they will witness Bond perform one of many brief fist fights with the guards who were unlucky enough to get so close. This helps promote the stealth element of the game which is vastly underused. Not one level involves Bond sneaking around quietly disarming numerous villains when they least expect it. There is no inclination to do so either, as the same result can be accomplished with relative ease by simply mindlessly shooting them in the face. That said; the choice is there to take if the player chooses to opt for that method but doesn't punish them for taking the alternative.

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The multiplayer can be enjoyable with up to four players participating. The gamers take on the guise of the games villains and battle it out in a number of variants, the standard death match of which being the most fun. The maps include the vehicles found throughout the game and you can have a few hours entertainment playing jetpack wars before the experience starts to disintegrate. This is partly because the lack of skills required and seems to follow the formula of whoever sees the other first wins the resulting gunfight.

The games presentation is pretty good, although don't expect to be drooling at the screen as the graphics never quite hit the wow mark. They are however fully functional and there is no slow down even when multiple explosions are occurring on screen. Sean Connery's likeness is well done and his voice has been re-recorded for the game giving Bond fans a sense of authenticity. They might, however, be disappointed with the plot line, as it doesn't flow smoothly and will often assume your knowledge of the film leaving out some of its best bits. The game backs up its retro feeling with themes from the original soundtrack that helps to establish the classical Bond era zeitgeist.

Overall FRWL offers an enjoyable shooter which whilst having a good spread of genres fails to be a master of any of them. The game is relatively easy and the average player should breeze through the normal difficultly in about nine hours, only dieing three or four times. There are, though, various concept arts, characters and trailers to unlock providing you meet specified criteria during a level such as disabling a certain number of enemies to prolong the experience should you wish to do so. The game would be worth checking out for fans of the Bond franchise, or casual gamers who prefer to simply pick up and play through a level and come back to it in another few hours or even days.