007: Licence to Kill

007: Licence to Kill is an arcade shooter developed by Quixel and published by Domark limited in December 1989.

The game is based on the hit James Bond movie of the same name and follows through with the movie plot. The game was designed by Quixel and John Kavanagh, and it was released for Amiga. Commodore 64, Atari ST, ZX Spectrum, MSX, and, later, MS-DOS.

007: Licence to Kill has the usual James Bond feeling, with the possibility of something going haywire at any point in the game. The game is comprised of six parts that are divided into three main sections. James will pursue his nemesis Sanchez who is a South American drug baron. He will pursue his target through various environments pushing the player into countless scenarios that will make you go, ''how did I end up here." While playing, I was pleased to note how the game was pieced together through well-animated cut scenes at the end of each stage, giving it the feel of a complete game rather than it being a set of little ones jammed together.

While playing, it was pleasing to have different scenarios for each stage; at one moment, you were flying in a chopper pursuing Sanchez, and the next involved the player "one-man diving" a camp full of baddies. It even includes an underwater survival mission. Unfortunately, some terrible level design causes the game to become a bit messy sometimes. You never really know what must be done at certain stages, such as the airplane mission (the third).

Sounds effects are another sad news. It's strange because they were done by David Whittaker. They are appropriate and atmospheric until you get used to the tunes making you realize how hurriedly they were composed. Oh, and by the way, there is also no in-game music.

The graphics were okayish, with nothing spectacular, and the dull backgrounds were a bit of a turnoff, but likewise, the game had some beautiful sprites to counter it. In short, the game was nicely detailed but was not Amiga-level impressive.

To recap, Quixel has done a good job integrating the movie spirit into its game, but I doubt its replayability. For all the James Bond fans, a must-have.