Faster, more stylish, and with a few cooler bosses, Desperate Struggle is a great follow up that gets tangled up in a lot of loose narrative moves that will likely remove some investment from players coming from the first game. That isn't to say it's bad by any means, but if NMH1 is a celebrated b-movie, Desperate Struggle is its junk food straight to DVD follow up. It's beloved and for great reason, but is definitely focused on being a fun game first and having a strong direction second. Excited to see how this entry shapes Travis Strikes Back and NMHIII as I get around to them.

It's crazy to remember how many James Bond games used to release just about every year and to notice how far the industry has come since that time.

From Russia With Love possesses strong mechanical polish, with a simple auto-lock and a unique aiming system that allows the player to shoot grenades on enemy belts, or cut rapel wires to make enemies fall. The driving feels good. The set pieces have a lot of thrill and the amount of detail in the likenesses of the actors featured is actively insane considering what time it released.

But everything here has been improved in modern titles to such a degree that the game has become a time capsule for better and for worse. No game will remind you faster why players used to buy these tie-in titles, AND why it failed to remain a sustainable practice. Combine that bitter nostalgia with Bond's out-dated misogyny and narrative details clearly altered due to license issues and you get a fascinating stew that's worth experiencing but not inherently because of any fun to be had.