A View to a Kill (video game)

A View to a Kill
Cover for The Computer Game
Developer(s)	Domark Angelsoft
Publisher(s)	Domark Mindscape
Series	James Bond
Platform(s)	The Computer Game Amstrad CPC Commodore 64 MSX Oric ZX Spectrum Text adventure Apple II Macintosh MS-DOS
Release	WW: 1985
Genre(s)	Action
Mode(s)	Single-player

A View to a Kill are two separate video games released in 1985 and based on the James Bond film A View to a Kill. The first, an action game titled A View to a Kill: The Computer Game, was developed and published by Domark. It was available for the ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, MSX, and Oric. The second game, James Bond 007: A View to a Kill, is a text-based adventure for MS-DOS, Macintosh, and Apple II. It was developed by Angelsoft, and published by Mindscape.

A View to a Kill: The Computer Game

Domark created an action game split into three separate sections, inspired by scenes from the film. The game starts with the famous movie intro sequence of the moving gunsight and Bond shooting towards the camera. The MSX version omitted the first two sections.

In the first section set in Paris, James Bond commandeers a taxi to follow May Day who has parachuted from the Eiffel Tower. Roadblocks and police cars are out to stop Bond, who can shoot his pistol at them to get them out of the way. The display is in three sections - an overhead map of Paris, a small 3D view from the car's point of view, and a scanner showing May Day's height. James must arrive at the right location to catch her as she lands.

In the second section, James must help Stacey Sutton escape from San Francisco City Hall, which is on fire. Each room is displayed from a side-on perspective. James must collect useful objects to get through the floors of the building, such as keys to open doors and buckets of water to stop the progress of the fire.

In the third and final section, James must collect the code numbers to stop the detonation of Zorin's bomb. Bond runs around the mine, avoiding rockfalls and long drops. Among the objects he can pick up are a grapnel gun (to fire ropes upward which he can climb to safety) and a plank of wood to bridge gaps. May Day is also somewhere in the mine.

A password system lets the user play the second or third levels on their own without completing the first.

Music

The music for the Commodore 64 version was written by Antony (Tony) Crowther, and consists of two covers. One is the "James Bond Theme" by Monty Norman. The second is the Duran Duran theme for the film.

James Bond 007: A View to a Kill

Mindscape published the text adventure game by Angelsoft Inc for DOS, Macintosh and Apple II computers with the full title James Bond 007: A View to a Kill. Future Bond novelist Raymond Benson worked on the development of the game. It spawned a follow-up game, James Bond 007: Goldfinger.

Reception

A View to a Kill: The Computer Game

Sinclair User gave the ZX Spectrum version four stars out of five. Commodore User called the Commodore 64 version, "Certainly one of the better 'game of the film' implementations around." Your Commodore gave the Commodore 64 version two stars out of five and criticized some of the gameplay concepts, writing, "Sometimes programmers can go overboard with special effects at the expense of what could otherwise be a superb game. A View to a Kill is one such example."

Zzap!64, which gave the Commodore 64 version a 36 percent rating, criticized the game's graphics, its music, and its three separate gameplay modes, writing that focusing on a single gameplay style might have been better. Zzap!64's overall conclusion of the game was, "A powerful idea that seems to have missed its point." Zzap!64 reviewed the Commodore 64 version again in 1992, giving it a 19 percent rating and writing that "the problem was a licence with such potential being turned into such a diabolical arcade adventure."

James Bond 007: A View to a Kill

QuestBusters, which wrote a positive review, praised the game's "well-written" text and "well-paced story", but criticized its first level for being "a skullsmasher that's near impossible without information obtained only in the film. [...] Maybe the designers figured people wouldn't play this game unless they'd seen the movie." QuestBusters criticized the game's slow loading times and response times as its "major drawback", but ultimately concluded, "Bond fans will not be disappointed."

See also

• Outline of James Bond

External links

• A View to a Kill: The Computer Game at MobyGames
• A View to a Kill in the Interactive Fiction Database