[Getting Started]

Versions: The most speedrun-friendly version of the game is NTSC Gamecube 1.00 (identifiable as the Non-Player's Choice version or a disc with DOL-GW7E-0-00 on the underside); It has the fastest load times, controller notches to ensure highest movement speed in straight lines, less gameplay lag than the other two consoles, reduced enemy aggressiveness/accuracy across all difficulties, and explosion boost physics that save time in some levels (45+ seconds total in the current Any% route and significantly more time in IL & TAS). PS2 does not allow for switching difficulty just before starting a mission because the toggle is only in the Options menu, making it a poor choice for some full game runs since that technique is advantageous there. PS2 and Xbox do have a slight theoretical advantage over GCN in a couple of levels where boosting isn't used, detailed below.

Timing: Full runs of this game are ranked by real time because game time does not account for menuing, pauses, cutscenes, deaths, or real-time timesavers such as quitting Dangerious Pursuit early. You are encouraged to still submit an in-game time as well though, especially if you are attempting a top time. Use this time calculator to add up your IGT: http://www.scottseverance.us/html/time_calculator.htm . Note if you submit a top 3 Any% or 00 Agent run, your time will be adjusted so that your run is on-par with a run performed on a Wii with an official game disc (the fastest official method of playing the game), removing any load time advantage/disadvantage from your run. ILs only use in-game time.

Controls: Control Setup 3 is the control scheme of choice for most players using GCN and PS2, and Setup 2 is the preferred for the Xbox; they use the most modern way of moving and aiming. Control schemes that divide movement between the two sticks are awkward for most people but are theoretically faster due to allowing movement in all directions at full speed.

Options: It's best to set "HUD Always Visible" to ON in Options as this will allow you to keep an eye on your health and ammo at all times, as well as use the HUD as an on-screen reference point to align for tricks.

[Essential Techniques]

1. Unlike in some other Bond games, holding diagonally on the main stick (strafing) does not give Bond a faster running speed than holding directly up, down, left, or right. In fact, when using a modern control setup, avoid moving diagonally as much as possible as this gives you a lower running speed; it is occasionally appropriate to strafe when you need to move at a specific angle for a short time or have to make a small path correction. Using a control setup that divides movement between the two sticks will actually prevent you from losing speed while strafing diagonally, but it still does not give you any speed increase over moving normally.

2. Running against walls at around a 45 degree angle will give Bond a small boost in speed (from base running speed of 315 to as high as 390) . This also works with other objects such as boxes, invisible walls, and hand rails. Your angle towards the wall does matter in reaching the highest speed, check the Resources page for a LUA script that shows Bond's speed.

3. Most of the buttons, switches, and doors in this game can be activated by holding the action button as you approach them, rather than having to mash your presses. Holding action to trigger things ensures that you activate them on the soonest possible frame.

4. Most stairs and slopes slow Bond down, spend as little time on them as possible by jumping into the air just before you reach them so that you retain your normal speed longer. Avoid touching railings and walls as you travel up stairs as your speed will be even further reduced, stay in the center. Jumping again after you land on a stair or incline typically slows you down, but if the jump is performed on an early frame and you don't collide with the next step up then it can be faster, it's a case-by-case basis due to differing stair heights. The slopes and most of the stairs in the PS2 and Xbox versions do not slow Bond down, giving a speed advantage in levels where rocket jumping isn't used.

5. Avoid switching weapons and gadgets or reloading as you approach cutscene triggers. If you're performing an action as you enter a cutscene the game will take the time to finish the action's animation before starting the cutscene.

6. Explosion boosting (AKA rocket jumping) is done by being airborne at the same time as an explosion goes off. This sends Bond directly away from the explosion at great speed. You can use this trick to gain enough height to skip the Jackal and Bloch bosses, create shortcuts in a few levels, or just give Bond a boost of speed down a straight-away via bunny-hopping (mash jump repeatedly to preserve momentum as you land).

7. Strafe-jumping can be employed to move faster through levels, though its application is more limited than you might expect because AUF's levels are cramped and you cannot buffer jumps. The best levels for strafe-jumping are Trouble in Paradise and Night of the Jackal, though mastery of this technique will give you a small advantage across all on-foot missions. Strafe-jumping can be combined with rocket jumps and wall-sliding to reach high speed even quicker.

8. With automatic weapons, tapping the fire button rapidly instead of holding it down will result in decreased bullet spread (improved accuracy). This is particularly useful in the Any% run of Med C where you use the UGW assault rifle to destroy the helicopter.

9. Playing on a higher difficulty in select levels can save time because there are fewer hint cutscenes than on Operative difficulty and/or because you can unlock valuable gold rewards. In Any%, playing Night of the Jackal on Agent and modifying your strategies to ensure a score of 90,000+ unlocks gold grenades which grants a net save of 25+ seconds over the course of a run by allowing Med. Crisis and Evil Summit to be played with timesaving strats that require gold grenades. Playing Forbidden Depths on Agent in Any% (which plays no differently than on Operative) is a strategy that every player should use because it only wastes frames in menuing yet grants gold armor for the remaining three levels which have risky sniper sections otherwise (gold armor also allows you to survive the aforementioned late-game grenade strats). Skipping hint cutscenes in All Tokens or Moves & Tokens is sometimes worth it because the player has fully upgraded health and weapons and isn't as affected by the extra damage taken by the increased difficulty.

These are the levels that are theoretically faster when played on a higher difficulty due to lacking hint cutscenes and thus avoiding movement stops: Trouble in Paradise (00 Agent) - Two full movement stops skipped Cold Reception (Agent) - Less than one full movement stop skipped Poseidon (Agent) - Less than one full movement stop skipped Evil Summit (Agent) - One full movement stop skipped

Have fun!