Bond Crazy
Admiral of The Fleet
Number of posts : 3842
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Registration date : 2009-01-06
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 Subject: Bond, James Bond (Nightfire)  Wed Aug 26, 2009 2:41 pm |
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James Bond 007: NightFire is a first-person shooter video game that is based on Ian Fleming's British secret agent James Bond. This marked Pierce Brosnan's fourth appearance as James Bond before the release of his fourth and final Bond film Die Another Day, however, in the video game, his likeness was featured, but not his voice, which was provided by Maxwell Caulfield. 007: NightFire was developed by Eurocom for the PlayStation 2, Nintendo GameCube, and Xbox video game consoles.
For today's review we're going to use the Xbox version of the game. I mention this only because there are some differences from the PS2 and PC versions (less bots for multiplayer and no driving levels for the PC.
During the days of the Nintendo 64, there was a game that brought first person shooter games to a lot of people, those without a PC. The game was Goldeneye 007, and with it's number of levels, different objectives for higher difficulties, secrets to unlock, and it's multiplayer (which set the game apart from the rest), a young generation got introduced to James Bond, the super English spy who every women wants.
The next game, Tomorrow Never Dies, didn't try to mimmick the forumla Goldeneye was made up, and failed poorly in sales and reviews. The next game, The World Is Not Enough, tried to capture the spirit of Goldeneye, but also failed. For the while it seemed like Goldeneye was the only Bond game (there were many released throughout the 1980's) that lived up to the films, until Agent Under Fire came out in 2001 (PS2) and 2002 (Xbox and Gamecube). The game returned to the formula of great first person shooting, secrets to unlock, and multiplayer. The story was good considering it wasn't based on any movie or book, but the likeness of Pearce Brosnan couldn't be secured at the time. However the game felt like Bond in every way, gadgets and weapons were plenty, along with huge set pieces and characters that were larger then life. Again multiplayer was supported, and in the Gamecube and Xbox versions, you could have AI controlled bots playing with you, making the need to have a friend over no longer a problem. Also included in the game were driving stages, where you could get behind the wheel of a car loaded with rockets, oil slicks, smoke screens, and a machine gun.
Nightfire is the in-direct sequel to Agent Under Fire, players take the role of James Bond who's out to stop a man by the name of Raphael Drake, who plans on using his business as a way to destroy part of the world by shooting rockets from a US space station. During your time in the game you'll sneak into a castle, drive down a mountain while blasting bad guys with a machine gun, hunt out other snipers in one of the longest levels in a Bond game, and head into space to stop Drake once and for all.
This time around the game developers were able to secure Pearce to star in the game, however it was late in the process and his voice couldn't be recorded for in game use. However the voice does sound close to Bond, and having Pearce star in the game gives it an authentic James Bond feel. The regular jokes are there in the writing as well, along with Bond girls, double crosses, and of course, action packed sequences. The story is good enough to have been used in a movie, and had they taken it and made this instead of Die Another Day, we might not have seen a reboot to the film series.
The graphics hold up great here, there's a lot of polish on the game considering how many set pieces there are, and how expansive they can be. The voice acting and music are on par with any James Bond film as well, so you'll definitely feel like you're the Britain greatest spy. The levels are the right balance of difficulty, easing you into thinking like Bond as you move along in the game.
Gaining points in a level gets you a medal (bronze, silver, gold, platinum) and can unlock characters for multiplayer and upgrades to weapons and guns. Each level has a set number of Bond moves, the health you should have remaining when you beat a level, your accuracy target, the time you should beat the level in, and how many enemies you needed to kill or subdue. After you know what your target is, you can re-play a level as many times as you want to achieve your best score. This adds some depth to the game, since to unlock everything, you'll need to check every corner and work out the paths you wanna take through levels.
You're rewarded with points for doing things that only Bond would do in all the levels. This can help you greatly in that it sometimes gives you more then one option to use in completing a level. For instance the second level of the game (the first is an on rails shooting sequence from a helicopter), you start out having to get inside a castle undetected. You can either jump into a moving truck and get Bond points for getting in easy, or you can take out the guards and sneak around the outside of the building. Once inside the castle walls, you can head straight for the door to get in, or you can take out the guards and earn more points for kills, using stealth, and collecting 007 icons that are hidden in the level. Once inside, you can either fight your way out through the guards, or head outside and slide down a zip line, avoiding a lot of enemies. This practice is in place for a lot of levels, and while the main goal always stays the same, how you get there is up to you.
The gadgets in the game include a laser, a camera (disguised as a lighter), a grappling cord (unfortunately you can only use it in certain places), a stunner (your car keys) and an electric shaver (I have no clue what this does exactly). You also have a a decryptor for getting past security key pads, a Q worm to install on computers, and night vision and heat vision glasses. All of these (except the shaver) will come into play at some point in the game.
The weapons are based off real life guns, but given pseudonym, similar to Goldeneye and The World Is Not Enough. You get a number of pistols, machine guns, sniper rifles, and high tech weapons (a laser gun) during the course of the game. Some weapons have an extra setting, like being able to put a silencer on it or switch to burst fire (on machine guns).
The majority of levels consist of going into office buildings, sneaking around warehouses, and other places. Some levels however are on rails shooter levels, form a helicopter you snipe out drivers trying to run a partner off the road. Another involves being on the back of a snowmobile, shooting at bad guys going down a mountain, and last you'll be on an airplane, shooting other planes out of the sky while blowing up bridges.
The driving levels are few, but they are another great part of the game. One level has you driving through a village, stopping the police with your gadgets and taking out other cars with your missiles. Another level has you going through Drake's compound, sabotaging his defenses while blasting away more henchmen. The most unique however, is a level where you drive your car under water (similar to The Spy Who Loved Me movie). You spend the level submerged, taking out submarines while trying to stop Drake's missiles from being launched into space.
The cut scenes have their moments, in the driving levels they shine the most, showing you hitting massive jumps and taking out helicopters. They come into play sometimes in the middle of all the action, but they aren't annoying and only help fuel what's going on around you. It takes it a step further in putting you into Bonds shoes.
The multiplayer again shines here, being able to have up to six AI controlled bots play with you. There are a number of different types of games to play, Arena, Team Deathmatch, King of the Hill, Goldeneye Strike. Unlocking all the characters in single player will give you more options as to who you wanna play against, and you can modify the way they play to give you more of a challenges. There are only a few levels though, but with all the game modes it's easy to find something enjoyable to play.
The control is spot on, and you have a number of different control set ups to use for the game. The game takes advantage of having two analog sticks to control Bond, making it smooth enough for large firefights. The jumping is limited, but it's not a choir like in the Turok games.
Cutscene Picture
There are some setbacks to the game however. One is that while you have options on doing things, sometimes you will find a better way to do something, but can't because the game won't allow it. If you were allowed to use your grappling hook wherever you wanted, it would have been great. However I'll chalk it up to the limits of what they could do, and since it's not an open world game (like Grand Theft Auto), you do have to have some kinda set path to follow. Also of note is regardless of what setting you play on (Operative, Agent, Double 0 agent), you're sure to find some henchmen that are just oblivious as to what's happening around them. Some will run into a wall and keep running, others will stand next to a friend when they get shot, without reacting. However there are times when the AI acts accordingly, even going as far as to follow you if you run. I also wish the objectives would have changed depending on what difficultly you play on (Goldeneye did it), it would have given even more reason to play on the harder settings.These are only minor gripes though.
It wouldn't be until Quantum of Solace came out last year that 007 would be back to the first person shooter format, after two forgettable games. From Russia With Love (third person shooter) staring Sean Connery (the only notable aspect of the game) and Everything or Nothing (a lackluster third person shooter).
Nightfire is a great first person shooter, and worth at least a rent if you can find a copy. You can buy a copy off the net easily as well. Most of them run as low as 50 cents (that's what mine cost), and with the recession the way it is, it'll keep you playing long enough to warrent a rental or a buy without breaking your wallet.
Rating - 4/5
All found here http://www.examiner.com/x-18707-St-Louis-Console-Game-Examiner~y2009m8d25-Bond-James-Bond
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