After attending their event the previous evening in San Francisco, I’m convinced that Activision is ballsy to some extent. They’re a great company, no question about it, and Modern Warfare 3 will obviously mop up in sales come November 8. But the company has got some real guts releasing Goldeneye 007 Reloaded for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 a week before. Not only will James Bond be in the middle of the battle between MW3 and Battlefield 3, but it’ll also be contending with Uncharted 3, Sony’s big ace-in-the-hole for holiday sales. And there’s Sonic too, though that’s a different kind of market. What’s crazier is that the reboot to Goldeneye, which comes on the heels of last year’s entertaining Wii version, may actually keep up pace with the other AAA titles out there. Eurocom has thrown in everything imaginable to make this the best Bond game since the old N64 beast roared so many years ago, complete with a revamped single-player campaign and the kind of multiplayer, both online and split-screen, to attract the fans of old, especially those that just plain out love the James Bond universe.
The plot somewhat follows the events that transpired in the Pierce Brosnan film of old, with a mega-satellite wreaking havoc on the world through electromagnetic pulse firings. Only Bond can get to the bottom of the plot, running into such familiar characters as the lethal Xenia Onatopp and Natalya Simonova, a programmer caught in the middle of the fracas. Activision has done a decent job porting over the story, replacing Brosnan with current Bond mainstay Daniel Craig and making is still click. (Credit Bond scribe Bruce Feirstein, who co-wrote the film, for that.) Goldeneye’s single player campaign is pretty exciting, featuring scenarios that range from a snow-covered military compound (similar to the opening level from the original Nintendo 64 game) to a dance club filled with unlikely suspects and allies. Eurocom has done a good job porting this game over in high definition, with better facial details, a speedier frame rate (most of the time it sits at 60 frames per second) and cool melee finishers, including one where Bond smashes a poor thug’s head into a nearby wall. The action moves just as frenetically as Modern Warfare 3’s, even though there isn’t as much happening as far as scope.
What’s more, Bond’s gadgets actually prove quite useful in the field of battle. Along with his traditional PPK, he can pick up a variety of handguns, assault rifles and more, and occasionally turn on his Smartphone to keep a closer eye on details and get pictures of crucial items. Granted, you’d look pretty silly walking around a dance club holding a Smartphone up to your face, but you have to get the job done somewhere. Just order a martini, shaken not stirred, and chill. While single player has its moments, the primary reason that Activision flew us to San Fran to check the game out was multiplayer. Activision has included the best of both worlds here, including a local four-player split-screen mode (akin to what the N64 version provided) and online multiplayer for up to 16 people. You can choose from a variety of maps, including a couple of classic N64 ones revamped for today’s times, as well as several new locales. One of our personal favorites is a lumberyard, complete with abandoned buildings, tunnels to run through, catwalks to perch on overhead and plenty of opportune spots to take someone out.
This feature preview concludes on the next page, please click Page 2 below to read our final thoughts of our hands-on time with Goldeneye 007: Reloaded.
