The last time we saw James Bond do some damage in a video game, it was with the startlingly thrilling Blood Stone, an original effort from Bizarre Creations that, sadly, couldn’t save the studio from closure. But that was last year. This time around, the super spy is treading familiar ground in Goldeneye 007 Reloaded, which is, in fact, a high-definition upgrade of last year’s Wii release, which in itself is a “re-imagining” of the classic Nintendo 64 game by Rare. So…a port of a remake, it seems. But Reloaded comes with enough serviceable extras – and the best kind of multiplayer options – to leave players shaken and stirred. Though it’s not the game’s greatest asset, a good place to start in Reloaded would be with single player. For this, Activision has brought in the original screenwriter for the Goldeneye film, Bruce Fierstein, to rework the script, replacing long-gone Bond Pierce Brosnan with current star Daniel Craig, and effectively upping the stakes with more “here and now” themes. The general storyline is still the same – a Russian satellite called Goldeneye could wreak havoc on anything electrical in the wrong hands – but it’s better structured for today’s gaming tastes. Plus, it’s way more fun to blow up stuff in a tank this time around.
Bond still has his array of weapons at his disposal, as well as the ability to conk an enemy out with an up-close melee attack, and he can use his smart phone on occasion to scope out secrets or identify suspects. While the “snooping” gameplay element doesn’t entirely mesh (one stage in a nightclub took way too long to complete), the gunplay is what counts here – and there’s plenty of it to satisfy. Aiming and running around works about on the same level as Activision’s Call of Duty games, and the selection of firepower Bond can pick up over the course of a stage is pretty satisfactory. Once you get through the single player mode (a few hours, maybe more on a higher difficulty), you can tackle the new MI6 missions, a group of quick stages where you run through and complete certain challenges, be it offensive, defensive or stealth. You can take them on by yourself, or have a friend jump in to help you clean house. While these missions may not hold you for the long haul, they’re a decent diversion, and a great way to score some Achievements.
Goldeneye’s greatest selling point, obviously, is its multiplayer. Back on the Nintendo 64, the Rare original defined how a first-person shooter can be on a console, and the developers at Eurocom faithfully keep this part of the game intact. You’ll be able to hook up with friends either in traditional split-screen format (someone tell my jerk friends to stop peering at my screen to see where I am) or online through Xbox Live. Either way, you’re in for some outrageously wild battles, selecting from a who’s who of Bond villains (including Oddjob and Max Devlin, aka Christopher Walken) and modifying your game with everything from the Golden Gun (instant one hit kills) to the awesome Paintball. Several other modifiers are available, and a number of old and new maps are ripe for the picking. Don’t be surprised if you spend a better part of your time here, rather than fiddling around with single player mode. Honestly, between single player and multiplayer modes, there’s quite a bit of nostalgia here for dedicated Goldeneye fans, despite the fact we saw it all last year on the Wii. The big difference this time around, I’d say, are the updated visuals.
This feature review concludes on the next page, please click Page 2 below to read more of our final thoughts on Goldeneye 007: Reloaded.
