Video Game Review: Goldeneye

I've never been much of a fan of the games known as "first person shooters" like Call of Duty or Halo. I don't know, not only are most of these games rated M, but they seem so mindless to me. It just seems like you run around trying to find a good vantage point or hiding spot, and then just pull the trigger until everyone is dead. I still don't know if this is a valid generalization, nor do I have any intention of finding out any time soon, but it is certainly not true for a James Bond game I just finished called GoldenEye 007 on the Wii.

In my first review I mentioned that movie-based video games are famously mediocre. In 1997, a game was released based on the movie GoldenEye, and this game is regarded as one of the greatest games ever released on the Nintendo 64. This game is a modernization of that one, and it is amazing. As I never played the original, this will not be a comparison, and this is probably the last time that the original will ever be mentioned in this review.

Okay, getting to the actual review. Part of the reason that I think that this game is so good is that it is basically an interactive James Bond movie. Daniel Craig and Judi Dench, who play Bond and M in the latest movies, play these roles in the game (Bond even looks like Craig). The game even has the MGM logo at the beginning. Like any good Bond movie, there is some action at the beginning before a song. Even the only American in the game, a CIA agent who appears at the beginning of one level, is exactly like the Americans in Bond movies: he has a Texan accent, thinks he has everything under control, and in fact doesn't (he gets shot about 30 seconds after you meet him).

Another major reason that this game is so great is that its gameplay is nearly flawless. Strangely, I'm reminded of Batman: Arkham Asylum due to its emphasis on stealth, but also because there are a number of interesting differences (for instance, enemies with guns will do far less damage than someone punching you, which brings you almost to death). Far from being mindless, this game is actually very strategic. You never want to charge into a room firing an AK-47 since if you do that the three guys in there will call about 20 other guys, some of whom will throw grenades, and good luck getting out of that one alive. What you want to do is sneak around the room taking out security cameras and guards, while never allowing the other people or cameras in the room to know you are there. This is not an easy task (in the first couple of levels I proved that I do not put the "secret" in "secret agent" and more often then not found myself in a firefight with half the Russian Army), and in some rooms takes some really good thinking. In one room I remember, it is virtually impossible to take someone out without any one noticing. The best way to proceed is to climb into an air duct and use your smart phone (yeah, like in the new movies, Bond makes extensive use of his phone) to hack into a turret and use that to kill everyone in the room. There are some things though, that I'm not sure why they count as stealth kills. In one room I killed two people by shooting an explosive barrel, and no reinforcements came (there wasn't anyone else in the room, but still, no one else in the area heard?)

You don't sneak around everywhere, however, since sometimes the bad guys already know that you're there. These levels are a bit more mindless, but you always have to pay attention because more people will show up, or a helicopter will show up, or someone will throw grenades at you, or something. In all though, the gameplay is fast and strategic, and very enjoyable.

To accomplish your missions, you are always provided with a handgun. This gun is probably the weapon you will use the most for a number of reasons. For one thing, this is the only weapon you can silence (even if you have other handguns) meaning that it is the only way to stealthily take out a guy with a gun (the only other way is to sneak up on them and punch them). You can find other silenced weapons (I even found a silenced machine gun once) but they are very rare. You also start with about 200 shots on the handgun, which is only fair because you will never find a reload. There is another flaw, however, which is power. It takes about three shots to kill someone unless you take time to carefully aim, which is not always possible. When you need more, you turn to other weapons. In addition to your handgun you can carry two other guns, which you can pick up from enemies or in boxes. You can find shotguns, which basically kill in one shot, but are ineffective at long range and carry very little ammo. There are also machine guns, which are more powerful than your handgun and carry more ammo, but you use about ten shots every time you pull the trigger. There are also sniper rifles, which carry very few shots but almost always kill, but these are basically provided to you when they will be most useful. The two gun limit means that you will have to make tactical decision, deciding whether you want two machine guns, or a machine gun or a shotgun, or whether or not the sniper rifle will be useful anywhere else.

The story is pretty good as well. It begins as James Bond and 006 investigate a Russian military base. The mission doesn't go well and 006 is shot. From then on, Bond is forced to deal with a rouge Russian general and his partner the Janus Group, an organization that sells weapons to terrorist groups and has mysterious plans regarding EMP weapons. A couple of plot twists later, Bond stops the Janus Group and saves London.

In all the game is very very good, and was well worth my time. It was well made, fun to play, and kept me interested all the way through, to the point that I quickly started replaying it.

Now, if only we could get another good Bond movie . . .