GoldenEye 007 review
You know the name. You know the number.
That's not to say it isn't successful. This is, without doubt, the most impressive Infinity Ward-style shooter on Nintendo's platform. Played with the Wii Classic Controller Pro, you are afforded tight, satisfying control and the huge range of weaponry (all of which is new to the GoldenEye universe) provides a pleasing number of ways to reach into the world with bullets. Levels rely on backtracking a little too often, and are tightly corridored, losing the original's capacity for different approachs, but all benefit from the imagination of the original film's scriptwriters, from the snow-capped clifftops leading to Severnaya bunker, to the Soviet-chic jail in St Petersberg.
The game slips comfortably between stealth shooter and balls-out skirmishing. Most of the levels can be played with a silenced P99, taking guards down with quiet headshots or physical takedowns triggered when in range. Fail to achieve a one-shot kill on an enemy and you'll have a few seconds' grace in which to finish them before they raise the alarm. If you're detected, three special-ops enemies will arrive on the scene. Dispatch of these and Bond will slip back into stealth mode. In general, the system works well, although there are times when an enemy will become alerted to your presence even when you were crouching behind cover and there was no line of sight.
Variety is introduced via a three-inch smart phone that can be used to photograph evidence, hack into sentry guns to turn them on enemies and disrupt security. This single, catch-all device replaces the variety of gadgets from the original game, and its uninspired application adds nothing. A single vehicle-based level late in the game offers a brief change of pace, but otherwise the sneaking and shooting bears the main weight of the experience.
One idea that has been lifted from the original is the use of scaling objectives as you increase the difficulty level. On default, you take the straightest path through a stage, with one or two simple objectives. Move up to the next difficulty and you'll need to visit areas slightly off the beaten track to fulfill additional requirements while, at '007' level, your aims cover the entire map, taking you to areas you would not have otherwise investigated. One of Rare's best ideas (which has inexplicably failed to catch on), it imbues the game with more replay value than its rivals. It's a smart, design-heavy solution that provides value to the player, and while the additional objectives lack some of the imagination of those in its forebear, they still elevate the package.
Mostly, however, mechanics are imported wholesale from Modern Warfare. For example, there's an automatic slow-motion effect when breaching and entering a room that contains hostages held at gunpoint, while prompts have you tapping the shoulder buttons in order to pry open lift doors, or move pieces of masonry. Likewise the way in which the game slips seamlessly in and out of cut-scenes apes Infinity Ward's work to strong effect, while the game's set-pieces are comfortably the most impressive in the style on the Wii.
The multiplayer too, borrows its metagame from Call of Duty, offering experience points for each basic kill, with bonuses for headshots, uninterrupted killstreaks and other predefined milestones. As you level your character so you unlock access to new weapons and configurations, while end-of-match accolades act as badges of honour. While we encountered significant lag this week (probably due to the fact we could only play with Americans ahead of European release) the multiplayer structure is wholly robust and engaging. While none of the original's maps are included, the new ones are well-thought out and the reappearance of classic game types such as Golden Gun will appease fans of the original.
Throughout, Eurocom's ambition rarely outstrips its ability, although, with a dropped frame-rate in the game's busier moments, the same can't be said of the Wii hardware itself, which at times struggles to keep up with the developer's vision. Nevertheless, this is a robust FPS, comfortably the strongest on its platform and, while derivative of its strongest rivals, it's still able to compete in key areas. As to whether it's a worthy reimagining of the original? Certainly the game successfully repaints Rare's game in the current trends. But as its forebear was known for transcending fashion to redefine its genre, it would seem that all that glitters is not gold.