Home > Reviews > Gamecube > #151

007 Bond: Nightfire Review - Gamecube

EA continue to try and recapture that magic that Rare brought to the N64 in the forms of Goldeneye and Perfect Dark. And whilst they are still not quite there, they have taken a large step in perfecting the formula. Can they, with future instalments, equal Rare's standard or is that a place only few can reach? Only the future will unveil the answer to that question, but for now, Nightfire is a great improvement on the lacklustre Agent Under Fire and even stands up against the brilliant Timesplitters 2 at times.

James Bond: Nightfire is another instalment in the series that has not got a movie counterpart. Despite this, the Bond feel is evident from the start and feels right from the get go. With Pierce Brosnan on board and a host of sexy woman, Nightfire has the potential to be a big winner.

Gameplay

Nightfire is another standard, by the numbers, first person shooter. Developers are becoming increasingly lazy when it comes to creating software; this is not a personal attack at EA or Eurocom but rather to the whole industry. Why is it Rare can implement so many more features on an older console. Perfect Dark had a larger number of weapons, skins, levels and options to tweak. I loved the ability to tell my computer teammates what to do, I loved finishing a frag fest and receiving the message that my personal rank is now "elite" and so forth. And whilst Nightfire has different style bots, there are not enough variables in the game to keep in interesting for a long period of time. Again, it is not just Nightfire that suffers from this but most games these days. Anyway, back to the review....

Nightfire has two main modes, your single player story mode, and your multiplayer mode. The single player mode is a classic James Bond plot broken down over 12 levels. Most levels will be the standard shooting missions that have you completing a number of varied objectives whilst killing, or escaping, from your enemy. As you progress through the levels, the story will unfold like a virtual book. Like Agent Under Fire before it, Nightfire has levels that put you behind the wheels of a range of automobiles including the famous BMW and even a plane. Whilst these levels are fun (thanks to the excellent handling of the vehicles, cars in particular) I can't help but wish there were more emphasis on first person levels as they are the most fun after all. Goldeneye had, by memory, over 15 first person levels whilst Nightfire has a mere half dozen. An area of the game(s) that definitely needs to be worked on.

The levels are pretty average in length lasting between 10-20 minutes and thereabouts. This means the single player game is very short and would only take a sitting or two to complete. Luckily, you can redo the levels and try and earn a platinum award making the ... (continued next page)