GoldenEye 007 (Wii - 1st completion)
GoldenEye 007 is a reimagining of the original 1997 Nintendo 64 game by Rareware and based on the 1995 James Bond film. It was incredibly popular at the time but it's a game in legal limbo. While the game was made by Rare, Nintendo has a hand in its ownership. After Microsoft bought Rare in 2002, the legality of the game is shared between both companies. Microsoft has wanted to re-release the game remastered in HD for a number of years but Nintendo refuses to let it go. In return, Nintendo hasn't been able to put the game on the Wii. The other problem is the Bond license being thrown around to different companies. Even the 2015 release of Rare Replay for Xbox One didn't include GoldenEye after all these years. So in 2010, Activision published this game for the Wii as a kind of way to get around the legal limbo the original N64 game was in. It made sense to put this on the Wii at the time as it signaled that the N64 original wasn't coming out on the Wii Shop anytime soon. A year later, it was released with HD graphics as GoldenEye 007: Reloaded for the Xbox 360 and PS3. Instead of previous Bond actor Pierce Brosnan as James Bond, current actor Daniel Craig was put in instead. While the game doesn't feel like the original -as it is a reimagining of it- because of modern elements of FPS gameplay, it does a good job while giving us something to remember the original by. I still own the N64 cartridge and have fond memories of playing both the single-player campaign by myself and multiplayer with two groups of friends. I only did the single-player campaign on "Agent" difficulty level for this playthrough as online multiplayer has long been shut down. I beat it yesterday and took me around 10 hours of gametime.
I had the Collector's Edition which included a gold Wii Classic Controller! I chose to treasure it so it was not used during my playthrough.
MI6 Agents James Bond and Alec Trevelyan are tasked by M with infiltrating a chemical weapons facility in Arkhangelsk, Russia, which is believed to be the source of weapons used by a terrorist cell to target British embassies around the globe. The mission goes awry when Trevelyan is shot by General Ourumov. Bond escapes by detonating explosives he had placed throughout the facility before fleeing Arkhangelsk via aeroplane. His investigation continues on pursuit of Ourumov and his illegal dealings.
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Graphics/Art-8
+ Great environments and updates to the original version. The level design is not a clone of the 1997 game with fresher paint and better textures, but reimagined and complex.
+ Good animation and decent frame rate. Nice character models.
+ Awesome classic Bond-film style opening!
Music/Sound-8
+ Voice acting by Daniel Craig himself and other actors and actresses help keep things authentic! Good show!
+ Music is alright. Sound effects are fine.
Control-8
+ The game offers you several choices of controllers: Wii Remote with Nunchuk, Wii Zapper, Classic Controller (plus Pro), and even a Gamecube controller! GoldenEye 007 also provides you using the Remote with Nunchuk or Wii Zapper with the ability to peer around cover by tilting the Nunchuk
- On the Classic Controller, the use of "ZL" and "ZR" for shooting and aiming was a strange choice for default button placement: why not the "L" and "R" buttons instead?
- Aiming is slow and precision is not easy on moving targets, especially if you are using the Wiimote and Nunchuk..
Gameplay-8
+ While GoldenEye 007 is a re-imagining of the film, the game does have noticeable differences. Levels have been altered to reflect the game's modified story. Likewise, the game features modern game elements to coincide with other modern first-person shooters, such as destructible environments, regenerating health, and online multiplayer. Eurocom has added a few updated features while retaining some features from the original game. Instead of a watch, you use a mobile phone to scan documents, take photos, and communicate with MI6. This change was reflective of the initial departure of high end gadgets for the Craig films. The original GoldenEye 007 featured a cheat menu which is available from the start in the re-make. The game updates the AI-Bot system which is built upon Eurocom's previous game, Dead Space: Extraction. Each computer player possesses its own AI-bot system to make them dynamic and challenging.
+ The game includes twenty-five weapons based upon counterparts from the franchise overall.
+ While the game does not open with any gun barrel sequence like the Craig films prior to the release of Spectre -which was the first 007 film to open with it since Die Another Day- the opening credits is similar to past films.
+ GoldenEye 007 features both offline split screen for up to four local players and online play for up to eight players. There are 10 multiplayer maps. There are four different game modes for offline multiplayer and nine different game modes for online multiplayer. Online multiplayer was provided through the free Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, and though up to eight players can connect to a game remotely, only one local player is allowed at a time. Multiplayer includes characters from the single player campaign, such as James Bond and Alec Trevelyan, as well as classic Bond-series characters including Jaws, Oddjob, and Julius No. Additionally, online multiplayer offers XP progression, unlockables and multipliers. Split screen combat provides over a dozen modifiers, including Melee Only, You Only Live Twice, and Paintball Mode from the original game.
- Some of the situations are difficult and cheap - in particular the beginning of the final level!
- The checkpoint system is mostly good, but in some difficult situations it can send you back a little too far.
Fun/Story/Misc-8
+ The single-player campaign isn't long but it is fun. I cannot comment on multiplayer, of course.
+ Increasing the difficulty allows for replay value as most levels will increase your objectives.
+ While a great shooter for the Wii, I recommend playing the Reloaded versions on PS3 and Xbox 360 instead. Still, any version is fine.
- Not much extra content compared to the original which made you come back for more.
Total: 40/50 (Grade Level: B)
The main GoldenEye 007 website is gone. The Wikipedia article is here.
Next Game: Super Mario Galaxy (Wii)
Currently playing: New Super Mario Bros. 2 (3DS)
