I still fondly remember the day I stumbled across a copy of GoldenEye 007 for Nintendo 64 at a Maryland Walmart weeks before it was supposed to hit shelves. Being a 13-year-old lad, staring at the game with my hands pressed again the security glass, I immediately yelled to my mom and “quietly requested” she buy the game for me because I needed it. I got my wish, and within an hour I went from dull clothes shopping to playing what is considered one of the greatest console FPS titles of all time.
GoldenEye 007 and I go way back.
However, even though the game may be considered a classic amongst the hardcore gaming populace, time has not been generous to it. Nostalgia can be a powerful beast. Don’t act like GoldenEye 007 withstands the test of time. It doesn’t. Even I can step back and admit the game is near unplayable these days. Luckily Activision and developer Eurocom have stepped in to revitalize the GoldenEye namesake and once again return the classic game to the forefront of gaming conscious.
GoldenEye 007 (2010), as I’m going to call it in this review to distinguish it from the N64 original, is vastly different than the original N64 title. Both games might share the same title, characters, settings and plot, but GoldenEye 007 (2010) really becomes its own game from there. For starters, every role in the game has been recast; with Daniel Craig replacing Pierce Brosnan as James Bond. Shockingly, Craig turns in a much more believable performance as 007 here in GoldenEye 007 (2010) than he did for Blood Stone. In fact, all the voice acting in GoldenEye 007 (2010) is superb. It’s hard to get behind a replacement for Sean Bean as Agent 006 Alec Trevelyan, but I found myself really liking actor Daniel Curshen’s portrayal of the character. The same can be said for leading lady Natalya.
High production values are something GoldenEye 007 (2010) absolutely nails. On top of the stellar voice work, the game’s level design, cutscenes, loading screens and opening Bond music video make GoldenEye 007 (2010) feel like a true Hollywood Bond production. I was grinning ear to ear when the GoldenEye theme kicked in, even if it’s a cover of the Tina Turner classic. It was like I was 13 all over again.
GoldenEye 007 (2010) is an exceptionally well-paced game. The game balances stealth and run-and-gun missions flawlessly, switching between the two frequently to keep gameplay fresh. But my favorite missions remain the ones I actually got to choose my approach. Nine times out of ten I opted for sneaking around and silently taking out enemies with the cool melee attack animations, only resorting to gunfire Armageddon if I was spotted. The mission set in Severnaya, Russia stands out--not only because it’s the best looking level in the game--but because it’s the perfect example of this “play how you wish” philosophy.
Speaking of ways to play, GoldenEye 007 (2010) lets you choose your control setup from a number of different options. You can choose the standard Wii-mote/nunchuk setup, the classic controller setup, or use the Wii Zapper peripheral. I chose to go Wii-mote/nunchuk, which worked great. The motion control was quick and responsive, and being able peek around corners by tilting the nunchuk left and right while looking down the barrel of my gun was a nice added touch to the game’s firefight mechanics. My only problem with the Wii-mote/nunchuk controls was with the button layout for cycling through weapons. Unless you have the hands of a 7-foot tall gargantuan, reaching “down” on the D-pad is quite tough when taking into account the natural placement of your hands on the Wii-mote. Also, a quick select to the silenced PP7 would have been nice, but it sadly doesn’t exist.
