GoldenEye 007

Originally written 5-10-11

Secret agent James Bond 007, along with his teammate and friend Alec Trevelyan, are sent to infiltrate a chemicals factory in Russia in search of weapons that are used by terrorist to target British embassies. The mission goes bad and Alec is apparently killed by a man named General Ourumov. Bond succeeds in his mission by demolishing the factory, and his next big mission sees him after a satellite named Goldeneye to prevent its use in the hands of terrorist. -summary

This is something I did not see coming, and that was a remake of the classic first person shooter Goldeneye 007 for the old Nintendo 64. In all honesty, I really don't see the reason behind re-fixing something that wasn't even close to being broken. However, to my surprise, this 2010 release for the Nintendo DS happens to introduce some neat elements and actually expands on the game play of the original. I was actually amazed during some of the elements concerning the game play, and this remake could have surpassed the original if not for some damaging elements.

Since I haven't seen the movie up to this day. I can't comment on how closely the game follows it but it loosely follows some parts of the N64 version, while others are unique to this game. The game stars Bond character Daniel Craig, although Pierce Brosnan played the version for the movie and original game.

Game Play:

Goldeneye is still a first person shooter that combines action with stealth creating that secret spy feel. The player is given a list of objectives that must be completed to end the mission. Most of the missions aren't given a time limit, where as some must be met before a room fills up with poison gas. This version manages to take advantage, and at times, handles the stealth elements a lot better than the original. There are missions that will be over instantly should you be discovered or trigger a trap. The obstacles will consist of navigating a room filled with motion sensor floors and proximity mines, creeping pass groups of people in a crouch position ASAP, or avoiding, and moving on a sniper who has a bead on you, and one shot to the head puts you out. The enemies become truly aware of your presence when you blow your cover, and they do attempt to take you out. It's your goal to remain concealed and dispose of alarms and surveillance cameras.

The game does have plenty of missions that doesn't feature stealth at all or very little. It's very possible to engage in violent shoot outs, and you'll have to fight your way to the next mission. I was very impressed with the way the DS itself is used in the game play. There's actually one segment that must be completed by actually closing and re-opening the DS cover to simulate smashing through glass. There are other elements thrown in there that clearly shows that this version had the potential to surpass the original. Although limited, there are a couple of boss battles with one having a nice twist to it.

As good as the game is in some areas, it botches in several others. First of all, it's incredibly easy and the game can be beaten really quick, it's no where near as hard as the original. I died four times during my entire run in the normal mode. Then we have the weapon selection; there's just not enough variety in the firepower at all. Forget about using rocket launchers, grenade launchers, magnum pistols, and even lasers. The weapon selection is limited to a small amount of automatic weapons, pistols, plastiques, and rifles. Those who are familiar with the original are not going to care for these adjustments. While newbies will probably have a ball.

Controls:

The DS features some nifty improvements, such as the bottom portion being the touch screen to select and reload weapons. Plus using the stylus to simulate swiping cards. However, the targeting system is atrocious, and it doesn't compare with the N64 version at all. Headshots are more luck than anything else, and sometimes they don't even kill the enemy. One stage consists of manning a tank, and I found the controls pretty frustrating at times. On the plus side though, when concerning basic movement the controls are very responsive. There also isn't much of a learning curve at all. The player can easily have the set up down long before the first stage is clear.

Graphics/Music/Sound:

When considering how beautiful Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword for the DS looks.There is no excuse for the weak visuals in this game despite it being a handheld. I think the character designs are pretty bad, with Natalya looking the absolute worst. I really didn't like the movements concerning her especially. They just had a real clunky look to them. However, there's at least some variety in the soldiers uniforms, but there really isn't anything special about them either. Now, on the other hand, I think the backgrounds were ok, and certain stages had the right amount of lighting when a flash light needed to be used. I also liked the designs for the weapons.

This game fails miserably with the soundtrack when compared to the original. Personally, I didn't hear one song that I could hear twice, and unfortunately, you will get to hear maybe two of them more than once. Now the use of the music isn't bad at all. The BGM is somewhat muted, and when you're detected it picks up greatly to match the situation. The sound of gun fire is pretty good with some distinction between pistols and rifles. Still, I wasn't really impressed.

Overall:

Once the main game is beaten the die hard player can continue through the harder modes; but the multi-player is where most will enjoy the game. Now in all honesty, I didn't play too much of the multi-player. For me, it really didn't capture the feel of the original. It's not that I'm one of those types who just can't move on and I'm stuck in the past. It's that the original did it so much better, I can't think of a reason why I wouldn't go back to it. In any case, it's a decent game for the first person shooter fan, but don't come into this expecting to play Goldeneye 64 all over again.

Overall Rating: 6/10

Pros: Some nice game play features, action, controls

Cons: Graphics, very shaky targeting system, enemies take too many shots to die