broodwars
11-05-2010, 01:47 AM
I was extremely skeptical of this game, since Activision has been doing whatever they can to try to hype this game from nostalgia over the Nintendo 64 original. Still, I picked this one up today after seeing all the astonishingly-good reviews this game has gotten and I thought I'd give it a quick...oh who am I kidding? We all know this won't be quick. ^_-
Suffice it to say, if more 3rd parties put the money and effort into their Wii games that Activision and Eurocom put into this Goldeneye Remake, Wii's 3rd party support probably wouldn't be such a colossal joke. This isn't a simple cash-in on the Goldeneye 007 N64 name. While the basic skeleton of the story remains the same and there are some nods to the levels of the original title, this is a modern shooter even if it does lean towards the Run & Gun side of the FPS. The levels are pretty much entirely brand-new, and they're pretty well-designed with lots of little details and effects you simply don't see on the Wii, let alone all at once. Seriously, when things get ugly with explosions rocking the screen; bullets flying everywhere; and enemies scurrying around, you'll wonder why so many 3rd parties struggle to make anything look good or exciting on the platform.
In updating Goldeneye for the modern age, Eurocom basically fused it with Call of Duty: you have iron sights, regenerating health, pretty heavily-scripted levels, the ability to take cover and vault over it, and some very minor quick-time events. There's a somewhat-larger emphasis on stealth than you'd see in Call of Duty, as in most levels you can get around most of the level just picking guys off with headshots. If you fail to kill an enemy in one shot (or if there are multiple guys around watching you), you have roughly 3 seconds to finish them off before they summon reinforcements in the form of these heavily-armed and armored militia. At least on Agent Difficulty (which is the "normal" difficulty setting), this isn't a huge penalty since the game's fairly easy. I haven't had a chance to check out the higher difficulty levels and see how 007 Difficulty changes your path through the levels and the mission objectives, but the levels I've played are pretty long and are generally interesting.
In a move that every frickin' Wii game should have, this game boasts both traditional Dual-analog stick controls on the Classic Controller Pro (which I highly recommend) or Wiimote + Nunchuck for your standard pointer action. On a final positive note, this game has some truly impressive audio work, especially the big orchestral soundtrack that really lends a cinematic quality to the game. Activision even shelled out the cash to record a new cover of the original "Goldeneye" movie theme, along with creating an opening music number for it that's pretty faithful to the theatrical original. The voice acting is respectable, but nothing remarkable. Judi Dench is the only actor from the original Goldeneye movie to reprise her role in this game, and Daniel Craig has all the personality of burnt toast.
Which leads me to my few issues with this game: I know it probably couldn't be helped, but even with the story re-written to better embrace Daniel Craig's Bond, he's a poor substitute for Pierce Brosnan. Secondary mission objectives are also scarce (and honestly not very well marked), at least on "Agent" difficulty, and Bond doesn't really ever use gadgets. He generally just points his "smart phone" at things, and stuff happens, which isn't particularly interesting. The levels are also perhaps a bit too long, though it doesn't particularly hurt the game.
Overall, an impressive game from Eurocom. I recommend it.
Suffice it to say, if more 3rd parties put the money and effort into their Wii games that Activision and Eurocom put into this Goldeneye Remake, Wii's 3rd party support probably wouldn't be such a colossal joke. This isn't a simple cash-in on the Goldeneye 007 N64 name. While the basic skeleton of the story remains the same and there are some nods to the levels of the original title, this is a modern shooter even if it does lean towards the Run & Gun side of the FPS. The levels are pretty much entirely brand-new, and they're pretty well-designed with lots of little details and effects you simply don't see on the Wii, let alone all at once. Seriously, when things get ugly with explosions rocking the screen; bullets flying everywhere; and enemies scurrying around, you'll wonder why so many 3rd parties struggle to make anything look good or exciting on the platform.
In updating Goldeneye for the modern age, Eurocom basically fused it with Call of Duty: you have iron sights, regenerating health, pretty heavily-scripted levels, the ability to take cover and vault over it, and some very minor quick-time events. There's a somewhat-larger emphasis on stealth than you'd see in Call of Duty, as in most levels you can get around most of the level just picking guys off with headshots. If you fail to kill an enemy in one shot (or if there are multiple guys around watching you), you have roughly 3 seconds to finish them off before they summon reinforcements in the form of these heavily-armed and armored militia. At least on Agent Difficulty (which is the "normal" difficulty setting), this isn't a huge penalty since the game's fairly easy. I haven't had a chance to check out the higher difficulty levels and see how 007 Difficulty changes your path through the levels and the mission objectives, but the levels I've played are pretty long and are generally interesting.
In a move that every frickin' Wii game should have, this game boasts both traditional Dual-analog stick controls on the Classic Controller Pro (which I highly recommend) or Wiimote + Nunchuck for your standard pointer action. On a final positive note, this game has some truly impressive audio work, especially the big orchestral soundtrack that really lends a cinematic quality to the game. Activision even shelled out the cash to record a new cover of the original "Goldeneye" movie theme, along with creating an opening music number for it that's pretty faithful to the theatrical original. The voice acting is respectable, but nothing remarkable. Judi Dench is the only actor from the original Goldeneye movie to reprise her role in this game, and Daniel Craig has all the personality of burnt toast.
Which leads me to my few issues with this game: I know it probably couldn't be helped, but even with the story re-written to better embrace Daniel Craig's Bond, he's a poor substitute for Pierce Brosnan. Secondary mission objectives are also scarce (and honestly not very well marked), at least on "Agent" difficulty, and Bond doesn't really ever use gadgets. He generally just points his "smart phone" at things, and stuff happens, which isn't particularly interesting. The levels are also perhaps a bit too long, though it doesn't particularly hurt the game.
Overall, an impressive game from Eurocom. I recommend it.