Difficulty:

Very Easy

Time Spent:

20 to 40 Hours

The Bottom Line:

"Great multiplayer"

Story: 7/10

You play as Agent James Bond 007 in this game from EA Interactive. The game really starts at a cold area with a castle that you try to sneak your way into. But, what could be in the castle? A vampire? A dragon? Dr. Frankenstein? Nope, Rafael Drake, your next adversary. Drake is the new villain, and he's having a party. Make it passed the guards out front and watch things slowly unfold.

Gameplay: 8/10
This is, like its prequel "Agent Under Fire" a first-person shooter, meaning you see what Bond sees. There are some very challenging levels in this game with some very interesting characters you encounter, along with experimenting different types of attacks. Do you put on your silencer and drop the guard with a blow to the head? Do you throw a grenade and drop everyone in the room? Or do you just go in like a savage and kill whoever gets in your way? It's a very fun game. My main problem is how long the levels are. Don't let the fact that there are only about 9 fool you...they are LONG! I remember while playing a level called "Double Cross" I thought to myself "Jeez! Will this level ever end?" While it is divided into smaller parts, the missions and the levels get long, which is why this game lost some gameplay points.

Graphics: 7/10
The graphics are very well done. The guns, the explosions, the whole nine yards look like a lot of work was put into them. So, why did the graphics lose points? Because the people sometimes looked a little choppy. At times, the way James Bond was animated looked like it could have been from a Nintendo 64 or a Dreamcast. Also, I remember in some videos, the small guns (like the Walther PPK) Bond and others hold in their hands are LARGER than their hands. In that instance, they either needed to make the guns smaller or make the characters bigger.

Sound: 8/10
Like the graphics, this part was well done. The sound of guns firing, the sound of explosions, people talking, tires screeching, it was all great. By adding a silencer to some guns, that loud BANG sound was replaced with the soft "ping" sound. The only reason this section lost points was the fact that there wasn't a lot of music. One example is the theme song...I can't even understand what the lady is saying! Just adding some background to some levels would probably help a lot. But, other than that, great sound, great voices, great score.

Length: 9/10
Unlike Everything or Nothing, this game isn't very short. It went with quality over quantity. While Everything Under Fire probably had thirty-something levels, Nightfire, as mentioned above, only has about 9, but they're great levels. They were a bit too long, but they weren't so long someone would fall asleep while playing. Unusually, the game does become a little short toward the end. If you can average one level a day, it's only going to take a bit longer than a week. The second to last level I'd say is the second shortest, only being "Out-shorted" by the last level.

Replayability: 5/10
There's basically not a lot to do with the game after you beat it. The only thing is really playing it back on harder modes and doing a better job on it so a medal can be unlocked. However, it really pays off. If it were like most games, you could only unlock extra skins and maybe another multiplayer mode that no one likes. But this is different. You can unlock new multiplayer weapons and skins, along with some modes that are actually fun to play in the multi-player.

Multiplayer: 8/10
This is something that no other Bond game has: a game with lots of different multiplayer modes. The classic arena, team arena, and capture the flag are still there, but there are some new and original modes. There's Goldeneye Strike where you have to collect two pieeces of the Goldeneye so it can strike your opponent. There's "Destruction" and "Protection", which are basically the same modes: one side is trying to blow up the other side's base. The only part where this section loses points is that you are very limited to teammates if you're on the MI6 side. If you're on the MI6 side, you cannot play against someone who is also an MI6 player. (i.e. if you're Bond, you can't be on a different team than Alura or Dominique)