This game is a perfect example of how horrible Goldeneye could've been.
The Review
----------------------------
007 Agent Under Fire is the newest James Bond game from EA, trying to capture the spirit of what made Goldeneye so great is what EA is trying to do with this game. Sadly, this game is more of a perfect example of how horrible Goldeneye could've been.
The story itself is pretty weak. It's no story of any 007 movie but all you really need to know is that you are working alongside a female CIA agent, trying to take down an evil corporation that is making evil clones to do their dastardly deeds.That's it. So basically this game has mostly become a run n' gun first-person shooter. That makes it generic. And generic first-person shooters = no go.
You have to really loathe the game's sheer awfulness as you are constantly twisting and turning just to get a bead at your enemies. Now this is where I should inform you that this game uses the old Goldeneye control scheme. As in, you're mostly going to use the L trigger to target a certain body part to ensure an easy kill. If you're a Goldeneye veteran, you should have no problem with the controls as they're exactly alike. Though, you may not remember how seeing as how long ago that game out. C'mon EA, there are two analog sticks on the controller. You should know this by now.
But hey, theres really no need to adjust your aiming since the game uses the old auto-targetting most people hate so much. In fact, you may actually like the auto-targetting seeing as how your enemies are so dumb, they won't even move when shooting at you. So its easy enough to shoot at their torso with the auto-targetting. Even on hard mode, there is no need to duck behind boxes because they're so stupid, they'd rather shoot at the box that you're covering behind. But hey, at least the controls show resemblence to Goldeneye. The least EA could've done with the control scheme is let us customize them.
Now, I know I'm reviewing a game that came out in 2002. But the GC, PS2, and Xbox were all capable of good graphics power. Sadly, this game makes James Bond look uglier than Tom Cruise. The females aren't even that smoking hot as they should be in the movies. James' face does not resemble Pierce Brosnan's face in anyway like the way Goldeneye did. Yeah, that's the price you pay for low polygon count. As I said earlier, Agent Under Fire really does show resemblence with its N64 predecessor. And by that, I mean it's age. Seriously, the level design is highly lackluster and the explosion effects look worse than Goldeneye's. In fact, I'm starting to think Goldeneye looked better than this waste of time.
As I said with the lackluster level design, seriously, it is lackluster. There's pretty much only one path that leads you to your next objective. As well with the other areas in different levels, c'mon, some of them are really ridiculous. For intance, in the "Night of the Jackal" level, head to the far corner of the street and look at some of the windows. You'll notice one of them has a shotgun conviently places inside the interior of that window. It's the only object within that window. There isn't anything around it that says weapon shop. Nice try at detail EA, but you gotta do better than that. Now what I also find stupid is the convient rappel spots. You'll find a full metallic circle placed in some points of the map to use your rappel gadget to make your way up there. But seriously, who would put that in some of the most random places? You'll even find one next to an apartment building.
Now the back of the box Agent Under Fire comes in, says in one spot, "Intense FIRST-PERSON ACTION with HI-TECH WEAPONS and state-of-the-art GADGETS" Wrong!
1. The action cannot be intense if your enemies are dumber than a special-ed dropout. The least EA could've done was put more enemies in the game. So you'll have to result to run around the level looking for enemies to shoot. Yeah, you may think that helicopter you're about to shoot at might be fun. But at the end, you'll really feel like he put up much of a fight rather than just look at you and not launch any missles at all.
2. Not all the weapons cannot be high-tech if most of them consist of generic weaponry like AK-47's, Revolvers, and Shotguns.
3. State-of-the-art gadgets? So what, a mere laser that melts down locks, a rappel gadget where rappel objects are put in weird spots, and a simple decryptor to open doors are high-tech? Riiiiiight.
The only exciting levels are the 2nd and 3rd ones as they seem to consist of the most action. What about that Multiplayer you ask? Uhh, it's no Goldeneye. Your bots seem even more stupidier yet stronger than the single player bots, and there isn't exactly that many multiplayer options to speak of. The best in there is the deathmatch. It's good that they let us fully customize our match-ups though.
The most redeeming quality in this game is the music. You got that classic James Bond music you heard in the movies with a few added ones as well to fit the themes of some of the levels. But music won't save this game from being so crappy. Plus, the game is also short and your most likely to finish this game in a day or two.
So there you have it, stupid A.I, poor level design, weak multiplayer, cruddy controls, and a very weak attempt at trying to please Goldeneye fans. Yeah, this game is no Goldeneye, it's a browneye. So it's best you skip this game because I give it a 3.5.