| James Bond 007 in: Agent Under Fire James Bond is a licence that has basically been used to roll in the cash, with movie conversions being decent but yet not good enough for such a mega huge name, take Tomorrow Never Dies as an example it was all right, but it was kind of shoddy at the end of the day, while the FPS Tomorrow Never Dies was better but lacked the feel, while the N64's Goldeneye I can not comment on, as I have never played it, although it looks excellent, so we are here with the FPS and driving action: Agent Under Fire, with the difference being, It's not based on any of the movies, a brave move! When you watch a Bond movie you expect ACTION! And I mean a lot of explosions, shoot outs, car chases through the streets, you name it, Bond has done everything known to man: Agent Under Fire doesn't disappoint in this field, the first level delivers you straight in to the action, with your mission being to rescue a woman tied to a submarine which is about to launch in to the sea, this is obviously timed and is teeth clenching as every minute ticks down, exciting as a Bond game should be. Most of the levels take place through bond's eyes in a great engine first used by Quake 3, but there is some driving sections (using the Need For Speed engine) in which both of Bond's trademark Aston Martin and BMW make some classic appearances, the action is smooth and the explosions are gorgeous in these sections, even outshining the great Spyhunter remake in many ways, being on the back of a vehicle while using a machine gun, driving through the streets in a tank, these are all moments which create a Bond feel. Talking of Bond feel, what has been left in the game that makes Bond what he is today? Well obviously it wouldn't be 007 without that famous theme tune, and the game certainly gives us that (more about that later) what about stunts? Well you would hope so, when you complete a stunt that Bond would do you get a sample of the theme tune and different camera angles (on the driving sections in particular) These are known as Bond moves, and makes you feel truly like the super spy, not forgetting the bad guys and female leads, oh and there is some brilliant toys as in gadgets to play with! These include the Q Claw, which is a type of grappling hook (it's a shame you can use it only in certain places though) the Q Laser, which can cut through steel (locks and stuff) and more besides the few mentioned! The story is poor (about human cloning) but yet it was a brave attempt, but sadly this aspect of the game shows the licence being used yet again to bring in the money, but as in the films a lot of people are just interested in the action set pieces and as said earlier it really works as an action game, that single most important part has been brilliantly done, and not in anyway rushed just to get money! The visuals are best described as neat but not the best on PS2, well I'll halt there, it certainly has some of the best explosions I have ever seen, while Bond (looks a little like Pierce Bronson, wait until you see R) and co are detailed models, the driving sections run very smooth and look great at the same time. The sound is one of the games stronger point, keeping up with the play as it should, with the music interacting with the action or lack of, going from quiet to pumping fast, it all sounds very Bond like, while the characters have reasonable sound-alikes, Bond even has the childish humour. Action packed, brilliantly crafted, is what I think of Bond's latest and greatest on any of Sony's consoles, you feel like Bond and that is what a game of the super spy should do, if they can sort out a better storyline and a better balanced difficultly if or when they do a sequel, 007 could rule!Chris Wigham 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 |