
	Platform Wii Genre Shooter Publisher Activision Developer Eurocom ESRB T (Teen) Released November 2, 2010

- Refines the excellence of the original revolutionary GoldenEye multiplayer gameplay with modification opportunities and great maps

- Apparently, a lot of the development money was spent on the licensing fees and skimmed from the graphics department – mediocre-looking visuals, even by Wii standards - Shooting controls a bit too loose and inaccurate in targeting, especially during heavy firefights

Review: GoldenEye: Rogue Agent (XB) Review: James Bond 007: Blood Stone (PS3) Review: James Bond (Die Another Day) Action Figure
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James Bond 007: GoldenEye

Score: 9.0 / 10

Throughout gaming history, it is easy to point out what titles either revolutionized or completely created whole new genres. The console first-person shooter, particularly when discussing multiplayer, owes it all to one amazing title: GoldenEye, released on the Nintendo 64 way back in 1995, spawning multiplayer FPS gaming that has evolved from single-console to online with today’s billion-dollar juggernaut franchise, Call of Duty. Even more remarkable is that GoldenEye overcame the usual movie-license videogame awfulness to reach legendary gaming status.

Unfortunately, none of the 007 titles that have followed the N64 classic have been able to capture the magic that made GoldenEye such a remarkable game (including the rather-mediocre GoldenEye: Rogue Agent, which shares nothing but the name

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with the original). That is, until now, with the reimagining of the original Rare GoldenEye released for the Wii: GoldenEye 007. It isn’t simply a remake of the first GoldenEye, either, being more of a upgraded and extended “director’s cut” taking much of the single-player adventure and adding and extenuating it with larger levels inspired by the N64 version, and bringing the renowned multiplayer to a whole new level of excellence.

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Visually, the new GoldenEye isn’t much better than the original. Yes, it looks “better” than it did way back in 1995, but the graphically challenged, underpowered Wii visual abilities (in comparison to the Xbox 360 and PS3) still leave a generally unattractive visual style. Apparently, all the money the developers and publisher shelled out for the movie-licensing fee was skimmed off the graphical budget. And they make sure they get their money’s worth, as cut-scenes are unable to be skipped. Yes, gamers must watch GoldenEye 007, whether they want to or not, instead of simply just playing it. All kidding aside, it wasn’t upgraded visuals that the developers of GoldenEye 007 were concerned with; it was capturing and exceeding the exceptional multiplayer of 1995’s GoldenEye. And developer Eurocom Entertainment Software has done just that.

For gamers that ever played multiplayer on the original, they’ll remember how much fun that it was, especially with four players all playing split-screen, running around the various levels as Bond, classic Bond villains and other characters, shooting each other with all kinds of weaponry (rocket launchers and the golden gun, now those were fun tools of destruction!) at their disposal.

Thankfully, all that Bond multiplayer bliss has been totally captured and re-released to the Wii FPS masses in the new GoldenEye. Multiplayer can be old-school (split-screen, single console) or online. Games can be modified in a multitude of ways, from the amount of lives to other crazy choices such as invisibility (needs to be unlocked) or Hot Shot mode, where only headshots count as kills. Tons of game modes, too, including the one-shot Golden Gun mode, where gamers get five points for golden gun (one-shot) kills versus one point for all other weapon kills. There’s now a XP system that gamers can use to unlock features and achievements, as well as great maps for up to eight players. One minor issue is that the targeting seems a bit too loose, taking some time to get adjusted to in order to shoot and kill effectively in both single and multiplayer.

No matter if you are a fan of the old-school classic GoldenEye or playing for the very first time, the Wii has its best FPS to date in GoldenEye 007. There’s a very good single-player adventure (once gamers adjust to the completely dated and eyesore-inducing graphics), but as in the original, it’s the multiplayer, either on one system or online, that once more glistens golden.

- Lee Cieniawa
lcieniawa@armchairempire.com

(February 28, 2011)