Goldeneye 007: Reloaded Review

The name is Bond, James Bond – A phrase that will be familiar with all James Bond fans. I’ll make it no secret that I have always been a big fan of James Bond and the huge amount of films that were made and continue to be made. For these reasons alone, I was really excited to hear that Bond would be heading over to consoles once more (PS3/XBOX 360), named as Goldeneye 007: Reloaded.

For those of you who were lucky enough to have owned an N64 console. Goldeneye 007 was arguably the best game to have ever been released on to the N64… and whilst I’m not anticipating this release to be a COD (Call of Duty) franchise killer, I’m hoping it will provide many hours of action and enjoyment. Goldeneye 007: Reloaded takes many of the areas from the N64 classic, and the recent release on Wii, but promises to offer serious improvements, and also features the latest person to play as Bond – (Daniel Craig).

Does Goldeneye 007: Reloaded live up to many of these expectations? Let’s find out.

As you jump in to the games campaign you will quickly realise that running around shooting at enemies openly is not the strategy to adopt. Instead you need to plan and think ahead; after all you are playing as a British spy, and not a mercenary! If you alert an enemy, and fail to shoot them immediately, they will then call for backup, making it far harder to progress. A much better strategy is to sneak up on enemies when possible and kill them with either a knife or a gun (with a silencer attached). Also featured with the N64 edition, certain levels have CCTV cameras; stay clear of these, if you are seen backup units will be sent to hunt you down. Being stealth becomes more and more important as the campaign progresses, and becomes harder.

Each mission comes with various objectives to complete, such as gathering Intel, and saving hostages. Getting from the start of the mission to the end is only part of it.

As I delved further into the campaign, I knew this was Goldeneye 007 back at its best. Whilst it did remind me a lot of the N64 version (which is good thing), the cutting edge graphics are what help make this so special. Character models look extremely realistic, environments look amazing, and in-game presentation is simply excellent. After the first level is completed, the game cuts to a movie-styled intro, which is sure to blow you away. To complement all of the above is the brilliant audio.

The playing environments vary from the tropical jungle, all the way through to stormy snowy mountains. You get to play through all of the maps and environments that were available from last year’s Wii release of Goldeneye 007, which are: Outpost, Facility, Nightclub, Docks, Station, Memorial, Sewers, Jungle, and Industrial. However, you are also treated to four new maps with Goldeneye 007: Reloaded, and these are: Solar, Plant, Carrier, and Peak.

Goldeneye 007: Reloaded does not just provide a deep campaign. Once you have the campaign completed this game won’t just be sitting on your shelf collecting dust. The MI6 Ops and multiplayer mode are also available to further the enjoyment and longevity.

Whilst the singleplayer is the best area of Goldeneye 007: Reloaded, and is the main reason for our rating of 9 / 10, don’t under estimate the multiplayer mode. Multiplayer mode contains many different modes: Conflict, Team Conflict, Golden Gun, Black Box, Goldeneye, Heroes, Escalation, Detonator Agent, Data Minder, Bomb Defuse, Licence to Kill, Team Licence to kill, and Classic Conflict. The multiplayer isn’t stunning like the story, but you are sure to have much fun here.

Whilst the N64 version could deliver an offline 4-screen multiplayer, Goldeneye 007: Reloaded offers a 16 player online experience, which is packed full of weapons, maps, modes and excitement.

Activision decided to include the MI6 Ops Mode, which is full of different objectives and levels to play through, and is designed to test if you are really MI6 agent material! Plenty of time can be spent playing through this mode.

Goldeneye 007: Reloaded has exceeded all of my hopes. It’s a must have game for first-person-shooter and James bond fans. A captivating campaign combined with brilliant graphics and presentation makes this action packed game one of the best to hit stores this year.