Goldeneye 007 review

I know everyone bangs on about Goldeneye being the best FPS ever but in my opinion everyone’s seeing the N64 classic through rose-tinted spectacles. Sure it was great for its time but if you were to go back and play it again I’m sure you’ll think it’s a bit naff compared to some of the AAA shooters of today.
Goldeneye on the Wii is actually the third game to come out with this title and instead of just hijacking the name it attempts to re-imagine the original with Daniel Craig taking on the lead role instead of the suave Pierce Brosnan. And the game does have the same feel as the original whilst at the same time bringing it up to date.

You can play the game using the Classic Controller or with the Nunchuck and Wii Remote depending on your preference and play the single player campaign or the much-touted multiplayer with the 4-player split-screen mode that everyone loved at the turn of the century.

If you’re expecting a campaign exactly the same as the original with updated graphics you’re in for a surprise. The game actually feels more like you’re playing Call of Duty with big action set-pieces in trucks and slow-motion scenes when you burst into rooms and take everyone out. When aiming down your sights there’s auto-targeting which you can tweak to aim at someone’s head for a one-shot kill and a nifty duck and cover system where aiming down your sights automatically brings you out of cover whilst you’re firing. This auto-aiming can get confused sometimes and aim at people you can’t shoot at on the other side of walls which can lead you to being disorientated.

What’s great about the game is the return of objectives you have to finish to continue the game in your chosen difficulty. You can always go back to levels and do the extra objectives, then play them in time trial mode for an extra challenge. It certainly adds extra value and replayability to the campaign. Presentation is also great. The Goldeneye theme tune has been sung by Nicole Scherzinger from the Pussycat Dolls instead of Tina Turner and neatly fits into the middle of an action scene in the Dam level at the start of the game. It’s a shame the Wii can’t keep up with some of the action developers Eurocom had in mind with frames being dropped when a lot’s going on at once.

Multiplayer not only features the split-screen but also online play. There’s the normal deathmatch and team deathmatch modes including the player favourite Golden Gun mode and other objective-based games. It’s actually easy to connect to games being played but it’s a shame there’s no central server - I was dropped from a game I was doing rather well in before I could see exactly how I’d fared.

Goldeneye may not actually be the throwback to the N64 game people were hoping for but it is one of the best FPSs on the Wii so for that accomplishment it gets a 9 out of 10.

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