Goldeneye Reloaded Review - 007 fits the Call of Duty formula.

By Sam Coles:

James Bond has to be one of my favourite set of action spy films with the over top antics of 007 with great action and ridiculous villains. You would think that it would translate well in video games right? Well there have been a lot of good Bond games after Goldeneye on the N64. Games like Nightfire, Agent Under fire and hell even the movie tie in for Quantum of Solace. In 2010 Activision thought they would remake one of the most beloved Bond games on the Wii which was good but it was let down by the Wii’s graphics and controls, so they did the sensible thing and polished it up for Xbox 360 and PS3.

You play as 007 where you are investigating a corrupt Russian military general named Ourumov who is under investigation for selling military grade hardware on the black market. There is also and EMP weapon known as the Goldeneye to wipe out Europe’s banks so he can syphon the accounts. The game has a typical plot of any Bond story but it always works because it’s back up with great action and fun and over the top characters.

The gameplay is a first person shooter like its N64 counterpart but has been tweaked for modern times because to be honest the original N64 Goldeneye has aged terrible with muddy textures and awful frame rate. You have your standard point and shoot at things where you can carry three weapons at once, it also has stealth sections where you can sneak through and gain the advantage or if you’re like me you go through like a mad man and gun down anything that moves. In my opinion the controls have a similar feel to Call of Duty which doesn’t surprise me as it’s published by Activision, the COD formula fits James Bond because 007 has the scripted sequences like COD but it works here because unlike the Call of Duty series it doesn’t take itself seriously.

The presentation is great and varied with different locales from across the globe from the rain soaked Dam in Russia to the neon lit night club in Spain. The graphics have been an extra boost with HD visuals so the weather effects look more believable even down to the moist skin textures on the character models when it’s raining. Sound design is a mix bag because some guns sound awesome, but others sound absolutely pathetic especially your standard issue P99 pistol which sounds like someone slap cardboard against a wall.

There is a multiplayer mode online and offline, but the game is pretty much dead online and you’ll get more fun out of the local multiplayer like the old days. It’s fun to grab three friends and gun each other down as you eat pizza and chug a few bottles of beer which is endless evening entertainment.

The nit-picks I have with this game is that the auto aiming system is really annoying because it sticks to targets like super glue and you end up aiming at something you don’t want to be aiming at, I would advise turning it off.

Overall Goldeneye Reloaded is a bombastic and over the top shooter which takes elements from Call of Duty and executes it well.