Goldeneye 007

When it comes to videogames, there is nothing I enjoy more than a good remake of a classic game. I'd rather have a remake of a superb, 13 year old game (like N64's "Goldeneye"), than a new and original but lousy one. This has been done a few times before with great results: PS1's "Resident Evil" was remade (from scratch) for the Gamecube in 2002, PS1's "Metal Gear Solid" was remade (from scratch) for the Gamecube in 2004 (under the name "Twin Snakes"), and PS1's "Silent Hill" was remade (from scratch) for the Wii in 2009 (under the name "Shattered Memories"). This remake of "Goldeneye" is just as good as those. However, this is more than just a remake of N64's "Goldeneye" from 1997. This is like "Goldeneye" + "all the other cool stuff from the James Bond-franchise" thrown together in the mix and shaken (not stirred). Classic guns (including the golden one) and characters from past Bond-movies are playable in the multiplayer mode. These characters include:

-Jaws (That big scary 7'2'' tall guy with metal teeth played by Richard Kiel in "The Spy Who Loved Me" (1977) and "Moonraker" (1979))

-Francisco Scaramanga (Played by Christopher Lee in The Man with the Golden Gun (1974))

-Oddjob (The Hawaiian guy with the lethal hat played by Harold Sakata in Goldfinger (1964))

-Ernst Stavro Blofeld (This is the Blofeld played by Charles Gray in Diamonds Are Forever (1971). Not the Blofeld played by Donald Pleasence or Telly Savalas)

-Baron Samedi (That scary voodoo-guy with the peculiar laughter and face-paint played by Geoffrey Holder in Live and Let Die (1973))

-Rosa Klebb (The dangerous little lady with the red hair and lethal shoe played by Lotte Lenya in From Russia with Love (1963))

-Red Grant (That blond henchman played by Robert Shaw in From Russia with Love (1963))

-Julius No (Played by Joseph Wiseman in Dr. No (1962))

The multiplayer is split-screen just like old times (up to 4 players), but an 8-player online multiplayer is also available. The single player story mode pretty much follows the same story as N64's "Goldeneye" from 1997. The only big difference is that you will be seeing the face and hearing the voice of Daniel Craig, rather than that of Pierce Brosnan. Personally I would have preferred Brosnan. Also, the rest of the cast (except Judi Dench) has been replaced by new "actors". Trevelyan, Ourumov, Onatopp etc. have different faces and voices than you see in the movie. Also here I would have preferred the old cast: Famke Janssen, Sean Bean, Robbie Coltrane etc.. But this isn't enough to ruin the game. Like I insinuated earlier, this is a remake made completely from scratch. This is not the Nintendo 64-game just printed onto Wii-discs. So you will have the pleasure of seeing the best graphics around. You can play this game with almost every controller ever released by Nintendo since the release of Gamecube: The Wii Remote with Nunchuk, Wii Zapper, Classic Controller, Classic Controller Pro, and the Nintendo GameCube controller can all be used with this game. I'm a bit old fashioned, so I prefer using the Gamecube-controller. Some parts of the story in this game are actually closer to what happened in the movie than the N64-game ever was. Like in that park in St. Petersburg when the identity of Janus is revealed, this time you will actually be sitting in the helicopter when those two rockets are fired. And you'll have to find a way to escape, just like in the movie. Some changes are made regarding locations I might add. The things that in the movie happened in Monaco, are here happening in Dubai, and what usually happened on Cuba is now happening in Nigeria etc.. I think this game is perfect as it is. Would have been fun with even more than 8 classic characters in multiplayer though. I am missing the likes of Auric Goldfinger, and I wouldn't mind having seen some of the newer characters like Jinx from Die Another Day (2002) and Solange from Casino Royale (2006) if you know what I mean :-). This game also lacks some of the humour that made the original so great. The AK-47 is among the weaponry here (wouldn't be Goldeneye without one) along with MP5 and SPAS 12, but nearly all the weapons have fictional names. Another thing that would improve this game: The original N64-game hidden somewhere like an easter-egg (just like "Maniac Mansion" was hidden in "Day of the Tentacle", and the original "Donkey Kong" was hidden in "Donkey Kong 64"). For example, in a video game arcade cabinet standing somewhere in that nightclub in Barcelona. I would even say this is the game of this decade (the 00s) I have been looking forward to the most, and for good reason. Oh, and unless you have been living under a rock the last 13 years, you know this is a first-person-shooter. The Collector's Edition of this game includes a limited edition Golden Classic Controller Pro, so what are you waiting for???

P.S. Is it just me or did they stop making games like "Goldeneye"(N64) and "Ocarina of Time"(N64)? Miss those times....

Single player is great, but multiplayer is where the fun really starts! Don't expect this to be a straight remake, there's different weapons, levels, everything is different. But the fun is still there. The gold classic controller is great too, can't get enough of it!

When I say "Forget the game," what I mean is merely that I bought this item purely for want of the controller, I do not mean to cast aspersions on the game, as I do intend to play it and from all of my research it seems considerably good. The controller itself is excellent. Not only does it look amazing, some think it's tacky, I do not, but it also feels effortlessly comfortable and is really a step above and beyond the standard Wii remote for non-motion-sensor-gaming.

With the recent announcement of the Wii U's backwards compatibility to all Wii-brand controllers, not to mention its rumoured 50% better (than a PS3) graphical capabilities, getting used to a more traditional game pad such as this might well allow greater enjoyment of this future console.

For now though, this controller is second only to the GameCube controller for Smash Bros. play, so when prices are low on this product, or if you'd rather buy the classic controller pro in black Nintendo Classic Controller - Black (Wii), I would certainly recommend it.