James Bond Agent Under Fire (Gamecube)

Now released onto Ninty's next-gen format, Agent Under Fire brings Mr Bond and all his hi-tech gadgetry, weapons and vehicles to Cube owners. The graphics are clearly crisper than the PS2's version (which suffered somewhat from 'jaggedies') which does give the game a certain polish. Sounds are all functional, Bond's accent is believable, weapons sound suitably meaty and car engines are realistic. It has a multi-player mode which is great fun and doesn't seem to have been tacked on as an afterthought, and if you rarely have groups of friends round, you can use 'bots' to make up the numbers.

So where are the problems you're asking? Well, this is where I can't quite make up my mind what's wrong. The levels do seem fairly linear, admittedly, but they're still good fun. You have a nice mix of action whereby 1st person shooter levels are varied with both 'on rails' and controllable driving levels. Controls are fiddly at first but soon are got used to. For computer sprites, the women in the game are somewhat attractive also! But, I don't know, something is simply 'missing' from the whole experience. It just doesn't absorb the player as I think it should. I hate the constant comparisons that are made between this and Goldeneye - it's just not the same game and in a way is unfair to the N64 classic as it's so far ahead in all aspects of this game. But this title simply doesn't feel to pull in the player like it makes out it can. The story-line is wafer-thin which probably doesn't endear it to a person for starters, but I think you'll feel what I mean should you experience any extended play on it.

To summarise, it is a good game, it is fun for at least a while and it follows aspects of the Bond films suitably. The difficulty level however can seem erratic from mission to mission and that immersive quality which can take a 1st-person shooter up to that next level of greatness just isn't there. As the only game of it's type currently available on the Gamecube, it still comes highly recommended.

After being most unimpressed with EA's first shot (pardon the pun) at Bond Shooters - Twine - I was assuming that their next attempt would turn out to be an insult to the Gamecube's infinite power (mwahahaha!), a game reminiscent of its immediate ancestor Twine. It isn't.

GRAPHICS: What can I say? The lips actually move when they're talking, the water actually looks like water, and the explosions no longer remind of orange paint-bombs. The people's faces are not square, nor are they round, they are face-shaped, and the car chases have attained such a level as to be comparable to most racing games. [10/10]

SOUND: I can't comment on the voice acting, having a German version of the game (it says something for the game that the entire thing has been translated for the foreign market). Explosions and crashes, however, sound the same in any language, and have been pulled off remarkably well, unmatched so far in gaming. [10/10]

BAD GUYS: Not a standard criterion in game reviewing, I felt that the Bad Guys in this game deserve their fair share of the credits. It's hard, actually, to say whether these chaps are really dim, or have IQ's to match Einstein's. Certainly they have good reflexes, they spin round and shoot the minute you open the door, they run for alarms, and they aren't actually that bad at aiming. On the other hand, if one jumps out from behind a wall, sticks one's tongue out (metaphorically) and then jumps behind the wall again, they will shoot at is from the other side for about 5 minutes (perhaps in the vain hope of knocking it down?) until one reveals oneself again, ready to be shot at. Overall, however, better than in any other Bond Shooter, and beaten only by Perfect Dark [8.5/10]

GUNS: A perfect range of weapons is required to add the culminating touch to any shooter. This one has this range, with Bond's standard Wolfram P2K at one end, and large and horribly destructive Rocket Launchers at the other. The guns actually look like guns and the bullets fly just the way that bricks don't. [10/10]

MULTIPLAYER: Perfect Dark's level of multiplayer perfection remains untouched, as always. I did not expect anything quite that good, not from EA. That, obviously, is why they named it *Perfect* Dark... The levels are, as I read somewhere, quite small, compared with Goldeneye's Temple or Perfect Dark's Warehouse, but in some ways that only adds to the thrill, especially if you pack the place full of Bots. There are far more options to choose from than in Goldeneye or Twine, and options are what make a multiplayer come into its own. Overall enjoyable [9/10]

CONTROLS: These have been criticised a bit in various reviews, and I wondered, after 5 seconds of play, what these guys were talking about. After Twine's disastrously atrocious attempt at Controller configuration, this is better even than defending champion Perfect Dark. It's doubtful that, with Gamecube's perfect controller, any game's controls could be labelled as "Bad". The R button is the perfect Firing/acceleration button, and the C-Stick, contrary to some criticism, is very accessible (perhaps some of you just have small hands :) ). [10/10]

PLOT: What plot? There isn't one, or at least I couldn't find one. However, whereas in games such as Legend of Zelda a plot is necessary, as long as each of the 12 missions is integral within itself, who cares? [3/10] for the plot [10/10] for what they achieved without one.

Overall, an excellent start to the what I hope to be a large library of Gamecube shooters.

Mathematical Average of scores: [9/10]
Actual Final Score: [9.5/10] for the game [10/10] for the fun factor.

If you are either a) Bond Fan b)FPS fan or c)EA fan, buy this game (preferably in English), it's well worth every Eurocent (or penny, if you so wish...)