by Wyatt "JOEDOG" Elliott
James bond is back in an all new PlayStation 2 adventure.
007: Agent Under Fire is the game, and Bond is his name.
This is Electronic Arts 3rd Bond game since they picked up the license after MGM's single effort Tomorrow Never Dies.
Honestly I think its safe to say Bond will never have a better game then Nintendo 64's Rare game Goldeneye. That game still holds up today. Graphics and all.
Tomorrow Never Dies for Psone from MGM wasn't horrible, I played it a bit. However, it just wasn't the same playing Bond in a 3rd person view after Goldeneye.
For the next Bond movie EA picked up the license and attempted to make The World is Not Enough the next Goldeneye.
It was available for Psone and N64. EA had a good game under their belt. It used the Medal of Honor engine, or so it appeared. Anyway it played just like it, which was a GOOD thing. However, it didn't quite have the following as Rare's game. What was it called again?
Anyhoo, EA was doing fine until they released what I'm sure sounded like a good idea at the time. 007 Racing for PSone.
This game was truly horrid. First of all, it wasn't racing at all. It was SpyHunter or something. It was completely mission based. Think Auto Destruct with lousy control. If you don't remember Auto Destruct, then think Driver with lousy control. Which I'm sure was more of their goal.
Not to worry. EA has redeemed themselves and the Bond franchise with 007: Agent Under Fire for PlayStation 2. It's a furst person shooter with the control of Medal of Honor running on the Quake III engine.
It looks fan-diddly-tastic. Fast and smooth game play with a ton of new weapons and gadgets. Its what we've been waiting for.
For some reason EA could not let go of 007 Racing completely. Agent Under Fire features levels that are obviously based on 007 Racing.
You drive one of Bonds exceptional cars while racing against the clock to stop some baddies, retrieve an item, escape, etc.
Sure the graphics and control is better, but some how these levels retracts the value and flow of the rest of the game.
Its like its EA's way of redeeming the concept of 007 Racing and forcing gamers to play it.
Ha Ha, now you'll have to play 007 Racing and you'll soon realize what an awesome game it really was. Ooo, those crafty programers. Its almost supervillainish.
007: Agent Under Fire is an awesome FPS in the style of Goldeneye and Medal Of Honor.
Maybe not quite as legendary as those two, but as I stated earlier.
No game will ever reach as many people or effect as many lives as Goldeneye.
That's why it's a legend. It even paved the way for Medal Of Honor. In fact the only FPS I would ever say is truly superior in every way, is DOOM. Yes, Doom. The original is still the best in my humble opinion.
007: Agent Under Fire is a must have and a must play for any FPS fan. If it accomplishes nothing else, it will ease the pain of waiting for Medal Of Honor: Frontline to come out on PS2 later next year.