Taste-Test: James Bond 007: Nightfire

Rated: T for Teen Developer: Eurocom Publisher: Electronic Arts Players: 1-4 Saving: 2 blocks

Is it just me, or does EA get better at Bond games with every attempt? NightFire, while it’s unfortunately not GoldenEye, luckily is not The World is Not Enough or Agent Under Fire. The controls are slightly improved over EA’s previous Bond offering, and the game as a whole is improved. Not perfect, but not a horrible attempt.

After the first few missions, the story is still vague, but for Bond fans, it has some undeniable connections to Roger Moore’s 1979 Bond outing, Moonraker, right down to the villain, Drake, who shares a similar name (Drax appeared in the film) and appearance as his movie counterpart. While the story isn’t exactly Moonraker, it’s similar enough – most likely very intentional. Hell, Bond even goes into space in the game.

The game is relatively non-linear, especially for an FPS. There are multiple paths one can take to achieve the objectives. The control is a little off, but not enough to ruin the game, not yet, anyway. The auto-aim in shooting missions is very poor, making quick, close-range combat with several baddies very difficult. The driving missions remain fun and the control on the Aston Martin is very tight, and, as in AUF, the driving control is slightly better than first-person shooting control. The multi-player is fun, but flawed. There are several glitches that make it very frustrating, such as certain buttons not working when they are supposed to. This may just be my copy of the game, but then again, it may not. The inclusion of classic Bond multi-player levels, such as Fort Knox (Goldfinger) and Atlantis (The Spy Who Loved Me), are a nice touch to all us Bond fanatics out there, except that the areas really don’t FEEL like their movie counterparts.

Eurocom went all-out to make this game really feel like you’re playing a Bond film. The best and most obvious part of this is the beginning of the game. Before the first mission, the classic Bond gun barrel walk-on sequence takes place. We then cut to Paris at 11:55 on New Year’s Eve, and Bond rescuing a French agent from her unfriendly pursuers. After this mission, we see a very well done and very Bondian theme song sequence, in which the title NightFire appears on the screen at the same time as the song says it, in classic Bond form. Very cool.

So, while NightFire isn’t GoldenEye (and really, what is?), it’s an improvement over previous EA attempts at Bond. I’d suggest giving this one a good rental or if you’re brave or just a huge FPS nut, go out and get it. There are just two other things that bother me about this game: First, didn’t Zoe Nightshade die in Agent Under Fire? And, secondly, where the hell is my freaking Die Another Day game?!

Carl DeNovio