The GoldenEye games based on the James Bond movie have had quite a run. The original title was one of the best reasons to purchase a Nintendo 64 back in the day. Then when the game was originally re-made, it came out for the Wii to great reviews and fan popularity. The game then came out on disk for the 360 and PS3, and now is remade once again as GoldenEye 007: Reloaded, which can be downloaded via the PS3 network.
Like the other GoldenEye titles following the original N64 title, the game uses Daniel Craig instead of Pierce Brosnan as the spy, even though this was Brosnan’s first movie role as the superspy. I like Craig, but feel it’s a little wrong to cast Brosnan aside, as he is my favorite Bond. Anyway, the new game does not follow the movie for that matter, so it’s no big deal. And Craig does a great job in terms of voice acting. Judi Dench reprises her role as M, and of course she does great. I’ve never known her to play anything badly.
The graphics look good, and run in full HD at 60-frames per second. I enjoyed the single player adventure quite a bit. There is a good variety of weapons and it’s nice that you can hold three of them in your inventory. So a silenced pistol, some type of submachine gun or other special weapon like a sniper rifle, and then an assault rifle or shotgun in the third slot seemed to be the optimal load out.
There is quite a lot of action in most of the levels, more so than even in most Bond movies. I also found a few ways to complete a mission in a different way, side passages and so forth that could be used to get behind a strong group of enemies. However, other than a few things here and there, (using a laptop to fire a mounted missile into a perusing helicopter was fun) most of the fighting was pretty straightforward. I kind of liked Nightfire better in terms of finding cool ‘Bond moves’ to pull off as opposed to just running and gunning. It bordered on tedious for really long missions, but never quite went over the line. I particularly liked a nightclub level where the music keeps playing while you are fighting your way back out. It made me feel like I was in a movie.
There are also some bond gadgets, though a lot of it seemed to center around your phone. Nice to have a tricked out iPhone I guess, but I kind of wanted laser-beam watches and cufflink jetpacks.
While the single player game is enjoyable, it’s not the centerpiece here. Like the original game, multiplayer is what makes Reloaded shine. Added to the mix are Mi6 Missions, where you get to try and complete various objectives on unique maps. You can play Assault, Elimination, Stealth or Defense-based levels. In all maps, you will get a higher score if you complete your objectives quickly, and can compare how you did against players from around the world. And that was just me playing by myself.
With a pack of friends, you can relive the split screen goodness that made the N64 version of the game so fun. Lots of different classic modes like Golden Gun remake appearances too, so if you have friends who spent their N64 years playing this game, the nostalgia will be hot and heavy when you all get together again.
I found a huge bunch of people online to play against too, so the release of the new levels and the PS3-download ability seems to have really drawn folks in. It was easy to find a match and a few times I was happy to get together with a really awesome team to the point that we stuck together for quite some time, which is always nice in any multiplayer experience.
As with previous GoldenEye titles, the PS3 downloaded version of Reloaded looks great and plays well. For $40 you get a nice single player game and an awesome multiplayer experience. It’s quite a value, and the download is not incredibly large, so you can be up and running in under an hour with most broadband connections.
In the end, GoldenEye 007: Reloaded, a remake of a remake of a, well you get the idea, is more than worth your money and your time, especially if you get a kick out of playing multiplayer. That, or my name isn’t Breeden, John Breeden.