[Review]James Bond 007: Agent Under Fire

[[MC]Ronin[MC]]

James Bond 007: Agent Under Fire is a first-person shooter video game based on the James Bond franchise. Developed and published by Electronic Arts, it has been released for PlayStation 2, GameCube and Xbox game consoles.

Premiere date: November 13, 2001
Series: James Bond
Engin: id Tech 3
Genre: First Person Shooter
Platforms: PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube
Programmers: Electronics Arts, Visceral Games, EA Canada

 

Meet James Bond 007¿ in Agent Under Fire, the first FPS (first-person shooter) to be released for GameCube. Electronic Arts ported the game over from the PlayStation 2, bringing improved visuals and multiplayer bots to Nintendo's budding new console. Being the first James Bond licensed software as well as its debut as the first GameCube FPS is, no doubt, a winning combination. However, even with all this Agent Under Fire isn't without its design flaws or turn offs.
Features

Engage in a completely immersive first-person Bond experience featuring diverse gameplay
All new, original single-player storyline that builds on the Bond legacy with villains and allies, both new and familiar
Gameplay is largely first-person shooting with elements of driving and on-rails shooting
A full arsenal of Q-lab weapons, gadgets and autos to utilize
Fast, fluid action and spy-packed gameplay inspired by the 007 films
Detailed 3D environments and a smooth framerate
Single and up to four person multi-player support
GameCube version features CPU bots for multiplayer
Gameplay
Agent Under Fire, unlike many of the licensed Bond games before it, is fully original, only drawing inspiration from the style of past movies. So the creators have drawn-up their own unique plot, which naturally involves an evil corporation that has stolen high-tier technology to use for its own gain. It definitely feels a lot like Bond and delivers a convincing atmosphere. So, you won't be dazzled by how true the creators have been to a cinematic effort, but it's likely that you'll enjoy the narrative. Even if the storyline isn't your bag, it isn't so preposterous that it distracts you from enjoying the gameplay.

The single-player setup is based on three key elements: first-person shooting, driving, and rail-based activities. Given the pedigree of previous Bond games, the FPS component is naturally the most important one. As the debonair Mr. Bond you will blitz your way through environments ranging from winding narrow hallways to spacious outdoor platforms. The use of your gun is largely the same in both backdrops, but of course in wide-open environments you can make better use of your sniper gun. Unfortunately, you simply don't need to do this enough and it's not very well executed. As Rare and Nintendo's own multi-million selling GoldenEye was renowned for the element of stealth and sniper weaponry, many have come to expect this in subsequent James Bond releases. In Agent Under Fire the developers didn't leave enough room for this. You'll need to work on playing it cool when you up the agent difficulty, but for the most part blazing a trail with a faster shooting gun or luring enemies around corners is more effective. You just don't feel stealthy. The element isn't there.

To deepen the first-person shooting, Bond digs into his arsenal of Q-weaponry, utilizing tools such as the Q-Claw, Q-Laser, Q-Remote, Q-Jetpack, and Q-Specs. The Q-Claw is one of the coolest items, which lets you grapple onto specifically placed gratings to pull yourself up into different areas. In the very first level you are taught that by using the Q-Claw properly you can find different routes and secret areas. The other tools from the Q-Lab like the laser play a huge part in Agent Under Fire as well. At the end of each mission, you are awarded points for time-to-completions, objectives, and Bond moves. Using your laser to cut the lock from a gate which subsequently leads to an area with body armor counts as a Bond move, helping you tally up extra points. As a whole, the Q-weaponry helps expand on the gameplay mechanics, but in the end the FPS component can't help but feel generic.

To add a little more flavor to the experience, and to bring gamers a little closer to what they've seen Bond do in the movies, EA called upon its experience with the Need for Speed series to deliver up tight driving missions. You'd think that driving in a first-person shooter would be totally gimmicky and unpolished. Thanks to EA's experience the driving mechanics are solid, featuring totally new controls and physics. You'll have additional Q-weaponry such as missiles and a machine gun to go with it. There are only a few driving missions, but overall they're well done and deliver up a much-needed change of pace. We'd like to see future Bond licensed releases do something similar.

Finally, the third type of gameplay style is on-rails shooting. You will find yourself poking out of the rooftop of an automobile, a futuristic tunnel car, and even the top of a tank. These levels still stay true to the FPS style, but with more freedom to focus on aiming you will be able to use the manual aim more and just go wild with your guns. Again, this a welcomed change of pace from the straight-up first-person shooting.

Something very new to GameCube owners will be the default control setup, which is dual analog based. Sure you've used it in Luigi's Mansion, but Agent Under Fire is the only first-person shooter on GameCube to date. So this could be new to some users who migrated from the N64. It works well and you should be able to jump into it quite easily with a few adjustments. However, the developers have used the D-pad to switch through your weapons and Q arsenal. In concept it sounds like a good idea, but when your PS100 runs out of bullets in the face of opposition you will inevitably take a lot of shots while navigating through weapons. In fact, it's not too rare that you need to go cower in a corner just to change your guns around and get things set up. That said, weapon navigation is slow and painful, and using your Q-weaponry is even worse. For some reason the creators chose to put a delay between your Q-weapon changes. Perhaps it was to add strategy to your choices, but in the end it just becomes agitating. You will tire of waiting for certain tools to load into your hand. An optional "ring command" selection tool for both weapons and gadgets would have worked much better.
Overall, Agent Under Fire is quite accommodating in that it is an FPS. It follows the formula of past Bond offerings to bring you something familiar, but at the same time it does so blandly. The whole single-player mission setup is predictable and would have been more troubling without the addition of driving and on-rails elements. Perhaps the worst thing about Agent Under Fire is its inability to let you figure out anything on your own. Everything you need to interact with or shoot is painfully brought to your attention via a camera zoom. Literally almost everything you need to shoot that is important is not only red, but also magnified by a camera pan. It removes any puzzle elements that may have occurred otherwise in the environment, and in the end strip a lot of fun out of the gameplay.

 

Multiplayer
Now the part you've all been waiting for. Agent Under Fire features a fairly polished four-player mode. There are nearly a dozen completely redesigned multiplayer environments -- many of which have some designs that may be slightly familiar to Quake fans. Exclusive to the GameCube (and Xbox) version are CPU bots, which are a great addition, but there's a catch. You can only have four-players in the matches. That includes bots. So, in single-player, you can add three bots, two-player with two bots, etc. It's a nice addition, but when you have four friends over and want to team up against something there's no options. The action runs at a respectable framerate, however, even in four-player. For this, we're happy. GoldenEye or Perfect Dark fans won't find the depth of the Rare-developed shooters, but the multiplayer mode is a solid and worthwhile addition nonetheless.

 

Graphics
Agent Under Fire is one of the more impressive titles on GameCube in terms of detail and framerate. It features complicated world architecture that is highlighted by a wide variety of true-to-life textures. Unfortunately, those textures rarely feature any kind of second-pass effects other than the simple reflections used on the cars, windows, and a few other objects. This is where it begins to become apparent that it is a port. You'll sometimes see highly compressed, blocky textures and an overall lack of visual polish by GameCube standards.

The character models are nothing out of the ordinary; however, they do feature some well-done facial animations in addition to nicely designed face textures. Other neat animations include the gun swaps and reload sequences, which, while not overly articulate, are still well presented. Meanwhile, character animations not featured in real-time cut-scenes are often stiff and seemingly outdated. And what's up with the bullet effects? Most guns look like they shoot yellow plastic pellets that fly through the air far too slowly. Luckily, some of the more powerful machine guns forego this odd effect for more realistic gunfire.

Really, it's Agent Under Fire's impressive 60 frames per second framerate that is so compelling. It's improved over the PlayStation 2 version, which is consistently bogged down by wide-open areas with more complicated architecture. It seems the Quake III engine, which Agent Under Fire was built on, runs quite well on the system. Finally you'll be able to experience a first-person shooter on a Nintendo console at a slick 60 frames per second.

Sound
The aural complexity featured in Agent Under Fire is above average in terms of previous GameCube software released, and overall does the trick quite nicely. Bullet shells cling and clang as they strike the hard ground, gunfire ranges in tone, and voice acting is for the most part palatable. In addition to this, there are some good remixes of the Bond theme integrated into rock and techno music. There is one unforgivable element of sound, though, and that is the use of the famous "da dunn da dunn!" theme far too much. It's the theme that tells Bond he's done something successful. In Agent Under Fire it is used anything but sparingly, totally ruining the effect. You begin to despise it. Bond can barely reload his gun without hearing it.

Verdict
Ever since the GameCube came out I've been dying for a first-person shooter to be released for the console. I would have preferred to see a GameCube exclusive, but instead we ended up with Agent Under Fire. I'll have to personally thank the guys at Electronic Arts next time I see them, because without this port GameCube owners would have had to go much longer to get their FPS fix. For this reason, Agent Under Fire has a lot of appeal. It brings forth the sought-after Bond license, a reasonable storyline, solid multiplayer, and a combination of first-person shooting and tightly wound racing elements.
I can wholeheartedly recommend the title to Bond enthusiasts who plan on taking advantage of the four-player mode. If you're only looking for some single-player fun, stick to renting it because the game is fairly short, partly due to the fact that it holds players' hands the whole way through.

It's not GoldenEye, but I think Bond fans will find it has its own charm. It's absolutely a better version over its PS2 predecessor, but comes a few months too late.