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I've played and finished almost every 007 game since 1996, and now it's your turn to suffer
- Thread starter ThereAreFourNaan
- Start date
OP
OP
Yeah unfortunately I think the commercial viability of 007 games versus the cost of making AAA titles is such that we wouldn't see them again. If Danjaq maybe allowed people to licence it for mid-tier games from AA studios on a per-title basis rather than selling the brand as a whole, we could see some cool shit, but for whatever reason it hasn't happened yet. I'd even love an indie game or two with the licence.
Huh, didnt expect dev size to be so high for N64 titles but I guess it makes sense since it was borderline PS2 era and had more sophistecated graphics and audio compared to Goldeneye.
Reflecting on the Expansion Pack / Memory Card stuff more, I think what must have happened is that the game mentions both, and trying to recall now I think what happened was that I thought they were the same thing. I bought all my 64 games and accessories from basically a local pawn shop, and I got the Expansion Pack thinking it would allow me to save. When it didn't, I remember getting really crushed because I had to wait a few more weeks before my parents let me get the actual Memory Card, lol. For some reason I filed it under "literally needed expansion pack" in my brain, but you're right, looking it up now it was indeed just the graphics.
Playing Everything or Nothing right now and so far (mission 11) I agree with the OP. The game tries too many things and as a result fails too often. Worst offenders being car stealth and catching Serena (seriously wtf is up with that?). Basic TPS gameplay is decent enough.
OP
OP
I sympathise with you. The ambition is on display, but it's just doesn't come together in the same way that the cinematic AAA TPS would only a few short years later.
Wonderful thread, never knew about the Gamecube games though I vaguely remember seeing Sean Connery's face on some gaming magazine.
I loved Goldeneye Wii back then, it had some nice shooting and pacing.
I loved Goldeneye Wii back then, it had some nice shooting and pacing.
I played the shit out of the Game Boy game. It shows just how flexible and potentially useful the Link's Awakening formula is for 2D action adventure games.
Going forward though, honestly, if a game developer ever came back to Bond I think the most fitting formula would be, basically, Deus Ex.
I don't know if I liked TWINE on the N64, but I remember thinking it was "not terrible". Gotta remember, these were pre-Combat Evolved console FPSs here.
Going forward though, honestly, if a game developer ever came back to Bond I think the most fitting formula would be, basically, Deus Ex.
I don't know if I liked TWINE on the N64, but I remember thinking it was "not terrible". Gotta remember, these were pre-Combat Evolved console FPSs here.
Agent Under Fire and Nightfire on GameCube gave me some of the best split screen moments of my life. Obviously Goldeneye was better but I think I had more friends into gaming and generally tried more things when those games came along.
thanks for this, I forgot some of these games existed!
thanks for this, I forgot some of these games existed!
The boss battle with the women heading towards the furnace? Where 'reload' and 'press the button to stop her' are the same damn button? Where the boss ignores your gunfire and knocks you down for 'please can I play the game that I paid for' lengths of time?
I guess you gave this game a 'High' for frustration factor, so I should've known it would be a real piss-boiler.
I guess you gave this game a 'High' for frustration factor, so I should've known it would be a real piss-boiler.
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OP
OP
Hahaha. There are at least five or six spots where we got stonewalled for a while. It took two solid weekends of playing the game for us to beat. From Russia With Love is a breeze by comparison, much less frustrating and probably only 60-70% as long.
I liked The World is Not Enough for PS1 I played that game so much. No I do not need to replay it to remember it was a good game thank you very much.
I'd love hear the OP's thoughts on multiplayer in some of these games.
As legendary as Goldeneye's multiplayer is, I think I personally had more fun with Nightfire. The bots are a hoot, and there's tons of fun toys like the RC tank, RC helicopter, guided rocket launcher etc.
I remember Everything or Nothing having a pretty brutal co-op mode. I don't think I ever got beyond halfway through the campaign, which is a shame because it was completely different from singleplayer IIRC.
As legendary as Goldeneye's multiplayer is, I think I personally had more fun with Nightfire. The bots are a hoot, and there's tons of fun toys like the RC tank, RC helicopter, guided rocket launcher etc.
I remember Everything or Nothing having a pretty brutal co-op mode. I don't think I ever got beyond halfway through the campaign, which is a shame because it was completely different from singleplayer IIRC.
Just done playing this lot one after the other.
I think I'm mostly in agreement with the OP about how much I enjoyed them.
The ranking for me goes as such; From Russia With Love > Nightfire > Agent Under Fire > Everything Or Nothing.
Agent Under Fire is a decent start but it's a little clunky like a lot of early twin stick console shooter were. It can be a pain in the ass swithing between guns & gadgets and I don't know if it's exclusive to the console but it was hard enough to precisely aim with the Gamecube's C-Stick. Just too sensitive & twitchy.
Nightfire improves upon AUF in almost every way. The car levels are much better and the aiming is easier. They also changed the UI to make gadgets easier to use & switch between. To be honest, these two games have kinda blended togehter in my mind since I played them back to back one evening after the other but I definitely enjoyed myself more as the experience went on. Nightfire gets proper Roger Moore crazy towards the end which is a lot of fun.
Everything Or Nothing dissappointed me so much, especially as I've heard it was the best of the bunch. Why did they go with this lock-on control method instead of normal 3rd person shooter controls? It works maybe 70% of the time. The enemy would be 10 feet in front of you and it sometimes just WILL NOT lock on to them. I can see them, I want to shoot them, but the game just won't let me. Or worse still, it will lock-on to somebody behind them who is no danger to you while the guy right next to you drains your health. And then there's the rocket launching or sniping goons who it regularly refuses to lock-on to because they're too far away. Speaking of which, the game is crazy cheap with its difficulty. The aforementioned rockets often come at you from off-screen and enemies can spawn in behind you in an area you've just cleared. It's a ridiculously frustrating experience as a whole. To to give you an idea; the game requires you to press X & Y at the same time to do a melee move. ON A GAMECUBE CONTROLLER. Try to press those two buttons together without contoring your hand. Fuck this game. It's also WAAAY too long and there's a nonsensical amount of saving between levels. Seriously, you have to go through about 6 different screens just to save your game. I've never seen anything like it. Finally, Pierce Brosnan sounds like he's falling asleep while delivering his lines.
From Russia With Love was the most surprising by far. I REALLY enjoyed this (or maybe I was just happy to be done with EON). It starts off with a ridiculous level where you end up flying around London's Big Ben in a jetpack and the OTT-ness never lets up for the rest of the game. It still has the stupid lock-on system from EON, sure, but it's much better implimented here (it works 90% of the time as opposed to 70%). At least with this game when you lock on you are guarenteed of hitting the enemy with no reticule refinement needed. It's a more forgiving game as a whole with less emphasis on using cover. The only sections I actually didn't enjoy were the two on-rails bits on the boat because the aiming was so twitchy & they went on too long. Game length is more reasonable this time (7-8 hours) & even Sean Connery sounds like he's enjoy himself in the recording booth, really getting into it and giving his all. A huge contrast to Brosnan in the previous game. The best of the 4 games for me because of how campy 60's the whole package is.
I think I'm mostly in agreement with the OP about how much I enjoyed them.
The ranking for me goes as such; From Russia With Love > Nightfire > Agent Under Fire > Everything Or Nothing.
Agent Under Fire is a decent start but it's a little clunky like a lot of early twin stick console shooter were. It can be a pain in the ass swithing between guns & gadgets and I don't know if it's exclusive to the console but it was hard enough to precisely aim with the Gamecube's C-Stick. Just too sensitive & twitchy.
Nightfire improves upon AUF in almost every way. The car levels are much better and the aiming is easier. They also changed the UI to make gadgets easier to use & switch between. To be honest, these two games have kinda blended togehter in my mind since I played them back to back one evening after the other but I definitely enjoyed myself more as the experience went on. Nightfire gets proper Roger Moore crazy towards the end which is a lot of fun.
Everything Or Nothing dissappointed me so much, especially as I've heard it was the best of the bunch. Why did they go with this lock-on control method instead of normal 3rd person shooter controls? It works maybe 70% of the time. The enemy would be 10 feet in front of you and it sometimes just WILL NOT lock on to them. I can see them, I want to shoot them, but the game just won't let me. Or worse still, it will lock-on to somebody behind them who is no danger to you while the guy right next to you drains your health. And then there's the rocket launching or sniping goons who it regularly refuses to lock-on to because they're too far away. Speaking of which, the game is crazy cheap with its difficulty. The aforementioned rockets often come at you from off-screen and enemies can spawn in behind you in an area you've just cleared. It's a ridiculously frustrating experience as a whole. To to give you an idea; the game requires you to press X & Y at the same time to do a melee move. ON A GAMECUBE CONTROLLER. Try to press those two buttons together without contoring your hand. Fuck this game. It's also WAAAY too long and there's a nonsensical amount of saving between levels. Seriously, you have to go through about 6 different screens just to save your game. I've never seen anything like it. Finally, Pierce Brosnan sounds like he's falling asleep while delivering his lines.
From Russia With Love was the most surprising by far. I REALLY enjoyed this (or maybe I was just happy to be done with EON). It starts off with a ridiculous level where you end up flying around London's Big Ben in a jetpack and the OTT-ness never lets up for the rest of the game. It still has the stupid lock-on system from EON, sure, but it's much better implimented here (it works 90% of the time as opposed to 70%). At least with this game when you lock on you are guarenteed of hitting the enemy with no reticule refinement needed. It's a more forgiving game as a whole with less emphasis on using cover. The only sections I actually didn't enjoy were the two on-rails bits on the boat because the aiming was so twitchy & they went on too long. Game length is more reasonable this time (7-8 hours) & even Sean Connery sounds like he's enjoy himself in the recording booth, really getting into it and giving his all. A huge contrast to Brosnan in the previous game. The best of the 4 games for me because of how campy 60's the whole package is.
I haven't yet played Nightfire, but of the 3 I have played I agree that EoN is the worst. OP really nailed the core reason, I think - don't have a million different gameplay styles if you can't even nail the primary one. Such an annoying game.Just done playing this lot one after the other.
I think I'm mostly in agreement with the OP about how much I enjoyed them.
The ranking for me goes as such; From Russia With Love > Nightfire > Agent Under Fire > Everything Or Nothing.
Agent Under Fire is a decent start but it's a little clunky like a lot of early twin stick console shooter were. It can be a pain in the ass swithing between guns & gadgets and I don't know if it's exclusive to the console but it was hard enough to precisely aim with the Gamecube's C-Stick. Just too sensitive & twitchy.
Nightfire improves upon AUF in almost every way. The car levels are much better and the aiming is easier. They also changed the UI to make gadgets easier to use & switch between. To be honest, these two games have kinda blended togehter in my mind since I played them back to back one evening after the other but I definitely enjoyed myself more as the experience went on. Nightfire gets proper Roger Moore crazy towards the end which is a lot of fun.
Everything Or Nothing dissappointed me so much, especially as I've heard it was the best of the bunch. Why did they go with this lock-on control method instead of normal 3rd person shooter controls? It works maybe 70% of the time. The enemy would be 10 feet in front of you and it sometimes just WILL NOT lock on to them. I can see them, I want to shoot them, but the game just won't let me. Or worse still, it will lock-on to somebody behind them who is no danger to you while the guy right next to you drains your health. And then there's the rocket launching or sniping goons who it regularly refuses to lock-on to because they're too far away. Speaking of which, the game is crazy cheap with its difficulty. The aforementioned rockets often come at you from off-screen and enemies can spawn in behind you in an area you've just cleared. It's a ridiculously frustrating experience as a whole. To to give you an idea; the game requires you to press X & Y at the same time to do a melee move. ON A GAMECUBE CONTROLLER. Try to press those two buttons together without contoring your hand. Fuck this game. It's also WAAAY too long and there's a nonsensical amount of saving between levels. Seriously, you have to go through about 6 different screens just to save your game. I've never seen anything like it. Finally, Pierce Brosnan sounds like he's falling asleep while delivering his lines.
From Russia With Love was the most surprising by far. I REALLY enjoyed this (or maybe I was just happy to be done with EON). It starts off with a ridiculous level where you end up flying around London's Big Ben in a jetpack and the OTT-ness never lets up for the rest of the game. It still has the stupid lock-on system from EON, sure, but it's much better implimented here (it works 90% of the time as opposed to 70%). At least with this game when you lock on you are guarenteed of hitting the enemy with no reticule refinement needed. It's a more forgiving game as a whole with less emphasis on using cover. The only sections I actually didn't enjoy were the two on-rails bits on the boat because the aiming was so twitchy & they went on too long. Game length is more reasonable this time (7-8 hours) & even Sean Connery sounds like he's enjoy himself in the recording booth, really getting into it and giving his all. A huge contrast to Brosnan in the previous game. The best of the 4 games for me because of how campy 60's the whole package is.
I really like From Russia with Love. It's fairly simple, but that which it modestly attempts, it does rather well. Agent Under Fire is decent enough for 2001, although the rail sections are pretty tedious.
I've played a few more of these now:
- Quantum of Solace
I mean it has decent shooting because it's COD underneath, so in that respect the core gameplay is very good. It's just a bit uninspiring.
- Goldeneye 2010
I have already forgotten it, and I played it less than 3 months ago. It was okay, I think.
- Blood Stone
Feels very fairground ridey with the driving and various on-rails sequences. Shooting is okay but it's not a top-tier third-person shooter by any means.
Bond games are so fascinating, how they try different things and often fail spectacularly. Sometimes they try to capture Goldeneye, sometimes they're trying to follow a movie, and sometimes that just do their own thing entirely. Sometimes it feels like someone's holding a hat with several dozen concepts written on pieces of paper, and they just pull half a dozen out to make the next game.
- Quantum of Solace
I mean it has decent shooting because it's COD underneath, so in that respect the core gameplay is very good. It's just a bit uninspiring.
- Goldeneye 2010
I have already forgotten it, and I played it less than 3 months ago. It was okay, I think.
- Blood Stone
Feels very fairground ridey with the driving and various on-rails sequences. Shooting is okay but it's not a top-tier third-person shooter by any means.
Bond games are so fascinating, how they try different things and often fail spectacularly. Sometimes they try to capture Goldeneye, sometimes they're trying to follow a movie, and sometimes that just do their own thing entirely. Sometimes it feels like someone's holding a hat with several dozen concepts written on pieces of paper, and they just pull half a dozen out to make the next game.
Heh, reading through the list, I was like "Holy shit, there are way more Pierce Brosnan Bond movies than I thought!"
Then I realized a lot of games aren't based on any particular movie.
Everything or Nothing? So weird that they got so many stars to be voice actors. Did getting Heidi Klum, Willem Dafoe, and John Cleese to voice characters pay off, I wonder?
Then I realized a lot of games aren't based on any particular movie.
Everything or Nothing? So weird that they got so many stars to be voice actors. Did getting Heidi Klum, Willem Dafoe, and John Cleese to voice characters pay off, I wonder?
Wasn't there a DS version of Rogue Agent?
I think I remember wanting to try it, but always heard it was bad.
That rumored Halo DS game was based off of its engine I think (or it was just a mod of it, never heard if it was official or not).
I think I remember wanting to try it, but always heard it was bad.
That rumored Halo DS game was based off of its engine I think (or it was just a mod of it, never heard if it was official or not).
OP you were way too kind to 007 Legends. Game is utter fucking garbage.
Bollocks hand-to-hand QTEs? Check. Shitty hacking minigames? Check. Instafail stealth sections? Check. Human enemies that somehow get more and more health as the game progresses? Check.
It's like someone graduated with honors from the school of ineffective game design and then went on to direct 007 Legends.
Bollocks hand-to-hand QTEs? Check. Shitty hacking minigames? Check. Instafail stealth sections? Check. Human enemies that somehow get more and more health as the game progresses? Check.
It's like someone graduated with honors from the school of ineffective game design and then went on to direct 007 Legends.
As a big Bond Fan, amazingly, I've played almost every game in this list as they came out.
Somehow I missed playing From Russia With Love, and I'm strangely upset about that.
☹️😆
Somehow I missed playing From Russia With Love, and I'm strangely upset about that.
☹️😆
Fun fact: I was in charge of Marketing for Tomorrow Never Dies on PlayStation and was starting TWINE when I left EA for Xbox. Agree about the game - although it did give me the opportunity to create one of my all-time favorite TV commercials (and yes, that's Peter Cullen)
www.youtube.com
007 James Bond: Tomorrow Never Dies - PlayStation Commercial (1999)
Gaming commercial archive
www.youtube.com
I had 007 nightfire and damn that intro was good. I would legit watch it over and over as a kid. I think Jame Bond began my obsession with intro sequences and title drops. So fantastic.
This makes me want to boot up EoN again...I loved it when it came out. But in retrospect it hasn't been memorable. I haven't even thought about it in almost 10 years. Yet I can still recollect many specific moments of it. Like was it just a shining star in it's time, or does it hold up enough to actually have fun with it still today?
OP
OP
Fun fact: I was in charge of Marketing for Tomorrow Never Dies on PlayStation and was starting TWINE when I left EA for Xbox. Agree about the game - although it did give me the opportunity to create one of my all-time favorite TV commercials (and yes, that's Peter Cullen)
007 James Bond: Tomorrow Never Dies - PlayStation Commercial (1999)
Gaming commercial archive
Well let me just say that marketing was not the problem with that game, haha.
Very cool ad.
It's for sure a bad game, but the scale of bad games is totally blown out by the 90's and early 00's jank that the franchise also had. It's the kind of bad game you can beat in a day because the friction isn't too high. It has some difficulty spikes where you retry 3 or 4 times for some checkpoints due to random bullshit, but the bad PS1 era games are much harder and do not have checkpointing systems like modern games do (or have very stingy ones) - so instead of trying 1 checkpoint 5 times maybe, you're trying the whole mission 10 times.
My general thoughts on EoN are that it's a prototype for the kind of game that the Uncharted series would be. It has a similar kind of simplified melee system, you can take cover (or something like it), it's third person, it has a fairly cinematic focus, some missions require stealth, it has setpieces and spends a lot of time trying to mix things up.
But it's a rough prototype. All of the aspects of the game I mentioned above that make it sound extremely modern, but each one is individually not well executed. It's pre-gears of war, so while you do need to crouch behind obstacles to take cover and whatnot, the gameplay is not the same kind of smooth, intuitive and good looking cover shooting as Gears / Uncharted / others. It doesn't give you regenerating health. It still has a lockon button instead of good quality, precise aiming. The setpieces aren't nearly as refined as uncharted, the stealth is pretty bad, the melee system is a bit jank too. Driving the car is ok! Not a lot of games have that as a main mechanic but you do that here.
One of the biggest differences between EoN and the games that followed in it's footsteps is that EoN feels rather oldschool in it's difficulty curve. The first few missions aren't too much but it ramps up substantially over time and later levels are very hard.
IMO it's a very interesting game historically, but I don't think it's personally that fun to beat. You'll probably have a great nostalgic time in the first few levels though.
Oof, and that is exactly why I haven't played the 2 PS1 Bond games and don't intend to. While I love / am morbidly curious about the long, winding history of this series, I have limits. And some of the ones I have played are already pushing those limits in unpleasant ways.
OP
OP
Oh it was a struggle at times for sure. We never would have beat these games if we didn't have both of us doing it - being able to throw the controller at Woody007 when I was fed up with a level and vice versa was absolutely key in having the fortitude to keep going.
Even if it's because I played a new Bond game and had to come in here and tell everyone how much it ground my gears?
OP
OP
Do it.
Tracking down copies will probably require ebay since all the bonds are delisted now.
This OP is fantastic! Really enjoyed reading as I played several of these and never touched many of them. I was so excited for QoS on Wii and I guess it was a miracle it ran at all but it was sooooo ugly in parts and a general letdown. The new GoldenEye was fun on Wii though.
Overall really made it clear how few mid-tier games (licensed or not) came out this generation and the level of money spent on developing games these days.
I know it has been frustrating to see how little Star Wars content has been put out by EA and I would love a good Bond game. The big publishers put out so few IPs these days.
Overall really made it clear how few mid-tier games (licensed or not) came out this generation and the level of money spent on developing games these days.
I know it has been frustrating to see how little Star Wars content has been put out by EA and I would love a good Bond game. The big publishers put out so few IPs these days.
I played this mode entirely using a stealth strategy. For me this Game is a puzzle game where you have to find the right route through a level in order to make the least noise and alert the least amount of guards. It's an incredible gaming experience.
When I watch others play they don't user that style, they tend to move through the game at a fast pace. I may have to make some YouTube videos showing how to stealth the whole 00 Agent mode.
OP
OP
We did it methodically, but one level (the one where you need to escape the prison cell) was near impossible until we saw a guide explaining that an ak47 fired in spaced out 2 round bursts wont alert the guards. Otherwise, we kept trying to use the knife and getting owned. Stealth ak47 saved the day, lmao.
OP
OP
Ha ha, can't wait. But I thought you only played terrible Bond games? Project 007 might actually be alright...
you might be getting mixed up with Quantum of Solace, the
I guess for this thread it's no time to die
sorry
Hype for what comes next.
Also how do we induct this thread into the era vault? mods, admins get in here!
sorry
Hype for what comes next.
Also how do we induct this thread into the era vault? mods, admins get in here!
I agree, it's a thread for the ages and also an important historical document.I guess for this thread it's no time to die
sorry
Hype for what comes next.
Also how do we induct this thread into the era vault? mods, admins get in here!
I think the only Bond games I enjoyed were James Bond Junior on the NES (although enemies were kinda bullet spunges) and Goldeneye on the N64. Never played From Russia With Love or the GB 007 game though.
I missed this the first time round, great read OP.
I played a ton of Goldeneye 64, but the only other bond titles I've played are Nightfire (think it might have been on a demo disc?), Goldeneye (Wii) - which had surprisingly fun multiplayer - and Quantum of Solace's utterly garbage Wii port that I got second hand for a few quid... it wasn't worth it:
I played a ton of Goldeneye 64, but the only other bond titles I've played are Nightfire (think it might have been on a demo disc?), Goldeneye (Wii) - which had surprisingly fun multiplayer - and Quantum of Solace's utterly garbage Wii port that I got second hand for a few quid... it wasn't worth it:
The main takeaway I have from this thread is that Bond does not seem to have a good relationship with Playstations...