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by TheDCD on 11.01.10  The last time we dealt with James Bond in a video game, we were given the somewhat adequate first-person shooter Quantum of Solace, a game that combined events from the movie of the same name and the previously released movie Casino Royale. It could've been far worse, but being released head-to-head against Activision's Call of Duty juggernaut didn't help its case. This year, the Bond legacy fares better thanks to not one, but two releases.
We've already covered Blood Stone (see our review), and now we've got GoldenEye 007, a reboot of sorts for the 1997 game of the same name. There's a similar scenario at work here, as Bond chases after a Russian military satellite capable of conking out electrical communications at will. However, in Pierce Brosnan's place is Daniel Craig, taking over as contemporary Bond. It's not that big a switch-out, unless you really, really liked the first film. Even then, you'll enjoy this. The single-player campaign has been revamped almost completely. Though some locales will look familiar, the game as a whole goes in an exciting new direction, led by the savvy development team at Eurocom. One minute you'll be infiltrating a base; the next you'll be smashing your way through Russian streets in a tank. It's thoroughly exciting throughout and well-worth the several hours of play you'll get out of it. And you can go through it again on a higher difficulty setting, should you feel compelled.
GoldenEye plays with either a Wii remote/Nunchuk combination or with GameCube/Classic controller support. Either way you approach it, it plays without any kind of failure. You'll have a blast shooting your way through Russian renegades, whether on foot or in the tank, and notice very few problems with the controls when it comes to accuracy. We could've done without the cutscenes we couldn't skip past or the quick-time events, but as a whole, GoldenEye plays remarkably. Once you get through with the single-player campaign (which should take a few hours), you'll want to hop right into multiplayer, which is just as classic as the N64 version. There are a variety of modes, maps, characters, and options to fool around with here, and what's more, you can play either locally in splitscreen (moderately confusing, but well-done) or online against others. Both options work to quite an extent, for classic fans and newcomers alike. First-person shooters can't get much better on the Wii this holiday season.
Although the game doesn't look as sharp as Blood Stone, GoldenEye is still a spectacular ride on the Wii. The levels are huge, packing all sorts of danger and excitement, and the tank stage in itself is well-worth the price of admission. The explosion effects are stunning, the weather effects are nice (check out the rain in the introductory stage), and the animations are fluid. The intro sequence is just as classy as in the Bond films, complete with a re-recording of the original GoldenEye song. Voicework is handled quite well, with Daniel Craig as Bond and Dame Judi Dench handling her duties as M. The others do well, too, and the sound effects and music are vintage Bond ... just as we'd expect them to be.
Now, developers, take note. THIS is how you do a reboot. Short of including the original game that started it all (sadly, no sign of it), GoldenEye 007 is a complete package no Wii owner should miss out on. The gameplay is exciting, the multiplayer options are overloaded, and the presentation is top-drawer as far as the Wii is concerned. All that's left to do is hope the next Bond adventure isn't 13 years off. We can't wait that long for games of this quality.
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