Techtite's PC Game Reviews!

"[To all the bigwig game review rags:] Sorry; my marginal thumbs up of the game still stands. However, as always, not all games are for everyone."

---from the review

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I have noticed a lot of flak about 007: Nightfire from the bigwig game review rags. So much so, I feel the need to re-edit my review I formerly posted, and replace it with a more on-the-defensive stance. Sorry; my marginal thumbs up of the game still stands. However, as always, not all games are for everyone.

First things first: okay, as I confessed in the original review, the storyline could've used some work. There will unlikely be a call for a movie based on this game, anytime soon. However, for the FPS genre, this is often considered immaterial. Consider: the classic Nintendo 64 Bond-game, Goldeneye, was based on one of the most lackluster James Bond movies of the series, yet was in fact the James Bond game all others would be compared to. This was due to the way gamers were kept too busy keeping Bond alive than in considering the lack of any coherent story. On the other hand: even that had a better story, I admit. By the time the credits rolled for 007 Nightfire I had no idea what project "Nightfire" was, nor did I see a need to bother finding out. This is strictly a Bond game from an action perspective (for better or worse).

One aspect of the game that deserves not one single gripe, are the textures and level design. For the most part, they are strikingly impressive, as shown here. How dull is it in the typical FPS game on store shelves, to slosh through a rusty, drab sewer, or jump over insipid platforms in the lava...again??? It's this lack of such been-there, done-that clichés that made me love this Bond game even more. Never is Bond merely searching through a rusted sewer system, nor is he jumping over floating platforms in the lava (at last; an action game that does NOT include a cliché lava level! HUZZAH!!!). Instead, being Bond, he's going to an air hanger, a skyscraper, a ritzy tycoon's mansion (shown here) and so on. Call me a demolitionist wannabe though my only beef with these game maps was that so little of it was destructible. How cool would it have been to enter a bad guy's ritzy estate, then slowly wreck it in the resulting shootout?

As for gadgets; yes, some were rarely used, though they were fun when you could use them: a tranquilizer dart pen (with surprisingly unlimited range!), a palm pilot that decrypts digital locks, a credit card that hides a mini CD-ROM "worm" for computer hacking, a cellular phone that hides a grappling cable, a pair of X-ray-vision "Q-specs," and a wristwatch laser; to name just a half dozen. Now, all the kiddies who wanted something like a rail gun, rocket launcher or lightning-shooting-thingie can just chill: this is James Bond, after all, and sadly some blowhards insist that Bond has at least one foot in reality at all times, so all Bond is allowed to use are standard guns. In other words: no lightning-shooting-thingie. Darn.

Maybe some game critics simply didn't use the Official Hint Manual? I'm just saying; there's a lot hidden in this game if the typical "go in with guns blazing" gamer doesn't bother to look. For one, there are often alternatives to harder missions. In some missions, looking for that hard-to-see grappling point allows you to use the grappling hook to take a different route; often, a far-easier one, since you solved the level with thought, not brawn. On a humorous note that is vintage Bond humor, one can use the X-ray goggles to see the Victoria's Secrets of all ladies you meet, on any given mission. This doesn't change the rating of the game, one way or the other, though it's all in the spirit of James Bond's ribald humor, and an amusing "hidden feature" of the game.

There is another gripe to consider: the video game version is better. This is certain, since an incomplete game is always the inferior one, and the PC version was stripped of the video game version's car-chase levels (I sense a PC compatibility issue with the car-chasing levels that, at the 11th hour, was sheepishly abandoned). These levels weren't really any big deal --trust me on that one-- since they were all petty attempts to force-feed a racing game into a FPS game. On the other hand, it's the principle of the thing; video gamers on their $200 systems are playing a game more complete than the one we're playing on our $2000 PCs. Maybe this is the reason PC game rags are practically blackballing this game? I'm just asking...

To make matters worse; all console versions offer multiplayer, just like the PC version. Well, sort of. The console version "multiplayer" is the standard split-screen, only-if-you-have-extra-controllers deal, while PC gamers get the full-fledged internet multiplayer. This includes "deathmatch" mode, as well as capture the flag. It also offers additional locales to compete in. Not only are many maps based on the game; some are based on classic Bond locales like Fort Knox, a la Goldfinger.

It deserves mentioning that, to this gamer, this game's problem was too much originality. This isn't even getting into how I used some gadgets 100 times (the laser wristwatch) and others only once or twice (the dart pen). The truth is: the levels are diverse; TOO diverse. Consider one game level, where you rescue hostages. This is a nice, heroic mission for Bond to set his sights on, and yet, it's the only such mission in the whole game. What's worse; only one, single hostage (shown here) sees fit to offer a "thank you." I know repetition is frowned on in games, yet still...there can never be enough praise like "How can I ever thank you..." can there? The bottom line; if you love a mission, save your game near the beginning of it, because you won't see anything like that mission for the rest of the game. In the end, too little repetition can be a bad thing, can't it?

However, what was the beef the major PC game rags had with this game? I don't know. Calling it one of the biggest "coasters" of 2002 is a bit harsh; clearly, they never played ReVolution or Die Hard: Nakatomi Plaza. However, yes, okay, fine: there's need for improvement. If there is to be a Nightfire 2, I want more hostages to save, more evenly distributed needs for EACH gadget, and perhaps a "bot" type option in multiplayer so I can practice alone, a la Unreal Tournament 2003. Other than that, this wasn't half the "awful" game it's been painted to be. Well, I had fun.

---Techtite