Customer Reviews

James Bond 007: Nightfire

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(12)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

Despite the review above which states that EA can't make FPS, this new Bond adventure for the PC will possibly be the best Bond game since our beloved "Goldeneye". Remember those days? I do, boy that game was amazing. I've downloaded the PC Demo for Nightfire and I was shocked.

THE PROS:

*Amazing graphics-Gearbox has really gone beyond expectations. The models are perfect, clear, crisp, and just plain sexy. The enviroments are incredible, lighting is perfect, and shades of color are not too bright or too dark.

*Gameplay-so much fun! It's like "Goldeneye" gone insane, if you thought "Goldeneye" was awesome then you'll die (hopefully another day!) when you play this! Gunfights are are so much fun and damage done by enemies is reasonable.

*Weapons-I used a variety of weapons in the demo. Plus I found a secrete one, DESERT EAGLE. They all have secondary fire modes and fire rate is reasonable. All weapon models are perfect and rounded, no sharp edges or bland color.

*Missions-Hard but damn fun! I love that in computer games. It's somewhat hard but the game is so much fun that you just want to keep trying again. You don't end up throwing your PC out the window.

*AI-Enimies are programed to kill, and they will. They don't roll over and play dead so easily so get ready to fight! So much fun!

*Gadgets-Fun to use and can save your life! The dart pen was fun to use!

*Saving-Save anywhere. THANK YOU GOD!!!!!! this is my favorite aspect of the game!

THE CONS:

*Loading times are insane and long. What the hell were they thinking when deciding to put loading times for almost every damn room you enter in the game? That really made me mad.

*If you carry too many weapons you tend to go a lot slower. You have to drop some weapons to go fatser. I guess this is good if you like realism, but this is Bond damn it not "Ghost Recon".

*Mouse sensitivity-You can adjust it to go a lot smoother but you tend to make the game more glitchy that way. I used an "Alienware Area51 PC" with the new "Geforce-4 titanium graphics card" and the game still got a little glitchy.

*No blood. Hey "Goldeneye" had blood but what's up with this? Would have made the game a lot more real. Plugging a guy in the head and not seeing a spray of scarlet is lame.

FINAL VERDICT:

Nightfire recieves a (4.5/5)

Despite the Cons (Which are really small in the game) this game is a lot more fun and better looking than the outdated "Goldeneye" It's time to move on people, Bond is back and better than ever! Buy this game when it comes out for PC! (the only way to enjoy a game is using a PC)

NOTE: I played the DEMO version of Nightfire for the PC so it may be a lot different and some of the glitches may have been changed when the game is released.

Someone once said that there is a far greater difference between "good" and "great" than "good" and "bad". Nightfire fits squarely in this definition. Some parts are good or at least tolerable, others are inexcusably bad. All together they made a decent, but not note worthy game.

The first thing the player will see is a neat little intro movie that evokes the colorful Bond openings. I actually think this is one of the better parts of the game, which isn't saying much about the game. Once you actually get in to the levels its first flaw is the engine. Nightfire uses the Half life engine, which is in it self a rebuilt Quake II engine. The HL engine was in its prime six years ago. To their credit the developers squeeze all they can from it. The characters and world objects are well defined with lots of polygons and generally look fairly good. Each level's detail is on par with the most other games out now. The water effects, shiny surfaces, and crisp textures are well done. However the tell tail signs of age are evident. The game lacks many of the modern bells and whistles players have come to expect. Character animations aren't smooth enough and no rag doll physics to speak of. The lighting, shadow, and weapon effects still look like they did in 1998. Clearly the devs polished up the engine but its undoubtly underpowered by today's standards. Obsolete may be another word.

What will make or break any game is the gameplay. Nightfire does not stray from the standard FPS model, but it doesn't bring much to it. It's fairly standard shoot, pick up armor/health, and shoot more FPS fodder. That really is it. The core gameplay isn't anything to rave about. What it does add are the "Bond" touches. In addition to weapons the player has access to a number of gadgets inspired by the films. These had a lot of potentional, but more of a distraction than an integral component. Every once in a while you will have to use one to progress in the game. However they are each serve a single use. The watch laser cuts locks for example. You can't use it as any kind of weapon and has no effect on the enemies. There simply isn't much else to do with them. The music and story are inspired by the Bond films, and done better there too. Neither is used to any great extent and you won't get to know much of the characters either. On an occasion there is a moment that evokes the movies. An early part has you take pictures of gorgeous women with a camera hidden in a cigarette lighter. The "night vision goggles" are slick sunglasses that Bond slips on. There is a good selection of exotic high tech weapons that have a high rate of fire. However it's usual stable of FPS guns (pistol, SMG, sniper, rocket launcher, grenades, etc.) that are available in any other game. Still the "Bond" components aren't enough or used to best effect.

There is some irritating level design in Nightfire. The game helpfully includes a list of objectives. But how you get to them is often too vague. For example one level has crippling a computer network as an objective. But what is this? Do I hit a switch or shoot a power generator, what? This is not made clear. I ran around shooting every computer in sight hoping to accomplish this. It was not until I got to the level after it that I did take out this computer network. Why was I told to do this in the previous level when I could not in fact do so? Often the levels are hard simply because it's unclear how you are supposed to advance to the next part.

Everything aside the biggest flaw is the AI. It's rock stupid. It doesn't qualify as "intelligence" at all really. Enemies will come running in to your fire, ignore loud sounds like grenades exploding, shoot in to walls, slow to react, and generally make Forest Gump look like Garry Kasparov. In one instance I aimed the sniper rifle at one bad guy's head but missed by a hair. Despite the thundering gun shot sound and bullet hole just behind his head, he failed to notice anything. He stood there as if nothing had happened. There are many more instances of incredible incompetence though out the game, suffice to say its just plain bad. Considering that AI in Half Life was one of the best ever its baffling why six years later Nightfire features some of the worst possible.

The end result is a game that is entertaining on a basic level but fails to impress or generate much excitement. It's doesn't overtly fail and follows tried and true conventional design. This could actually be very entertaining to someone not familiar with currently FPS games. However it's AI is terrible and the overall average quality doesn't stand out.

Online all I see is people attacking this game for being simplistic and a disgrace to the bond games. Personally, I think the game is great. While the loading times for some levels (especially the Japan one in the demo) are absurd, for the most part the game is fast-moving and exciting. It has all the women, gadgets, and stealth you would expect from a bond movie as well as great graphics. It also has some truly unique sections - for example, in one level you must suction-cup up the side of a building without being seen. Buy if you're a bond fan at all.

I downloaded the demo, and all I can say for this game is "Wow." The only complaint I have is my own PC, which is a P3 700Mhz 512MB RAM. Despite it's slowness, the game runs OK. It's still very hard to control the mouse, but I kill guys anyways. I will be buying this game when I get my new computer which will get rid of the glitches.

Even if there's no blood, the gameplay makes up for it. There's nothing funner than sniping a guy in the back of the head and they can't even see you. The damage control is good, you pick up vests to get full health again.

I have a 32MB video card, and the graphics aren't all that great, since I use it at the lowest resolution. I've seen the graphics on a computer, they're insane, so smooth, so I won't mark it down because of my piece of junk.

Overall it's 4/5 stars. If they made it a tad bit faster on 700Mhz it would be nice :)

after a while you get bored with the same things over and over again.It's challenging in places.It is very obvious what is going to happen nextlike the girl betrads Mr. Bond. but I was about to beat it when it froze up my computer shut down when I turned the game on and it didn't work right.

I loved this game on the PS2, so I bought it for the PC. In the PS2 version there are driving missions and unlockable characters and its really a lot of fun. In the PC version there are NO driving missions at all. In fact, the game is COMPLETELY DIFFERENT! Its like someone played the PS2 version then re made it for the PC, only they had a very vague idea of how the missions went and forgot to include driving missions. On the PS2, the last mission is actually hard, while on the PC it is the EASIEST THING EVER! If you want this game, get it for PS2 where it is actually fun.

In the long history of PC games there haven't been many James Bond-brand releases on the PC; in fact, I can't name any offhand (aside from maybe James Bond Jr.). The brand has had a fruitful experience for the consoles, including the famous release of Goldeneye for the Nintendo 64.

With the release of a new Bond adventure in 2002 publisher Electronic Arts wanted to create a big cross-platform Bond action/shooter that didn't have to rely on the new movie but still carried the name and was released at about the same time. Unfortunately they decided to bet on relatively old technology and some strange creative choices to do it (at least on the PC version), and the result became a rather uninteresting game called Nightfire.

The player assumes the role of dashing MI-6 agent James Bond, 007, here to free the world from nuclear tyranny, British ex-patriots, and so on. Each of the nine missions precedes a full-motion animated cut scene that uncovers more of the general plot and details the next mission. More average-quality cut scenes are interspersed throughout the game at various points.

Nightfire is a first-person shooter and shares all the nuances of that breed of game, with the same familiar style of control schema, albeit with some trademark differences. Aside from the variety of guns available, Bond can switch to a gadget inventory and select from one of those - the gadgets are primarily one-event-type items. A wristwatch serves as a laser for cutting locks, for instance, though you couldn't even use it to get the attention of a guard.

The other gadget worth noting is the sunglasses, which when put on can switch between different shades of the spectrum - handy for locating hidden areas, laser traps, or through women's dresses. The downside is that you can only use it for so long as it runs on (rechargeable) battery power, not to mention the sunglasses are buggy.

As stated above, there are only nine missions -- each have a variety of submissions with their own set of objectives. While the level design is adequate it pretty much pushes the limits of the engine, including multiple loads in a single level. The objectives, which update as the mission progresses, is not very helpful at telling you what needs to be done or even why. Only by going through a level, killing everything, and checking and/or destroying everything else can you really figure some of them out - unless of course it happens to be a level where there is a never-ending stream of bad guys and there is no clue as to what to do.

Another problem of note is that a player can effectively win a mission by accomplishing an objective, get killed because of something else, and still lose the mission as the mission results screen is delayed while the game still runs. I actually ran into this on a particularly annoying boss level.

Mere mention of the console game-style boss creatures is another bad mark. This by itself is not too annoying, but the bosses, not to mention the situations you're thrust into, are painfully stupid. Speaking of painfully stupid, that would be the perfect description of the game's artificial intelligence (AI) - enough said on that.

This is not to say that Nightfire has some redeeming qualities. Some of the levels require going into third-person mode, which is a fun switch. Bond can only carry around four big weapons at a time, so you will have to strategize in some situations. You can use multiple different methods in certain missions to accomplish the objective. On the very first mission, Bond can sneak his way into the castle complex through the back way or fight his way through.

Nightfire includes a multiplayer mode as well. It consists of LAN or internet play, supporting up to 32 players, with three modes of play: combat training (deathmatch), team combat training (team deathmatch), and capture the flag. In team games one team assumes the role of the good guys while the other team is the bad guys - and they have different models to match. Unfortunately, multiplayer mode seems tacked on and a few of the levels are very unbalanced.

Several times already I've described the Nightfire engine as being stretched to the limit. That's because the developer, Gearbox Interactive, went with the Half-Life engine to develop the game, and added in their own in-house goodies. Gearbox is no stranger to using the Half-Life engine, but to release a major title with a four year-old engine (at launch) is troublesome at best.

Character models are average if not great, and the animations are about the same - though there are some specialized animations as well. The Australian secret agent is a blond Lara Croft rip-off.

I'm a bit of a Bond movie traditionalist so it's hurtful to sit through a particularly hard level of Nightfire listening to some techno/new age version of a rehashed Bond theme over and over again. Oh, there is some variety, and a small bit of it is catchy, but enough is enough. The song featured in the intro sequence by the female singer Esthero (and plays in the background on the menu screens) is quite good, however. The voice acting for the various characters, including Bond, seems very uneven.

James Bond 007: Nightfire is a lackluster game stuck in an old engine that probably should have gone through a bit more in the design and implementation stage. Aside from a nice opening sequence and a few "well that's kind of cool" moments in-game Nightfire should definitely have its license revoked.

First off there are no glitches to this game. If you have a problem it is your computer not the game! I have had none of the problems some of the few people have stated. The Multiplayer is fun and the game is fun. I can't understand why someone would hate this game. I found it more fun than the old Nintendo Goldeneye game. Sure it is not Alien vs. Predator 2 but it is still a great game. Better than Max Payne also. Buy it because it is an entertaining game.REVIEW UPDATE 12,30,02
Once again I state that none of the problems that have been posted by any of the other reviewers have happened on my computer. Their problems are the result of an outdated computer. You need a top of the line model.

Ok, first I would like to say that level 1 is very fun. but so far, after that, it's just plain hard. I would like to make one thing quite clear. THERE ARE WAY TO MANY PARTS IN THE GAME WHERE YOU HAVE TO USE STEALTH!!! I mean, being stealthy once in a while is fine, but hey, ALMOST THE WHOLE GAME????!!!!!! Level 2 is so boring because there is nothing but stealth stealth stealth. Level 3 does not require any stealth, but the whole level is lame, and level 4 is so darn hard, again because there are cameras, alarms, guards, and tripwires. If the alarm gets sounded, instead of a whole bunch of guards coming at you or something, YOU LOSE!!!!!! HOW UNREALISTIC IS THAT????????!!!!!!!!! I mean, you don't even get a chance to fight back after the alarm has sounded!! At least you can quicksave your game whenever you want to. Despite that, I still can't make it past level 4. If you really have the time and nerve to play games like this, I reccomend it. If you are impatient and want only a tiny amount of stealth or none, don't waste your money. Oh, and by the way, the weapons get very boring. Bye.

What else can one say about a game that has weapons, babes, gadgets, and locations around the world! This is the perfect game for me. I grew up watching James Bond, and waiting for a game like this. I have played the first 2 levels (the wife won't let me waste the day in front of my computer), the first level is very easy. As you get into the game the oponents get tougher and there are more of them. One of the great things about the game is that the x-ray glasses work ALL THE TIME. I have played some games in which articles like this only work at certain points, but not this one. Overall I really like the game. I have not experienced any bugs or glitches in the game, and I am running a P3 128mb SDRAM! I you are a fan of Bond you will not be disapointed with this game.