007 Nightfire Retro Review

We all know 007 Goldeneye for the Nintendo 64, a revolutionary shooter for it's time with a decent singleplayer and great multiplayer. But what some might not realize is that Goldeneye wasn't James Bond's only FPS adventure, he had plenty of them in later years going from N64 all the way to Wii U. But one always stuck out to me, 007 Nightfire on the Nintendo Gamecube, this was actually a game I grew up with, playing it on a little CRT my Mom had in her office. But it's also been almost 16 years since then, does Nightfire hold up or is this Bond adventure dead in the water?

First off, Nintendo Gamecube through HDMI on a generic upscaler looks like ass, if you have the game and a decent PC you're better off emulating, which is how I did it. There are HDMI solutions and I intend to give them a shot but given space in my area is limited and that shit costs $150 anyway, Dolphin it is.

Nightfire is still set in the Pierce Brosnan era of Bond so if you're not a fan of Brosnan (or the imitation they do here) this might turn you off. For me it's not a problem even if it's mostly flat and forgettable compared to the movies. But this is also before Daniel Craig introduced a hint of gritty realism to the films so it's mostly tuxedo's, hot women falling into Bond's arms, over the top villains, and high tech cars that make no plausible sense for the whole. so if you don't like that then you might wanna bail.

The plot of Nightfire in question follows Bond teaming up with various agents (where the hot chicks line comes from) and trying to stop an evil businessman named Drake from, and say it with me now, taking over the world. And in Moonraker style too with as the endgame revolves around an orbital death laser and fighting in space. The plot is serviceable but forgettable, even now I struggle to remember anything that stood out and I get nothing outside of a death scene that left me with overwhelming feelings of disinterest.

But okay, the plot is merely okay and forgettable, how's the game? Well in terms of locales, I think the game is pretty good, it never stays in one place for long enough to bore the player. The game is hurling new places and setpieces at the player, with a good mix of stealth, combat, and vehicular gameplay. The only problem I have with how this game is paced midway through when they literally have you do a previous level but in reverse with one or two new things added in. It reminded me of Halo 1's Two Betrayals level, and I hate that level with a passion. But that was the only time I got left particularly miffed at what Nightfire was doing, it's mostly solid and fun in it's setpieces.

Now for the actual gunplay and driving, I think it's all right. I appreciate how it clearly learns from Halo and allows dual stick aiming. That said, due to some extreme weapon magnetism in this mode, you're encouraged to stop and use what I call hard aim so as to avoid wasting all your bullets hitting center mass and go for the head in order to drop enemies quickly and get those sweet stealth kills. I think that's the main problem with Nightfire, the hard aim system really dates this game just like it did Goldeneye. Unlike Goldeneye, the dual stick control helps mitigate the issue a bit even if you do waste a lot of bullets using it unless you have the shotgun but that's a rare weapon by the game's standard.

The other thing that dates Nightfire is it's weapon system, it functions like that of a PC game where Bond can carry every weapon in a level from crossbows to laser cannons and every gadget too, with swapping between weapons and gadgets handled by the D-pad and it's beyond clunky. If I have a sniper rifle and need an Uzi then I'm desperately clicking through my weapons hoping to find the gun I need. Tools are more tolerable because you normally aren't using them in firefights but to explore and accomplish certain stealth goals. But in a firefight I need that gun now, not as soon as I swap through my weapon rotation. DOOM 2016's game slowdown weapon wheel spoiled me and I think more games should use that but this is 2002 so some slack is cut.

The best part of Nightfire in my opinion is the vehicle levels, manning turrets on planes, driving cars, it all controls like a dream and is never boring. On an even better note, because you usually only have two weapon choices, I never get bogged down in weapon selection and can wipe the floor with baddies. Wide open or in a straight line, I always feel like I have the exact tool for the job at hand to wipe out the enemies. It's fast frantic and fun, like a really good racing game.

Graphically the game is about what I expect from the mid 6th gen, nothing spectacular but also not PS1 Final Fantasy VII level of aging poorly either. Voice acting is passable, nothing great but not Mega Man X4 level of bad, the main problem is that, like or hate him, Brosnan was very casual, almost like he wasn't trying. On the other hand, the VA they got here is obviously trying way too hard and it shows and comes off as merely acceptable. Sound design is good, weapons have either a satisfying bang or a careful ping, depending on silencers or not. Soundtrack is forgettable, unless it's the classic Bond theme which, I will be honest, doesn't work with scenes of the stiff bond model doing something "cool." But again, 2002, I cut some slack even if it's a bit dull.

Which I guess is Nightfire in a nutshell. Did I hate it? No. Would I replay it? Also no. Nightfire merely exists, a 6th gen callback to a 5th gen classic, but nothing more, espically given that games like Halo were out around this time. Some of it's concepts are fresh but the gunplay is dull and lifeless. It's worth it if you're curious about the kinds of shooters that dominated the market in the early 2000's but other than that pass, there are better shooters worth your time. 

In hindsight, this should have been my first post, but whatever, bygones be bygones.