James Bond 007: Agent Under Fire

"Not Goldeneye but close..."

Agent Under Fire is the newest Jame Bond game to be released. It is once again a first-person shooter, something that every Bond game should be since making Tomorrow Never Dies. Anyway, this is a good game. It has some flaws though from making it great. I rented this game and have been playing it for the last two days and well, here is my review....

Graphics 9/10
Of course everyone has to know first ''how are the graphics?''. Well the graphics are not that bad. They are actually better than I thought they were going to be. The cut-scenes look great, the peoples faces especially. There is a great amount of detail in the graphics as well. For instance when you are in the British Embassy, when you look out the window you can see the city below and the clouds actually moving through the air. That is pretty good. One thing that really surprised me with the graphics of the game is Bond's hand and gun in the first person. Generally in FPS's the hand never really looks that great but EA did it well here.

Sound 5/10
This is what really hurt AOF. The music sounds great but when it comes to the dialogue...it just sucks. During the cutscenes when the characters talk it sounds cheaply done. It is really hard to describe what it sounds like. Ooh I know, it sounds like the company recorded it through a PC microphone. That is a pretty good explanation of it.

Gameplay 8/10
The missions in the game are great. They are entertaining and exciting. Especially the missions where you drive vehicles. Those are the best because recreate the Bond-movie chases. Not any speicific chase but that style. Some of the early missions are pretty short and simple but they get better as the game goes along. Sometimes though I just wish the missions were a little bit longer sometimes. Another great part of this game is the gadgets you can use. Bond has nearly everything at his disposal. You can use the Q-Laser (to cut locks), the Q-Claw (to reach higher places), the Q-Specs (to see hidden doors) and more. Each time you use a gadget or do something James Bond-esque the game rewards you with special points.

Control 8/10
The control in this game is done somewhat well. Using the C-stick to look up and down can be annoying sometimes. Other than that though the button layout is done well. You use the top right button to fire and B to use gadgets and so on. At first it takes a little getting use to, but you soon grow into it. The buttons react well too. There isn't any lag when you press the button and the action on screen is done. There shouldn't be and there isn't.

Overall 8/10
This is a great FPS! It has replayibility through the roof with the multiplayer mode too. I would buy this game, in fact I just might today.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 03/17/02, Updated 03/17/02