Agent Under Fire:
007
System:
Playstation 2
Publisher & Developer: Electronic Arts
Released: November 2001
Genre: First Person Shooter
Capabilities: Memory Card, Vibration Function, Multi-Tap
Compatible
Review Written: February 7, 2002
The Game
Fresh off the semi-success of The World is not Enough, Electronic Arts is here to deliver its next offering from the Bond Franchise of games with Agent Under Fire. Unlike the several past 007 games, this game is not based on the latest Bond flick, but instead comes up with a whole new original story of its own. Will this game finally get EA the sales they were hoping for? Let’s get onto the review and find out.
The Story
Now even though EA came up with a brand new story with the latest Bond game, it is nothing close to being labeled innovating. It is just your typical 007 type storyline where there is one maniac running wild, and its up to you to stop him, chasing him in various locations around the world, and using a wide array of gadgets sporting the latest technology.
Graphics
EA did a very good job with the visuals in this game, and you will notice it as you play. You have the first person shooter view for most of the game, and all the essential details are on the screen at all times like gun ammo, health, etc. The weapons in the game look amazing and all sport the tiniest details that are easy to make out like triggers, scopes, and so on. The levels are just huge, and you’ll be astonished at all the work the developers put in them to make them look. The animation of gunfire and your enemies is fast and fluid, and seems realistic. The cut scenes are simply gorgeous and look a lot like you’re watching a movie. Everything moves at a constant, fast pace so the action never slows down. Overall, the visuals are great, but I’ve seen better in other FPS games.
Sound
Making good use of the 007 license, you get the classic Bond theme in the game here, and the tune never gets old. Other background music tunes are dimmed out just enough so they don’t get distracting during game play, and even though the background music isn’t plain out bad, they just aren’t as catchy and good as the classic ones I remember from Goldeneye. The voice acting is very dead on with all the characters in the game. Bond, Q, and Money penny sound exactly the way they do in the movies to give you the complete Bond experience, and unlike the old Bond games, you actually get voice acting for mission briefings, which seems a lot better than the text menus of old. The rest of the sound effects like gunfire, explosions, and footsteps sound the way they should to give the audio department a satisfying score.
Game play
The game engine for Agent Under Fire is a First Person Shooter like past Bond games, with occasional missions, or parts of missions, where you end up in a driving type of game play where you chase down the enemy. Missions play out a lot like the previous Bond games where you have to complete a set amount of objectives which may vary from using your Q gadgets to pick locks and hack into computers to retrieve data to rescuing hostages and destroying facilities.
For game modes we just got a limited amount to choose from. We have the main missions for the standard single player mode of play, and then we have multi player, and that’s about it. Multi player has all the standard stuff like up to four people can participate, capture the flag, and tag modes. You can customize the levels to play in and set of guns to use while playing, too bad there isn’t any computer controlled opponents to add to go against.
Replay Value
The missions would’ve been fun to play through if M wouldn’t talk you through all the levels which takes all the fun out of the game. To make up for that though, the developers included a Medal award system, where you get points for certain tricks and how well you perform in levels. By getting more points, you unlock hidden items and cheats for you to use during game play. Multi player is fun with three or four players if you guys own a multi tap, but it gets boring with just the two of you with no option to add computer controlled opponents like in other PS2 competitors like Red Faction, Timesplitters, and Quake 3.
In Brief
+: Great presentation, Superb Voice Acting, Nice medal system to unlock extras
-: M talks you through most of the missions, Can’t add bots in multi player
The Final Ratings Rundown
Graphics: 8.8
Sound: 8.0
Game play: 7.2
Replay Value: 5.1
Overall: 7.2
Rounded to fit GameFAQs Score: 7
Comments
This is a decent Bond game, though not the greatest one I’ve played. I like how it incorporates driving parts to some missions, but in the end, it just doesn’t deliver the same experience I’ve enjoyed playing Goldenye. And believe it or not, I actually prefer The World is Not Enough more than this game. If you’re looking for a better FPS with a great storyline, I advise you to purchase Red Faction. Otherwise, rent this one before buying.