Review by Adam Stephen Kelly
UK Certification 16+ | UK RRP £39.99 | Region PAL | Developer Eurocom | Publisher Activision
The name 'GoldenEye' and I have quite a history. The film is one of my all-time favourite James Bond capers, while the hours I spent on the original Nintendo 64 video game collectively serve as a very happy reminder of my childhood in the '90s. But now, 15 years after the film and 13 since the release of the first game, GoldenEye 007 is reborn and has found a secure new home on the Wii.
It's not a belated port, nor a glossy rehash of the N64 title by any stretch of the imagination, instead being an adaptive reimagining of the 1995 movie. Following the Jeffrey Caine and Bruce Feirstein screenplay, the game is set in the current Bond universe with the voices and likenesses of Daniel Craig as the secret agent himself and Dame Judi Dench as M, so don't expect the talents of one Sean Bean or even a digital reprisal of Q. Just like the new generation's movies, the approach to storytelling is more realistic than classic, which Bond purists out there who have identified Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace as being too much like Bourne trilogy spin-offs may not be too fond of. An example would be the shoot-out on the train: the N64 game was faithful to the film in that Bond broke out of the locked and rigged-to-blow carriage by breaking a floor hatch with the laser beam on his watch, but on this updated outing he merely blows the hinges off with his trusty handgun.
For those of you who somehow haven't seen the film or played the original game and yet are still interested in this new version, the integral theme of the story is betrayal. Having witnessed the death of a long time friend and colleague during a field operation in Arkhangelsk, Russia, Bond finds himself embroiled in a mission years later to stop a crime syndicate from stealing money and destroying targets across the globe using the GoldenEye satellite, which is equipped with the means to fire devastating electromagnetic pulses down to Earth. But the shadowy group in question is made up of familiar faces from his past, with things quickly taking a violent trip down Personal Avenue.
Since the game does follow the film script, it naturally has a solid grasp on the story, yet – if you're familiar with the flick at least – you'll notice that it misses out quite a lot along the way, sacrificing exposition in order to squeeze the key elements of quite a complex yarn into the rather short space that is the single-player campaign.
Visually, GoldenEye 007 is, for a Wii game, stunning, and being that it's a standard definition release, it's got the somewhat unusual combination of boundary-breaking graphics for the console and retro stylisation that feels very reminiscent of the N64 classic. Your first glimpse of Daniel Craig's face in a cut-scene will make your jaw drop: it looks that good. The game truly feels familiar, like you're genuinely playing the evolution of Rare's much celebrated FPS, which can only be a good thing when it's regarded as one of the greatest of all time and a true landmark of gaming.
This welcome nostalgia extends to the multiplayer modes (golden guns, paintballs and classic characters included), which, although glossed over with a Call of Duty-esque flavour that includes an XP system, maintains the fast-paced and frantic action that made the split-screen chaos of the original game so much fun. Of course, you can now take your gun battles into cyberspace and let your own memories of the '90s run wild with other like-minded FPS vets, which makes things even more exciting than turning your family and friends into human Swiss cheese while sat on the living room floor in baggy, tucked-in shirts and jeans that come up to your pecs.
Whether you're playing with the Classic Controller or Wii-mote and Nunchuck (just make sure to configure your sensitivity preferences in the training mission), GoldenEye 007 is pick-up-and-play fun. The controls are limited and the gameplay straightforward, just like our beloved original, and all the better for it. If you're looking for an affectionately-made shooter that's easy to get into and a blast – pun intended – to play, pick up GoldenEye 007.
• GoldenEye 007 is also available in the GoldenEye Classic Edition (UK RRP £59.99), which is a copy of the game packaged with a gold-coloured Classic Controller Pro.