Today, Activision was kind enough to send me to San Francisco to get a sneak peek at their newest multiplatform FPS, GoldenEye 007: Reloaded. Most of you are probably already aware of the fact that this is, more or less, an updated version of last year’s Wii exclusive Goldeneye 007. While that was a great game, it did have its shortcomings. But as you might recall, its biggest problems were all mostly confined categorically to a couple of technical areas (visuals and online multiplayer, to be specific). Wisely, then, Reloaded aims its sights precisely at remedying those problems.
To clarify, that’s not to say that the Wii version of the game didn’t have excellent multiplayer, or that it wasn’t visually impressive. On the contrary; as I hailed in my review of the game from last November, this was actually some of the best multiplayer on the Wii, and the graphics routinely bumped up against the technical limits of the hardware. But again—as I also said—these limitations were primarily hardware- and infrastructure-imposed, and as such, in order to circumvent them, a move to other consoles would be necessary.
Someone at the start of the event asked who OddJob was. My reply: “You’ll know soon.”
While the Wii game was pretty, it still appeared invariably dated. Online multiplayer was a lot of fun, but it was simultaneously hampered by the bone-headedness of Friend Codes and host quitting that left all other participants without their earned XP. There was also the ever-present subject of hackers, cheating away the appeal of online competition.
Reloaded looks to change all of that. Today, we witnessed the magnitude of its migration to the more powerful consoles, and as you can probably judge from the few screens and video we’ve seen to date of the project, it makes a big difference right where it matters. Although it obviously hasn’t been receiving the same level of attention, with a modernized technical skinning and noteworthy refinements to the multiplayer framework, Reloaded will likely provide an authentic (albeit lighter-weight) alternative to the other big boys releasing this holiday season.
I’m still not sure where precisely to draw the line between sheer nostalgic daze and actual honest-to-goodness fun, but there’s something about this game that strikes a chord. I’m pretty certain it’s got something to do with the fact that the multiplayer straddles the line between modernized FPS gameplay and classic GoldenEye “fun first” philosophy. It’s never overcomplicated, and the action is very much reminiscent of the old fever we all remember from the N64 days. The split screen is also a lot of fun.
Word on the street is that the facility map might be getting expanded.
The new additions beyond the stunningly beautiful 60fps visuals are also substantial. As previously mentioned, the multiplayer infrastructure alone is already better. But in addition to those basics, plenty more has been added now as well:
-
Four new multiplayer levels:
-
Solar
-
Plant
-
Carrier
-
Peak
-
-
Selected expanded existing multiplayer levels
-
There was limited information available as to which levels were expanded and how, but Facility was mentioned as one of them. Considering it was one of the most disappointing maps in the Wii version, I’ll be excited to see what exactly has changed in the new one.
-
-
New multiplayer modes:
-
Bomb Defuse – Two teams compete to collect and plant a bomb in one of two designated locations. The team who successfully plants and defends it wins.
-
Escalation – A preset series of weapons is traversed, one after the next, with a successful kill using each one as the determining factor for progression. Should you happen to die twice, you’ll regress back to the previous weapon. The first to make it through the entire sequence of weapons and commit the final kill (incidentally, using melee only) wins the match.
-
Detonator Agent – A single player is equipped with a bomb with a 60 second fuse. To pass the bomb to the next player, the carrier must kill the player to whom he wishes to pass it. Essentially, it’s Hot Potato with guns and explosives.
-
Data Miner – Players compete to download a data file the quickest. Standings are determined by the player who has downloaded the highest percentage of the file at the end of the match. The rate of download is determined and increased by the elimination of competitors.
-
-
New Classic Character weapons (in addition to the existing Golden Gun and Oddjob’s Hats)
-
Hugo Drax’s Moonraker Laser Pistol
-
Rosa Klebb’s Pearl-Handed Beretta
-
Rosa Klebb’s Throwing Knives
-
Goldfinger’s Gold-Plated Revolver
-
Red Grant’s C96 Mauser
-
Dr. Kananga’s Shark Gun
-
-
New signature weapons (8 total) and 20 unique abilities in Classic Combat mode. The abilities are distributed uniquely to each of the Classic Characters, making each of them slightly different and specialized in certain areas. Some examples of these include:
-
Steel Teeth – According to the literature we were provided, Jaws has “high tensile steel dentures” (heh!) which deflect some bullets harmlessly and reduce headshot damage by 50%.
-
Shock Absorber – Weapon recoil and rattle reduced by 25%
-
Long Reach – Melee range increased by 1m (this sounds great)
-
Teflon Barrel – Maximum effective range of weapons increased by 5m
-
Rapid Recovery – Health regenerates 25% faster
-
Metal Arms – Arms invulnerable to bullets
-
Unflinching – Just as it says, the character won’t flinch upon taking damage
-
-
New Mi6 Ops Missions: These are Spec Ops style missions taking place in segments of the single-player campaign levels which also feature fully-customizable parameters, such as damage ratios, health, AI, and so on (though your score is adjusted accordingly).
There’s also a greater emphasis on stealth in the single-player, at least, according to one of the representatives who was on hand. But to be perfectly honest, I focused nearly all my time at the event on multiplayer, as it was—in my opinion—the real meat of the first game… and it’s likely to be the main draw here, too.
Dam that looks good.
As the event began, we were shuffled through a small hallway decorated with Bond paraphernalia toward a room filled with playable kiosks. As we entered, we were asked to view a short multiplayer trailer (below!). Apart from the obvious graphical improvements, nothing looked too different from the Wii game—which in some ways was good, but it hardly left the room in a fervor. So, following that, we dispersed, and I took hold of the nearest controller to gear up for a little play time.
What can I say? We had a blast. The first several matches I enjoyed were 16-player “online”, and it wasn’t long before our little press coverage event turned into a veritable trash-talking Bond party. We played on Peak (one of the new maps) in the new Escalator mode, which (as described above) essentially starts everyone with the same weapon and challenges them to kill with a preset sequence of guns to progress. It was a bit disorienting at first, but once we got the hang of it, Escalator was a lot of fun. You’ll be equipped with everything from an AK-47 to a Moonraker Laser Pistol and finally—at the final kill—even just your bare hands before it’s over with.
After a couple of matches in this mode, our next foray was straight up multiplayer on a variety of different levels. I began to lose count of just how many I actually played, but I can say with certainty that I only won one of them (which is sad?). I had a great time yelling at the developers after they wiped me out however.
Little did he know how much hell he’d later catch from the SOL crew.
The new maps all seem quite fun—though I’m not sure if I ever played Carrier throughout the course of the night (it may in fact have not been available for play). The other three are of the larger variety, but there are plenty of nooks and crannies in which to hide and tunnels to traverse. I have to say, out of everything, I think I had the most fun with Archives and a Shotgun loadout, where I absolutely cleaned house (scoring second and third most matches and first in a few others). This was always a popular selection amongst the Wii online crowd as well, and it was clear that the entire room enjoyed it here. I think we must have played eight or ten matches like this back to back.
I also participated in a few split-screen matches, all of which during I promptly got my ass handed to me. I’m pretty sure I don’t actually suck that badly—I was just playing with a few guys who were really good. That, plus we kept playing with guns and rulesets which weren’t my favorite.
Finally, I tried playing through some single-player using the PlayStation Move controller, but quickly grew disinterested. This surprised me, as I actually enjoyed gameplay with the Wii remote. The Move gameplay seemed laggier than that of the Wii, but it was likely a television setting issue I figure more than anything else (the Samsung they had on hand probably exhibited some sort of input lag). The biggest problem, however, was apparently that I had the Sensitivity set far too high. The next guy who stepped up to give it a whirl dialed it all the way back down and didn’t have so much trouble with the controls. Nevertheless, it was pretty much unanimous that dual-analog was the way to go.
Kickin’ it pre-internet style.
I did experience some isolated oddities while playing which I can fairly comfortably chalk up to fault of the beta build we were playing. There were a couple of situations where I was suddenly booted from a match and could not rejoin the party even after invited, and this eventually forced a hard reboot of all consoles. Gameplay-wise, I ran into some occasional weirdness, such as clipping issues at one point that, strangely, wouldn’t allow me to walk up a ramp (I just travelled right through it). The funniest of them all was the abundance of bizarre four-armed-looking opponents in multiplayer (some sort of character model bug) that prompted frequent quips about killing Goro.
With these wrinkles ironed out, however, it appears that GoldenEye 007: Reloaded is shaping up to be quite the fun-loving contender for multiplayer attention this holiday season. The inevitable elephant in the room during the event was the reality of game’s launch being completely overshadowed by the countless other big-name, big budget shooters launching this season alongside it (Modern Warfare 3, Battlefield 3, Resistance 3, et al), leaving a perfectly legitimate and unsettling question about where exactly Reloaded’s market is situated.
While the public may not see it this way unless some serious marketing is underway, I feel pretty safe in saying that it’s actually a different sort of experience from those titles. There was a particular breed of appeal that the Wii game had which was difficult to articulate in written form, but I’m quite sure it’s some sort of fusion of carefree competition and nostalgic appreciation.
Reloaded capitalizes on this strength and corrects nearly all of the problems which beleaguered its 480p precursor. It’s a game which, assuming it manages to take hold in the face the behemoths launching alongside it, is solid enough to become a serious mainstay of online FPS competition.
Stay tuned to DigitalChumps for our in-depth review of GoldenEye 007: Reloaded, coming very soon!
