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The first question that pops in you mind... is this the best Bond game thus far? Oh yeah, baby. I had it preordered but didn't actually sit down to write this review because I wanted to honestly say that. It blends all of the Bond-esque moments seamlessly. The stealth I'm freaking James bond man action, The drive and shoot like your life depends on it cause it does. Shaken with the the I'm freaking James Bond man humor and gadgetry. It's like Splinter Cell got together with Spy hunter to slap the crap out of Nightfire. The graphics are great because they look like thier movie counterparst. The Bond girlies are always cute, although questionably rendered. Put it this way Shannon Elizabeth, Hedi Klum, and Maya, don't really have big ... finger nails. As far as style It reaks of BigGu...I mean Bond, James Bond. I mean even dying is stylish. The screen slows so you can see everything around you as color drains from your body as your life force is smitten. You even hear the last shot that kills you and the bastard saying something like "I got him". That's not all, even the Bad guys struggle to get a last shot off when you kill them, although none really ever do hit, they get close and make you sort of jump when you thought they were dead already.
Don't get me wrong Goldeneye will have that special place in everyone's heart. Mostly because even though this game is really good, THERE IS NO DEATH MATCH! I know, I was suprised too. I did unlock a few charaters like oddjob and some zulu guy that I haven't figured out what to do with yet so there is hope that it's an unlockable play mode. But so far the only thing close is the arena in which your character runs around shooting and setting off booby traps in a locked screen arena, almost like a Mario party version of Bond. What takes The death matches place is the 2 player Co-op mode which is really good. I think you get even more emotional when your teammate doesn't cover you or they alert the enemy of your presence than getting hit by a sniper rifle or rocket launcher from 100 yards. It's in some ways more satisfying to complete a mission as well because you have to work together to open doors, diffuse bombs, and stave off hundreds of armed gaurds.
I do have 2 gripes, one is the Arena mode, the second are the driving missions, they're fun but not much of a challenge I think. Even though you may be in say, a town with all sorts of roads, you still have only one way of getting from point A to point B. Other paths are either blocked off or run in circles you just don't notice it as much because you have to do it Fast while other vehicles are shooting at you. There is possibly a third gripe, you can't jump or climb stuff. Sure you can use your grappling hook to take a verticle wall like your just walking on ground. You can snipe or choke someone while making jokes. Roll around to dodge bullets, but you can't climb on top of a box? It just seems awkward cause theoretically if I could cimb this box and that other box next to it I'd have a better bead for the PP6, but I can't climb a freaking box? I'm James Freaking Bond Man!. Oh I can hide behind the box? Ok fine that might work. You also can't really fall off any ledge because your grappling hook automatically latches on so you can repel down. Which has saved my life more than once, but then again the bad guys can basically do anything you can do as well. These are more just observations than gripes though.
As far as gameplay I got to say this is an awesome game. The first level tricks you into thinking the game is easy. You still have the varying levels of difficulty, I'm still fond of the 00 Agent mode and the extra objective you need to complete to get Platinum status. But they also threw in these new Bond moments that sort of up the ante for using all of your skills, so expect allot of replay if you want the unlockables. I love the new targeting system, you can lock onto an enemy and then fine tune the bullet sized target with the right joystick for a precise hit. Although this is a pain in the arse when your trying to rappel down a wall or in a huge fire fight it's great for sneaking around and there's always a self gratification one recieves from a head shot, especially if you can aim up an almost impossible head shot from really far away with an AK-47. The bullet gets all matrixy and zooms into the enemy's head thrown back by the blast. Then your like whoa, I'm freaking James Bond man. Actually that's the best part of the game, cause you actually feel like Bond... James Bond.