Upon putting the disc in my 360, I was expecting to hear the familiar music of Goldeneye. Instead, I heard a James Bondsy soundtrack that was a little amped up. Reminded me of the theme to “Evil Genius”.
I started a new campaign, and selected not the easiest, but the second easiest difficulty. After all, I beat the original on the hardest level; how hard could it be?
I am greeted with a Call of Duty style tutorial. Grab a weapon and shoot some targets. No jumping right into the dam this time. It was your standard shooting range. Shoot the targets. Now aim and shoot them, showing the auto aim feature. A new addition was utilizing cover, and using the aim button to lean out of cover to shoot.
Vaulting, sprinting, ducking: they’ve made Goldeneye into COD:007. Not that this is necessarily a bad thing. I can’t play the old Goldeneye anymore with the old control scheme. Go back and try it; see what happens.
After the tutorial, I am greeted with a familiar mission: use the dam to infiltrate a weapons manufacturing facility with 006. Upon starting the mission, I see that the first little area has a layout almost exactly like the original. I am liking this so far. The graphics are great, and I feel like Bond.
As soon as I am past the tower, however, the experience changes drastically. I am not saying that I am upset; I just don’t feel nostalgic anymore. I get in the passenger seat of a truck, and there is a rail sequence. Obviously my driver is retarded, for he ran into a gas truck and killed us both. The screen filled with a familiar dripping of blood. Back to the last checkpoint…
At the end of the first level, I was happy to see that they added a parachute to Bond this time around. I always felt bad for him in the original, just jumping off the dam. Then the amazing happened. After being ambushed, he jumped without it anyway!
Roll opening credits. Parents be warned, the typical swimming silhouettes of women in the background that are a trademark of Bond are very detailed this time around.
In the beginning of the second level (facility, of course), I am greeted by a classic Goldeneye moment: crawling through the vents and killing a man using the toilet. The restroom is a lot dingier this time around, however. Looks more like a truck stop toilet.
The facility is nothing like I remember it. The father I get into this game, the less nostalgic I am becoming. After a few minutes into the level, I am bored. This is just another shooter with an old story. It doesn’t have anything to add, and it’s too far from the original to keep my interest. I feel a little let down.
All in all, the game isn’t bad at all. Graphics are great, sound is great. But I was expecting Goldeneye 007, and I got COD:007 instead.
*plays the sad trombone*
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