Goldeneye 007 Review (9/10)

James Bond hasn't exactly had an illustrious history with video gaming- his recent 360/PS3 instalment Blood Stone (4.5/10) not faring any better- except for one title: Goldeneye. Released for the Nintendo 64 in 1997, this first-person-shooter revolutionised the way gamers thought about the way they played, and now the Nintendo Wii remake actually manages to capture most of the innovation and originality that made such a feat possible. Thankfully developer Eurocom didn't simply make a straight port with the at-the-time current Bond Pierce Brosnan, instead focusing on the now-current incarnation portrayed by Daniel Craig and overhauling the plot of the original film. Considering the original Goldeneye had such a strong storyline, it was a risky move, yet it's accomplished perfectly here, gripping and emotional and pure Bond to the last. Game-play wise, meanwhile, this is a big leap forward from everything that has come before on consoles for Agent 007, featuring clever AI and very few frame-rate dips, not to mention a surprise at every turn for the player (something rarely found in the Call of Dutys and Medal of Honours of recent times). As much as I'd like to say Goldeneye 007 for Wii is the perfect shooter, though, there are a couple of missteps more irritating than a dry Martini that is neither shaken nor stirred: ever so occasionally the AI movements become somewhat predictable and worse still the visuals can drop to truly sub-par levels even for the Wii. Despite those flaws, though, this is easily the best James Bond video game I have ever played, mastering what the original did so elegantly and breathing new life into the FPS genre. Now all that remains is to see whether anything can top it in 2011!