Decent enough game to play for a couple of hours and get to the end on like a lot of the other Bond games before and after, it isn't a masterpiece and I wouldn't call it a classic but it's a decent enough, "dumb fun for an afternoon" kind of game.
All though one hurdle you will need to get past are the controls, Agent Under Fire came out during the same time period as Halo CE and Red Faction so instead of left stick being up, down, and strafe left or right and right stick being camera control instead it's left stick is up and down, right and left on it moves the camera and right stick strafes left to right, while also having L1 and R1 being strafe left to right, I could've changed the controls on emulator but I chose to stuck with it since I have played games with unorthadox control schemes before, but if you can't stand games that don't have the universal control scheme of modern games and you aren't playing on emulator then it could be a big barrier for entry. I didn't mind World's Not Enough PS1's controls because I expect that out of a game on PS1 where Agent Under Fire is on a console where the controller has dual sticks, so this to me just feels more jarring.Other than that, it's typical hitscan shooter and by extension Bond game fare. The shooting mainly consist of you pointing a gun and shooting all the enemies and they die, I play on easy mode since I can take more damage and don't need to memorize every stage to get anywhere. There is some added variety as usual like car chases with machine guns and rockets, on rails shooting sections, stealth segments, a tank fight, boss fights with helicoptors and even some veritical level design with the Q-Claw and Q-Jet. All of these do a decent job at making the game not too monotonous since the shooting is pretty basic.
The visuals also look pretty nicely detailed for 2001, I'm only talking about this at all because these are the kinds of PS2 era visuals I have a soft spot for.
All though some issues outside of the controls is that the sound design for guns is just "okay" and enemy damage animations could feel a little more expressive since in these kinds of hitscan shooters, expressive death animations tend to be much of the heavy lifting for combat.
The story also feels half baked and lacking, it has it's charm but compared to other Bond games like say Everything or Nothing or even other Bond games like the Goldeneye remake or From Russia with Love, it feels like it's just kind of there compared to how dumb, over the top and goofy other Bond games tend to be. Q is a charming enough character with that said and the mission briefings give just enough context for gameplay.
One major innovation the game tried I felt was lacking was the more "open levels". The problem with these levels is that it feels "open" the same way Deus Ex Invisible War did where the game can feel very linear a lot of the time with maybe 1 or 2 branching paths that lead to the same outcome. Sometimes you can use the Q Claw or the Q Laser but much of the level progression will lead you back to the same areas. It's still a linear game with occasional branching paths. The stealth mechanics are pretty half baked as expected so good luck trying to do some geniune sneaking.
Overall, Agent Under Fire is yet another decent enough Bond game if you can get past the controls. The attempted innovations fall flat but the game's short length makes many of it's shortcomings mostly bearable. I doubt I can picture myself playing a longer game with these controls and shooting mechanics.
All though some issues outside of the controls is that the sound design for guns is just "okay" and enemy damage animations could feel a little more expressive since in these kinds of hitscan shooters, expressive death animations tend to be much of the heavy lifting for combat.
The story also feels half baked and lacking, it has it's charm but compared to other Bond games like say Everything or Nothing or even other Bond games like the Goldeneye remake or From Russia with Love, it feels like it's just kind of there compared to how dumb, over the top and goofy other Bond games tend to be. Q is a charming enough character with that said and the mission briefings give just enough context for gameplay.
One major innovation the game tried I felt was lacking was the more "open levels". The problem with these levels is that it feels "open" the same way Deus Ex Invisible War did where the game can feel very linear a lot of the time with maybe 1 or 2 branching paths that lead to the same outcome. Sometimes you can use the Q Claw or the Q Laser but much of the level progression will lead you back to the same areas. It's still a linear game with occasional branching paths. The stealth mechanics are pretty half baked as expected so good luck trying to do some geniune sneaking.
Overall, Agent Under Fire is yet another decent enough Bond game if you can get past the controls. The attempted innovations fall flat but the game's short length makes many of it's shortcomings mostly bearable. I doubt I can picture myself playing a longer game with these controls and shooting mechanics.
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