CHICAGO – When two brothers confront the sins of each other and it expands into a psychology of an entire race, it’s at a stage play found in Chicago’s Invictus Theatre Company production of “Topdog/Underdog,” now at their new home at the Windy City Playhouse through March 31st, 2024. Click TD/UD for tickets/info.
Video Game Review: Updated ‘Goldeneye 007’ For Nintendo Wii Misfires
CHICAGO – Most of us who are old enough to have spent many of our formative hours playing “Goldeneye 64” often point to the title as one of the most memorable shooting games in history. Personally, I spent much of the time I should have been studying in college massacring my friends on the legendary Nintendo 64 game. Like most people of my age group, I was completely psyched for the 2010 reboot of the timeless game. It just makes my disappointment all the more painful.
Video Game Rating: 2.5/5.0 |
Let’s get this out of the way first — games that require quick hand-eye coordination like fast-paced shooters were not designed for the Wii-mote & nunchuk control system. As much as I wanted to make it work and as accomplished as some Nintendo Wii shooting games have been (“Resident Evil 4,” “The Conduit,” rail games like “House of the Dead: Overkill” and “Dead Space: Extraction”), the foundation of “Goldeneye 007” is deeply-flawed. The game tries to replicate the fast pace of PS3 or Xbox 360 games but when you’re constantly trying to find your bearings and merge movement with the control stick with the direction you’re aiming with the Wii-mote, it can ruin your good times. You’ll quickly move to the Classic Controller or go buy one if you don’t have one already.
Goldeneye 007
Photo credit: Nintendo
Once you figure out the best way to control the damn game, it’s a recapturing of the joy of the original experience, right? Well, not really. The story and level design have been understandably recrafted for a new era, including Daniel Craig replacing Pierce Brosnan as 007, which is not that big of a problem, but most of the alterations in storytelling fall flat. Perhaps the best example would be that Tina Turner’s theme song has been redone by Nicole Scherzinger of The Pussycat Dolls. That about says it all. Even Scherzinger would probably admit she’s a downgrade from one of the most legendary programs of all time. And it’s a problem when every element that feels new feels like a step down.
Perhaps the biggest problem with “Goldeneye 007” is how far shooters have come since the original title. Playing the old N64 game as it was originally released would allow for retro forgiveness of its flaws but “Goldeneye 007” wants to compete with modern shooters and everything here has been done better not just before but recently. The level design is generic and the enemy A.I. is horrendous, even for Wii. The graphics are sub-par and the levels simply blur into each other after awhile. The splitscreen available for local multiplayer looks particularly horrific. Visually, the blurry title looks practically incomplete at times.
Of course, no one really remembers the single-player campaign of “Goldeneye” as much as they do the endless multiplayer bouts and if there’s a redeeming quality of “Goldeneye 007” it’s once again in that section of the title. Playing locally is almost impossible unless you have a 70-inch TV as the split screen is ineffective but the online multiplayer is effective, especially when compared to other Wii games. This console was simply not designed for multiplayer shooter games, so it works with that in mind. It’s not going to replace “Call of Duty: Black Ops,” but the square peg fits relatively well in the round hole.
There’s a chance that our expectations could have never been met by a 2010 Wii version of “Goldeneye.” Times have changed, gamers have adapted, and we expect more from shooters than we did in 1995. The classic “Doom” has made its way to XBLA and perhaps that was the route for “Goldeneye” that would have worked better because this version feels like not a reboot or a restart but that other dreaded “re-” word — remake.
By BRIAN TALLERICO |
Awful review. You wrote this
Awful review. You wrote this like a shopping list. If you’re going to say things are ‘subpar’, at least explain why.
Pretty Weak Review
The game is not as bad as this author makes it out to be. True it’s on the Wii, but the multiplayer game is actually very good. They will never capture the magic of the original Golden Eye, but this one has fun trying.
Yeah you sit there, and
Yeah you sit there, and thrash a successful game’s name. which in fact you fail to mention that this single game, outsold the more High Def counterparts. Activision even game the High Def developers a three month warning, because, of how low their sells were.
http://www.gamespot.com/ds/action/jamesbondbloodstone/news.html?sid=6284119
(position)39
James Bond 007: Blood Stone (X360)
Activision
(total)
0.04 0.00 0.03 0.07
(position) 37
James Bond 007: Blood Stone (PS3)
Activision
(total)
0.03 0.00 0.05 0.08
(position) 25
GoldenEye 007 (Wii)
Activision
(total)
0.18 0.00 0.12 0.30
(non of these sells have been updated for a while)
sells are in Millions
Your report is biased, and before you start bashing a games rep, without even being able to support anything you say, you need to do your research. No the game isn’t a remake or anything of that standard, it’s a re-vamped game. and the reason it’s not on 360 is because Microsoft doesn’t own the game.
Just adding the url to where
Just adding the url to where I got the sells.
http://www.vgchartz.com/worldtotals.php?name=007&publisher=&console=&gen…
Soul sellout
Another mouth fed by Microsoft. Sold your soul for riches. Golden eye belongs on nintendo not xbla or psn network. Nintendo all the way baby the climb begins again, in Jesus’s name I come against the devils controlling Microsoft.
Controls
You complain about the controls, but there is a reason that the game was sold with a Classic Plus controller. That is what it is meant to be played with and it is fantastic with this controller. The Wiimote and Gamecube controller support are both just icing on the cake.
Reviewer Cannot Use Wii Remote - Move On
It is clear from reading this article that the reviewer didn’t even know how to use the Wii Remote, an indication that he primarily plays on XBox360 or PS3.
For Wii players, the Wii Remote is THE best way to play FPS’s and is the default choice for the system. Please HollywoodChicago, have Wii players review Wii games. Players from other systems who can’t even use the controls are bound to give biased and ill-informed reviews.
The game rocks perhaps you
The game rocks perhaps you don’t have the hand to eye co-ordination to aim properly you Micro$oft/$ony cock sucker! X
Nope
I disagree. Completely. That’s all I can say.
The Wiimote controls work perfectly
I rented this game last week eager to get my hands on the latest shooter for Wii. IGN hailed it as the best FPS on the Wii, an honor they had previously bestowed upon The Conduit. While I thoroughly enjoyed Conduit’s online multiplayer, I was left disappointed with the fairly bland campaign. Fortunately, Goldeneye exceeded every single one of my expectations. The campaign is engaging and action packed. The map designs are colorful and varied. It’s the prettiest Wii FPS by far. The voice work is top-notch and the music is pure Bond. The multiplayer is a total blast with plenty of different modes. I’ve played using the classic controller and the Wiimote and I greatly prefer the latter. Using the pointer allows for much quicker targeting and greater precision. My friends like the classic controller more, but I best them in multiplayer 90% of the time. If Mr. Tallerico ever gives this one another shot, I suggest he set the aim assist to ‘ON’. Although, I never needed it.