Was it Good? - 007: Nightfire

a section of this video is sponsored by gamer Subs but which section exactly is a closely guarded MI6 secret this message will now self-destruct when I was a kid I loved two things video games and James Bond I thought he was the coolest guy ever7 the English super spy Licensed to Kill protecting Queen and Country from whichever vaguely Eastern European billionaire happened to have a stock of nukes this week I can vividly remember having two James Bond films on VHS tapes which for you Zoomers in the audience were like betamax tapes but worked better the films were golden eye and Tomorrow Never Dies featuring objectively the best Bond Pierce broen I watched those tapes until they wore out and then I said to my mom mother that is what I want to do with my life when I grow up and she looked back at me beaming with pride and asked you want to be a super Suave secret agent and I replied no Mom I want to be Pierce broen now you can't dmca and that has never changed I still want to be Pierce brosen in fact to be honest wanting to play James Bond was the entire reason I got into acting in the first place but then I discovered there's an old Hollywood curse where if you say you want to play James Bond you almost never do so after many years I've accepted my true place in the acting World which is to be the guy who turns up when you order Henry caval from wish but one day many years ago after kid me was worn out from running around the playground shouting shut the door there's a draft or pretending to throw Jonathan price into a newspaper press I went over to a mate's house and he had golden eye on the N64 and that was the first time my two loves video games and James Bond collided I don't need to tell you how influential golden eye for the N64 was it's still considered one of the most important video games ever one of the most important speed running games ever it is the Counterpoint example everyone points to when someone says all video games based on fil FMS are bad so I would never say a bad thing about Golden ey because I'm scared of KL jobs finding out all of my bouncer speeduns were faked but there are other James Bond games actually quite good James Bond games golden ey wasn't the first that was shaken not stirred back in 1982 then a few more including Live and Let Die the computer game in 1988 and James Bond The Duel in 1992 for the Mega Drive Golden Eye in 1997 was just the first game to see Incredible World dominant success and it was followed up one year later with Tomorrow Never Dies for the PlayStation which makes sense because that was the next film now they changed the formula slightly this was a third person shooter and it was received rather poorly so they tried again with the World is Not Enough back to first person but again middling to poor reviews and then they gave up and made a racing game which was even worse and now James Bond had three bad games in a row not a great place to be so then they stopped trying to adapt existing films and just wrote a new plot for a standalone game agent Under Fire and the reviews were mixed to good so maybe this was the way keep the films and the games separate so they gave it the all and tried again and in 2002 we got 007 NightFire a brand new if somewhat generic and predictable story Pierce brosam was back at least his likeness if not his voice and we got everything you'd expect from a bond game cars girls guns gadgets music a new intro song A reoccurring henchman mini boss we got to take down a helicopter with a minigun hidden inside a briefcase we even got a sponsorship with Phillips Shavers to tie into the upcoming film Die Another Day which was a bit weird but we'll get to that all in all we got everything which made bond Bond but am I being blinded by some sweet Cade Nostalgia goggles with little cameras and missiles in them or was NightFire actually decent to find out I've gone back and finished the game saved the day got the girl found the bond moves and yes of course replayed the Ski Hut multiplayer level with the Bots and the little helicopters all to answer the simple question 007 NightFire was it actually any good as usual a massive thank you to all the supporters on patreon and twitch who keep the channel alive more information on how you can join this list of exceptional agents at the end of the video for now pay attention 007 we're about to begin and begin the game does immediately because after booting it up you're thrown straight into the action with a shooting tutorial bond is hanging out of a helicopter flying low over the streets of Paris on New Year's Eve watching a high-speed car chase as some bad guys in Black sedans chase down our fellow agent French intelligence agent Dominique driving a red sports car classic over-the toop Bond the start is however mechanically quite jarring because I remember playing this as a kid and it was the first game I'd ever played where you're thrown straight into gameplay instead of having a main menu first quick note about this playthrough the game released on PC PS2 GameCube and Xbox and for this video I'll be playing the PlayStation 2 version because amazingly the console versions are actually better received than the PC version because they contain entire levels that are missing from the PC release so the intro helicopter level you've got extremely limited controls over the aim of the gun you can sway slightly but it will automatically snap your aim back to where it needs to be and then just prompt you when to pull the trigger you'll shoot out a tire and the enemy car explodes and rolls over it's less of a tutorial and more of an interactive cut little narrative background as the game doesn't make this clear we are working with Dominique to recover a stolen nuclear weapon currently being transported via truck through the streets of Paris Dominique drives up onto a construction yard so we shoot out a cable to drop a ramp down and some pre-rendered cut scenes and then our car shows up and of course it's a self-driving Aston Martin it even pops up onto two wheels to drive between some enemy cars and at this point I am grinning like a school girl because now we get to drive that car you see night is divided into three types of gameplay sections the firsters exploration shooting and bond levels letting you take out bad guys and do Bond moves which we'll look at later then the driving levels including your Aston Martin a jungle Jeep and later on the same Aston Martin but as an underwater submarine and finally the on Rails Shooting Gallery types where you're Manning the turret of a snowmobile or a small plane each section has strengths and weaknesses although it's strange that the opening tutorial starts as an on rail shooter then goes into driving but never actually contains any normal firstperson gameplay so we're chasing the bad guys you've got weapons of course in your car but you've also got Bond gadgets so we use a smoke screen to obscure the cars behind us and then an EMP to stop the enemy truck you can't choose to do this you have to but it's a nice touch because the game isn't all about Firepower so we saved the day get the girl champagne to the glow of New Year's Eve celebrations in Paris cue the opening song nearly civilized by es Theo and honestly it's an absolute Banger the music the lyrics and the visuals can't play you too much of it because of those pesky laws but go and give it a listen it is pretty good so we create a profile and start a new game and choose a difficulty we'll look at what that changes later 11 levels total but for now turns out some bad billionaire has stolen the guidance key to a nuclear weapon space station good evening 007 a redesigned piece of missile guidance Hardware intended for the orbiting us space weapons platform has been stolen NATO is a advised that recovery is critical should an unfriendly power reverse engineer this device the platform's global defense capabilities would be severely compromised recent intelligence implicates Raphael Drake in the theft hard to believe as Drake is a respected green industry list whose Phoenix International dismantles obsolete Atomic reactors and decommissions nuclear arsenals an Allied agent planted in Drake's organization reports that Alexander Mayu a British expatriate who heads Phoenix's Japanese branch is on route to Drake's Castle in Austria the stolen guidance device will change hands tonight during a formal gathering at the castle Drake security teams are hardened men as a dou agent you may have to answer aggression with aggression good luck Bond so nuclear weapons a castle a space missile platform a stolen guidance Chip and A sketchy philanthropist called Raphael Drake We Are firmly in the mid 2000s era of James Bond pretty simple Mission drop into Drake's private party held in his castle chatau steal the guidance chip back now you'll notice the voice acting and while the cast of bonds such as brosen did lend their image they didn't lend their voice bond is voiced by Maxwell coldfield renowned stage actor who also voiced Braum in the Aragon game now the first person levels are all pretty short often split down into smaller more focused sections but if you forget your objective the pause menu can give you hints on what you're meant to be doing now with short level s you can complete them very quickly but where's the replayability well that comes in the scoring system and the bond moves because night fight isn't about being fast but stylish you can absolutely just run in all guns blazing that's a totally viable if somewhat unbond likee strategy but if you do that you'll get a low score at the end of every level you'll see a score page showing your accuracy how you dealt with enemies if you were stealthy how much health you had left and a few more things but there are three things on this page which really matter the most if you want to get the most points the difficulty you're on your completion time and your bond moves when on easy you get no points boost medium or agent gets you double points and hard or double O agent gets you triple points now finishing a level quickly gives you a massive Point boost as well but what you really want to look for are the bond moves while the levels are short they're densely packed with alternative Roots sometimes having interactive scenery and different ways to deal with the enemies for example if you sneak behind an enemy with a silence weapon drawn you can make them surrender then knock them out with a single punch subduing an enemy non-lethally gets you far more points than killing them but if you do something particularly clever you'll score a bond move bonus complete with a little visual flourish and musical sting letting you know you've done well there are a few of these to find on every level let's take level one you can just run up the hill shooting your way up and get to the castle that's the first section all the level done that's a viable strategy but what if instead you wait for the delivery truck which is driving up the hill behind you wait for the truck to stall below the gate house and then drop into the truck from the gate house and then Crouch to stay hidden and get driven into the party that's a bond move and if you want maximum points on all the levels you'll want to find all of the bond moves finishing parts of levels actually can start you in a slightly different part of the next level depending on which Bond move you use to get there if you used one at all but that's not the only choice to get into the castle if you miss the truck and don't want to go in guns blazing you can creep around the side of the road drop down into the canyon then use your grapple phone Gadget to hook up onto the castle wall then sneak around the edge taking out the guards and run in that way that's also a bond move meaning you can't get all the moves in a single playthrough encouraging replayability note that that grapple phone is one of your gadgets and you can only use it in very specific places with very specific hook locations usually when you can a little prompt appears in the top right hand corner now the fun of using the grapple is often held back by how infrequently you can actually use it it would have been great to have far more places you could attempt this even if it doesn't necessarily give you a major advantage because as it stands you know that a grapple move is always a good choice often considered a bond move I would have liked the ability to use this in other nonessential places when you finish a level you get given your total score and if you do get a gold medal on a mission you'll unlock something else when you go and Replay that mission you'll now see these little spinning Bond tokens around the place each of them is worth several thousand points so collecting these might be the Boost you need when combined with Bond moves and Speedy gameplay to reach that magical 1 million points Platinum level completion scoring highly on levels unlocks things for both the single player game as we'll see later and the multiplayer sections like new weapons modes or characters while I'll try to find Bond MO moves as I go I won't be focusing on a 100% run at first because the game is about replayability it's literally designed to encourage you to do that it's a puzzle as much as a shooter and finding the perfect route that's half the fun that's why the levels are so short I also discover you can shoot out the flood lights pointing into the canyon and increase your stealth bonus which is cool so we take the truck sneak into the castle and now find the security room to let us inside and if you play NightFire like a straightup shooter you'll miss a load of the subtlety of being James Bond like how you can press select to put on your Shades and then switch between two visual modes green light night vision and blue light heat seeking while on Blue Light mode you can not only see Footprints from both the enemy and yourself but if you're close enough to a wall you can see the body heat signature of an enemy through the wall letting you know when to hide or when to jump out for a quick head shot and about head shot holding manual aim doesn't aim down the sights instead it does that Golden Eye Time Splitters thing of bringing up a Crosshair which is now more sensitive and you can guide it to the edge of the screen and turn slowly but be warned while manual aiming like this you can strafe left and right but you cannot move forward or backward so we've seen the phone grapple and the two-tone Shades but how about the iconic watch laser useless as a weapon but great at cutting wires or frying electrical circuits just don't cut the red wire because that will trigger the guards and they will kill you and you'll get the Lovely blood dripping down the screen death graphic thankfully replaying a level means restarting that specific section not the whole level and if you die a lot which you will you'll get very very good at speedr running certain sections you'll also find most guns have two firing modes pistols can be silenced or not but being silenced reduces the damage machine guns switch from burst to full auto with burst having less recoil modes are situational I'm trying to be stealthy to hide use the heat seeking glasses and the silenced pistol but the AI in this game is very very forgiving as long as you are crouching you can pretty much be in the path of a guard and they still won't see you cut all the wires in all the fuse boxes for another Bond move and then keep looking for this party another Gadget your lighter is actually a tiny camera used in very situational bits to document the enemy plans it does have another use though the camera can detect enemies through walls and track them with a little green box around them very similar to the blue glasses but using the camera means you're not using a gun so this is strictly worse the final gadget on this level is your car kit key which is actually a stun gun only really useful for sneaking up on enemies basically a last resort now I actually got lost on this level because you have no map or at least no map on your UI if you look around you can find a map poster on the wall of the Guard room which is a lovely touch in-game information to solve in-game problems memorize the route make it to the party while inside we can't use our guns but that's okay this is just my car key don't worry about it now if you were a kid like me and you had this game like me this is the level where let's be honest you spent far too long using the spy camera to take pictures of things I like to picture M sat back at MI6 headquarters watching these upload in real time and just burying her head in her hands and wondering why they always have to send James so we wander around and this absolute unit of a waiter just walks past me now I remember this moment because he's so damn big and this matters because he is an important character that will show up again later I love how his introduction is so unassuming and yet he ends up being so important I also love Bond uses the gadgets in the cutcenes cuz it nicely ties the cinematics and the gameplay together reach the pilot and spot Drake but he's not alone he's standing next to Dominique our old French intelligence friend so we rush to the library and find her it seems that she's actually posing as Drake's girlfriend in order to get close to him and help recover the missile guidance chip we also meet agent Nightshade a CIA agent it seems the guidance chip was originally an American invention of course agent Nightshade is an attractive woman in a red dress so we armor up and now we can shoot people not sure if I'm the world's greatest spy or these are the world's worst guards but we shoot our way through the conference room and Eaves drop on the meeting here it is Mr Drake the missile guidance module we stole from the Americans I trust this effort brings us one step closer to globalization you've saved our technicians considerable time Mayu can we accelerate the other NightFire elements as well absolutely sir we're well underway training assault teams for the get your hands off me we CAU hands a horve sir I was looking for The Powder Room this lock piix and the 9 mm hey it's a tough neighborhood if this security breach leads back to Japan it's your head May secure this in the safe room I doubt she's alone lock the castle down oh hey the Hench henchman is back so Drake has the chip agent Nightshade has been captured and we need to get out of here shoot our way out leap through the window and zipline on out of there we need to grab the briefcase and then leave but before we do make sure you use your watch laser to melt the pins holding the safe door and then grab the rocket launcher inside it'll come in handy soon with everything secure make your way to the cable car oh hey look it's agent Nightshade fantastic she escaped with the rocket launcher briefcase and agent Nightshade you can begin your Escape but not so fast because the Hench henchman is back and he's in a Hench helicopter but that's fine the rocket launcher we grabbed earlier is about to come in useful it has guided missiles so Dodge the incoming fire fly four missiles back into him and watch the helicopter crash down level complete but we're not out the woods yet literally the cable car crashes down and now we're in the Austrian Countryside and more cutcenes why do you always seem to end up on top uh a lower center of gravity [Music] [Music] that one's a nasty bit of business isn't it perfect oh Bond you little Scamp you just can't help yourself can you thankfully we find a heavily armed snowmobile Nightshade drives we shoot you've got missiles or machine gun mode take out the enemies chasing you on the other snowmobiles shoot the scenery to take out some guard towers explosive barrels or remove great covering tunnels blow up some bridges and helicopters and eventually even drive through a restaurant Short level but quite fun and we end up taking out another helicopter by crashing the snowmobile through it in slow motion looks like we're on foot from here where exactly is here James not far from my rendevu point was this car here the whole night perhaps but you looked like you needed the rest I don't recall getting much rest at all James [Music] drop to the extraction point we'll meet you there do hurry we are almost out of Austria just a short drive in the ason left now local police will chase you as you bomb through the street so use the smoke screen on them and do not hit civilians or you'll fail the mission airtime jumps here count as Bond move so it's a short but fun level you know for only having like three driving bits the driving in this game is way better than it has any right to be eventually reach the pickup point a frozen lake but we have a problem enemy snowmobiles and helicopters swarmers so now starts a timed Arena Battle and the timing is very tight drift around pick up missiles and take every enemy down now this is fun the AI is competent ammo is plentiful and the whole ice Lake Car battle is just straight from Die Another Day eventually we clear all the enemies and make it out of there now Drake may have the chip but his business partner Mayu may be willing to defect am I has been contacted by Alexander Mayu Raphael Drake's chief of Asian operations Mayu fears that Drake intends to kill him holding him responsible for their little setback in Austria in exchange for our protection Mayu will deliver evidence exposing Drake's master plan a code Nam NightFire a scheme that Mayu insists threatens Global Security the name's Bond James Bond mius son is expecting expecting you may you has one demand to be brought in by James Bond himself our informant awaits you at his Japanese estate ah Mr Bond at last this is Kiko Hayashi my body guard I assure you she's quite skilled no doubt the NightFire data make you we weren't expecting other guests please stay with Alex it's Drake quick we must get to the security bunker probably a good time to mention this game has 33 minutes of cutscenes that's basically onethird of a Bond film also remember Kiku The Bodyguard she'll be showing up again later so we break into mayhugh's compound and rescue him from the local guards who are still on Drake's payroll this level pushes the stealth bit but you don't really need to be you'll also notice your basic gun is now gold this is an Unstoppable upgrade from scoring highly in the previous level and makes it a bit more powerful you do however quickly find a magnum which is even better the first time I experienced this it was kind of immersion breaking a bit jarring to see a different colored gun I kind of wish you had the option to turn it on or off before each Mission starts you can use the security system to work out where the enemies are by looking through the cameras but as you've not explored the level yet and you don't have a map this information is somewhat useless because you don't know where these cameras are we then get this great cut scene of all the enemies aiming at a door and preparing to fire letting us know hey hey maybe don't go in there but that's okay we've got our special New Gadget a Phillips electric shaver even as a kid I remember this being really strange but basically Phillips had a promotion running at the time to tie in with the new film Die Another Day you put it down step back and then detonate it enemies flail around blinded but even kid me knew that this was just blatant product placement and it was really awkward thankfully adult me is beyond such corpor chilling it's this bid this is the sponsored bid use code Josh for 10% off gamer Subs if James Bond can do it so can I back to the video the bond moves on this Mission involves shooting enemies from the Shadows or finding hidden vents to crawl through we eventually reach Mayu but he won't leave until we've destroyed his computer and saved his staff so we sneak around and look for the servant girls being held at gunpoint if you hesitate too long after finding them or the shootout gets messy they will die and you'll need to start again but saving them gets you a kiss which I mean by now James Bond is just a walking guti Factory in true mid 2000 style we wipe the computer hard drive by shooting the monitor because that's how people thought computers worked back then we save some more girls take time off to go for a little swim in the decorative Pond and I love how you can shoot this fire extinguisher to distract the enemies and get the drop on them that's a lovely environmental touch staff saved now to locate mayhew's safe containing information on the NightFire project I like how accessing the roof and dropping into this Upper Floor is considered a bond move but the main benefit you get from doing it is just a better Vantage Point environmental rewards instead of items or guns so we grab the safe content and make it out of there unfortunately Mayu doesn't get far we're finished here Mayu let's go what about Kiko have you seen her she's a big girl I'm sure she can take care of herself wait here let's get moving this leads to a mini boss fight against the masked assassin no real mechanics here just shoot them a lot and grab the arm around the edge if you need it with Mayu dead we're going to need more information to discover exactly what project NightFire really is so we take mayu's credentials and go to break into Phoenix industries's tower Drake's nuclear decommissioning business if there's any incriminating evidence it should be in here somewhere adex say code key and password should get you into the Phoenix main frame but they'll have the whole building locked down by now anything can be penetrated with the proper tool while you've been hard at work7 so has Q Branch you will find several useful items have been added to your inventory tranquilizer darts for inconveniently placed guards silent and non-lethal a decrypter to hack computers keypads elevator controls etc etc and finally the Q worm Q there's a lady present plug this virus into one of the computer Terminals and the worm allows MI6 to monitor their systems please try to return these tools in usable condition but I sh hold my breath Q out James we need to hurry the guard chain shifts in 30 minutes [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] James go up to the lobby and then look for the main tower elevators night shift is the mission which rewards stealth the most and all of your gadgets come into play here the only issue I have is the game is still missing a few vital stealth systems local area maps or sound meters the ability to distract guards and alter the patrol routes or hide bodies after you've killed them now they always say you should critique a game for what it does have not what it doesn't however NightFire released into a post Metal Gear Solid world so I thought we'd have all understood how stealth sections need to work from now on you start with the tranquilizer gun a non-lethal weapon and as long as the guards don't raise the alarm you'll be okay now the whole building is protected by laser trip wires and you can only see these using the night vision Shades you can either find the laser controls and deactivate them or time your jumps to avoid triggering the lasers again I love how the map of the level while not being a UI element is an in-game asset you can just look at and memorize we need to install the Q worm on a main PC terminal to access the NightFire files and I've used up all of my Tran darts so I'm back to good old punching guards in the face we need to break into some code locked doors and you can either find the online pc terminals which contain codes or use your decoder Gadget which takes time but always works and does not set off the alarms just take note your decoder is a flip phone showing this game's true age this was cutting Age Technology back in 2002 this game released the same year as morrowwind wasn't super smooth but we do make it through the first few floors unfortunately a helicopter flyby lets us know French double agent Dominique is here which likely means so is Drake climbing the outside of the building to get higher is very cool and gives us more chances to use the grapple to get into more vents for more Bond moves and remember this because we'll be back here soon stick the Q worm onto Drake's PC and then run this does lead to a very unfair section where you literally start on a roof being shot at by a load of guards and a helicopter meaning you'll die super fast if you don't move thankfully you don't need to actually kill any of them you just need to jump off the edge of the building Landing in true Bond style on a sports car full of attractive [Music] women sorry to drop in like this but would you ladies mind giving me a [Music] ride so what did the Q worm discover we've decrypted the NightFire files you secured last night7 they contain rather troubling data concerning a shut shut down nuclear power plant not far from Tokyo Phoenix Corporation has been contracted to cleanse the plant of radioactive material we now suspect that massive amounts of construction have been secretly carried out inside the towers your mission is to infiltrate the plant and find out what Drake is hiding of course dismantling a nuclear reactor is an incredibly delicate operation and dangerous as well yes that is why we've invested in robot technology like those forklifts insane expensive but keeping our people safe is important and when our work is done the beaches here will be clean enough for our children to swim and their grandfathers to fish thank you Mr Drake I appreciate the exclusive interview and so do I interview is over Mr Rook all snipers back in position why did does everyone in this game sound so godamn sexy Okay so we've had the stealth level now it's time for the Sniper level the largest open space the best sight lines and Scenic obstructions sneak through the power plant exterior take pictures of whatever Drake is Building inside and then get out in a lovely touch you can actually hear the enemy snipers talking to each other on radio chatter about where they think James is and this is great as you know which areas they're currently watching I also love the visual Touch of having a green flashing exit light over the end of level door subtle but noticeable flourish to guide the player and Oh look The Hench henchman is back he just straight up will not die you've got a few more grapple opportunities here but once high up make absolutely sure that you take out all of the enemy snipers because you cannot survive the Rope shimmy bit if any of them are still alive activate the crane which makes it swing around and then run along the beam and drop into the building shoot our way through and find a super Advanced Space Age laser gun you can use this as a turret to hold back the waves of enemies and then you need to use a sustained laser blast from the gun to melt the blast doors on the other side of the room this is a great combination of shooting mechanics and exploration mechanics just make sure you take a picture of this gun before you leave to let MI6 know hey Drake is making super op Space Age Weaponry that might be an issue so it turns out the decommissioned power plant is actually a training ground for some kind of militarized space force and Drake has plans to invade the orbital space platform with the information gathered we turn around and leave and then we bump into Kiku mayu's bodyguard and it turns out who could have seen this coming she's evil I'd ask you to join us Mr Bond but why waste caviar on a man who won't live long enough to enjoy it give mine to Kiko she's earned it don't take it personally women have an advantage you see they can blind us with love but that's why we have other eyes to watch them like the hidden camera in the stairwell leading to the helipad I don't understand aael please don't insult me further it's a Pity I fell quite hard for you and now it's time you did the same for me goodbye Dominique use the helipad and take care of the body no it's futile Mr Bond you've seen too much of my operation to live but I wanted you to enjoy this moment first [Music] [Music] so we're back at Phoenix Towers Dominique is dead and we need to escape fast remember the vent above the elevator from the previous visit here well it's still usable and still a bond move and that gets us into the room with some better Weaponry early and I love this touch because it's rewarding the player acting on previous knowledge now Dominique dying is actually something that Bond fans would have expected because of a very strange rule originally written down by R Dar the author who wrote You Only Live Twice he explained he was told there were three Bond girls in any film and while they're all attracted to bond the first starts as an ally but will get killed shortly into the film usually dying in Bond's arms or close to bond in a way that he'll blame himself for the second is always a bad guy and will either be seduced or flirted with heavily and then defeated in an over-the-top gory way and the third girl is an ally who survives until the end but will not flirt with James until the mission has completed she is the girl that you get when you finish the mission and save the world knowing this formula we can guess that Kiku is the evil Bond girl leaving a third yet to appear let's see if this game sticks to the formula all we have to do is escape but without our decod we do actually need to hunt down some PCS with codes on them for certain doors then when we're in the stairwell enemies will repel down the central shaft wire and shoot you and that is one of the most cinematic moments in the game you can really picture this being a Bond film we even find a new Gadget the Phoenix Ronin a briefcase which converts into a remote control Minun turret and oh God I guess Drake had another helicopter ready to go now you don't need to take down this helicopter indeed standing toe-to-toe with it with any kind of gun is a bad idea because it will kill you but but if you don't kill it you'll be peppered with missiles whenever you're in any room with a window so the best case scenario slap that minigun briefcase down hide somewhere use the remote and get to shooting the helicopter is an absolute damage sponge but killing it does count as a bond move use a delayed grenade launcher to take out some enemies around a corner and then I need to break into the security room and reactivate the elevators but I cannot for the life of me find which PC has the code for the security room I know one of them does but I'm getting turned around on myself and a bit lost the pause hint menu however says if you can't find it you can just shoot your way in so I throw a grenade at the glass and yeah that works that's choice I love it into the elevator but then the enemies start dropping timed charges down the shaft so now it's a mad rush of not only shooting the enemies but also using your watch laser to scramble and disable the dropped satchel charges before they explode stacking mechanics I love it reach the lobby don't bother trying to find everyone just run and thankfully before we get outside we're saved by yet another car being driven by yet another beautiful woman need a live Mr Bond Aura Mall Australian intelligence un loan to [Music] MI6 Cube branch has been monitoring the tower security systems through the warm we planted they saw you in a bit of a spot so here I am that is Aura mcll another agent working for another agency Bond girl number three the formula was right so how does Drake plan on getting his private military to space well you did well at Drake's training facility 007 we agree that the Rockets to launch these astronauts into space are most likely harbored at Drake's missile disassembly works in the South Pacific although un inspectors have given the island their seal of approval perhaps your unofficial visit will reveal more agent MCO will provide backup the Vanquish should provide the most discreet approach to Drake's Island agent MCO if you please we're driving there precisely time for James and allora to invade Drake's Private Island together thankfully our Aston Martin is also amphibious so this is a kind of stealth underwater level the controls in 3D space are actually remarkably easy to use the car drives great it's responsive and the graphics are fine so we dive down into the underwater tunnels firing your guided missiles and guiding them into the power boxes of the laser grids blocking your way to deactivate them avoiding all the enemy submarines as you go the first two Bond moves on this level are pretty simple just engage enemies from a distance blowing up fuel tanks as you find them remember the PC version had none of these levels which is a real shame eventually we reach a large open Cavern and discover Drake's plan gets a bit worse his little Charity which decommissions nuclear arsenals hasn't actually been decommissioning anything but instead stockpiling them he's got nuclear missiles and submarines under his control so in this room we take out the enemy Patrol sub plant explosive charges on the docking arms of all of the subs and blow his little Fleet up then we drive on up and out the water making sure to park the car somewhere out the way there's never valet parking when you need it most steal one of Drake's armored jeeps and drive into the island base now the driving levels are all mostly linear you've got very small areas of Freedom though like here you need to smash into a smaller part part of the compound and download the security codes to access the rest of the island but just hang on there they don't know you're a spy so just drive nicely and the gates will open for you letting you download the codes in safety it's even a bond move to do this while driving you have to shoot the other cars and then the incredibly powerful Sentinel defense turrets best taken out with missiles from a distance got to say I love the whole vibe of this level hidden routes a cinematic jump in front of a Scenic waterfall but then for some reason a mini boss fight against a turret in a circular Arena the only real way to win is have full health and just shoot it while tanking the damage after taking the turret down we hijack one of the smaller Island plays allora flies and we shoot another on rail section take down the enemy planes and more Sentinel turrets as they pop up the difficulty here is health is carried over from the previous section and the Jeep Sentinel fight always ends with you on low Health thankfully if you do die you can restart just this section on half Health the plane section is pretty simple you can't speed it up just shoot down other planes and then eventually you get shot down by this rail Cannon but that's okay because the next part of the level you've taken over the rail Cannon and are now using it to defend this area switching between the main gun to take out the tanks and the smaller laser guns to take out the strafing enemy planes basically this whole level is driving a car Manning the gun of a plane and then controlling a turret and when everything is dead we sneak into Drake's base proper arara hangs back on the radio and James sneaks inside back to stealth mode we now have a crossbow I'm not complaining it's one of the best weapons SC scoped silent and deadly the grapple comes in even more useful here cuz finally you have Choice air vents you can crawl through we're tasked with following Kiku The Bodyguard and told to be stealthy but that goes out the window pretty quickly because we're doing this the broen way he didn't drive a tank over a wall standing up out the hatch just for us to be seen hiding in the shadows this bond is to be seen red or green circuit board I'll guess with green ah fantastic my MI6 training paid off it's good to know that bad guys follow the big book of color coding your security system correctly in a really nice touch Alara is now on the radio telling you which Corridor Kiku is in and the corridors are numbered so chase her down and reach the main security room this is the part in a Bond film where James decides right the best thing to do here is just blow everything up so we laser every security override and blow up the Central Computer then we go to escape but guess who's back it's Hench henchman he's still alive and sporting a nice Scar from that helicopter crash earlier remember in true Bond style the expensive henchmen don't die until they have a death worthy of them thankfully we've found a new weapon the as 20 a Sci-Fi machine gun with the alternate fire mode being a grenade launcher so now a battle against Rook that's Hench henchman's name we snipe him with a few grenades and finally take him down and doing so gets you his space laser weapon fantastic with the laser weapon we go to escape the complex this means running through the missile Baye making sure to avoid the enemy trip mines as we do you can see the red laser triggers shining out of them you can even use the laser gun to detonate them early and do pay attention because look at this cheeky little bomb placement normally you wouldn't see this until it was too late lovely use of scenery and objects to hide dangers we push through and the difficulty Spike here is rather intense eventually we reach the final room a large open hanger with a small water pool in the middle take out the guards open the door and jump from the balcony like a super spy wood and just in case you haven't been paying attention to the plot the bad guy gives a complete evil monologue over the radio explaining the entire plot so operation NightFire is arming the orbital space platform with nuclear weapons and then running the entire planet as a corporation with a board of directors instead of sovereign nations with Drake of course at the top of this Global Corporation standard evil billionaire stuff so now we must attempt to stop the shuttles transporting the soldiers and some of the nukes to space however Kiko Catches Us unaware and drops the access Bridge we're standing on sending us falling into the launch bay below and we have just seconds to find the single open launch control room and hide from the shuttle's Flaming exhaust or get burned to a crisp and if you do survive the first launch when the doors open up again you must defeat the wave of Assassins which are now somehow in the pit with you this bit reminds me of that bit in siphon filter where you have seconds to jump into the safe room to hide from a shuttle launch this leads to an AA Mini boss battle against multiple assassins and ninjas and more goons hiding in more Rooms To Survive even more shuttle launches and when everyone is dead we return to chasing Kiku she rides the lift up and we repel on after in the cutscene and then she runs to board a shuttle just like we did and we have a a few seconds to make it to the bridge controls and in a lovely bit of karmic Justice do the same thing to her that she did to us Dr drop the bridge Gantry sending her plummeting down below but unfortunately she can't make it to the safe room in time and gets Fried by the shuttle launch exhaust a death worthy of a named henchman with Drake's private military already in space and the orbital platform likely already armed with nukes bond does the most Bond thing he can think of slap on a space suit and go deal with the station and Drake personally James I'm still patched into Drake's com system I've intercepted enough radio chatter to learn that Drake's combat troops have overtaken the defense platform some of the original crew might still be alive but I can't confirm that I can tell you the Dres deployed a laser Defense Net which draws power from the platform's core rather enjoyed your company James do be careful call out you're on a Fool's errand Mr Bond I've just locked the lodge sequence nothing can stop operation NightFire not even my own death that's a theory I mean to test you've already failed miserably but Tinker with my missiles if you must make a splendid Target for my laser cannons this starts the final level Equinox half 3D free movement Shooting Gallery half timed puzzle you've got to use the laser the gun's main fire mode a recharging weak beam to keep enemy astronauts away now orienting yourself in a full 3d environment can be a little bit confusing and slightly nauseating until you get used to it three shots will send enemy astronauts floating off into the void but while dealing with them the missiles begin to arm themselves to shoot back at the Earth you can't destroy the missiles directly but as they arm you can shoot the coupling connector that reveals itself to disable the missile and send it off course this can be challenging as the final step multiple missile will launch at once and you need to get the timing pretty damn tight to shoot all of the coupling connectors with the missiles all dealt with Drake himself attacks you so switch to the laser gun's secondary fire a single overcharged shot charge up the weapon and blast him into the depths of space with project NightFire thwarted rush back to the orbital station and take the only Escape pod back to Earth Landing incredibly back exactly where you parked the Aston Martin shaken not stirred or is it stirred not shaken definitely starred astronomers from around the globe reporting unexpected meteor showers well done 007 then I'm sure the world won't mind my taking a few days off we'll let the autopilot be our designated driver [Music] oh [Music] James cue the credits and the theme song and that is NightFire now it's time to go back and find all the bond moves and bond tokens you miss to hit platinum on every level and unlock all the upgrades for the multiplayer So speaking of the multiplayer let's play some because this game has Bots computer controlled enemies and various modes Capture the Flag assassinate King of the Hill and the included maps are pretty decent but of course there's one map which stands Head and Shoulders Above the Rest the sky rail a ski slope with a base at the top and bottom of the mountain and a connecting cable car between the two with hidden Mountain paths around the side this map feels like a combination of facing worlds from Unreal Tournament and Blood Gulch from Halo 1 a game which released I will remind you one year prior the multiplayer maps also have grapple points allowing you to zip around the level and remote control vehicles like the little tanks or the helicopters with missiles on them great for just kamazing straight into your mates honestly the multiplayer was actually pretty damn good especially with split screen and that is NightFire a solid and enjoyable if somewhat short and predictable main story with built-in score system to encourage replayability and very satisfying multiplayer mode with simple but enjoyable Maps weapons and modes and now we've replayed it all we can ask the simple question was it actually any good NightFire exists in this strange kind of quality limbo where yes it is a good game it didn't do anything majorly wrong but it also didn't do anything well enough to be considered an all-time great or to change the formula or reshape the genre it was perfectly competent in the short experience it wanted to be it's one of those games where giving it six out of 10 feels unfair but giving it seven feels like a little too much praise so it exists as a sort of honorary seven we accept the game was good but it didn't do enough to push into great the gadgets were fun but used so in fre ly and under such rigid limitations it never really felt like I was choosing to use them it was the now use the gadget bit which I was always instructed to do the bond move system was excellent and feels like it could really evolve into something much more fleshed out and the variety of levels from Shooting Gallery stealth driving turret underwater you've definitely got a lot going but the fact they were all separated by long loading screens means it often feels like you're playing three different but still good if not connected games and if you think I'm being harsh on this game because it released back in 2002 remember that Halo Combat Evolved released one year earlier bringing with it a big open world Vehicles snipers stealth actually genuinely changing the genre and then time Splitters 2 released the same year with an incredible multiplayer experience a level editor a longer single player campaign across multiple timelines NightFire is a good James Bond game within the roster of James Bond games but against its gaming contemporaries for the time it was an above average but not brilliant gaming experience but like golden eye Tomorrow Never Dies or Die Another Day the over-the-top action the quintessential Bond attitude and the enjoyable set pieces definitely make NightFire a game worth replaying even if only for a night so to end the review I will award NightFire 007 are you paying attention where are you going you best not be getting into that sports car with that other woman James bring that laser gun back J don't you drive into that Lake out of 10 cheers for watching another massive thank you to all the supporters on patreon and twitch who keep the channel alive you can support from only1 pound a month check the video description for links to the patreon twitch Twitter and our Discord and as always 007 have a great day

Channel: Josh Strife Plays

Views: 403,142

Keywords: classic gaming, retro games, older games, retro review, gaming reviews, nostalgic gaming, nostalgia games, playstation 1, playstation 2, n64, dreamcast, classic rpg

Id: lLrK_9i6WMU

Length: 48min 46sec (2926 seconds)

Published: Fri May 03 2024