Agent 64: Spies Never Die

Great game that scratches that Goldeneye 007/Perfect Dark/Timesplitters itch I have had for a long time now. You start as a 30 year old boomer and immediately shoot the non-government agents that broke into your uptown condo while you were playing a console from 30 years ago. I immediately felt relief when my character auto aimed at the dude and smoked him as he rolled to dodge my shots. To my surprise, the enemies in this game tend to shoot off target and then line up their aim as they are shooting, which is double edged as it means you have time to evade their attack, but at the same time, they can also pre-fire that attack and land the actual damaging shot while you are trying to evade or if you happen to be partially exposed. This is probably the biggest thing about this game you will have to take into account, which will make and break some of your runs. This game will telegraph where objectives are on the map that you need to go to, there aren't many dead ends or useless rooms, you can't get lost. On Agent, the enemies are a pushover and you get armor easily, so use this difficulty to get used to the enemy positions, find secrets, and speed run the level. There are less objectives, but the game doesn't present the player with the higher difficulties as optional, like in golden eye or perfect dark, so you have to go in Agent 64 difficulty somewhat more blind. Agent mode only gives 1 cypher point when you beat the level, which can lock you out of later missions, but at least it incentivizes the player to try higher difficulties instead of taking the easy way out. On Secret agent, its basically like Agent 64, but you get armor more often, and some missions get some more objectives then Agent. I would recommend before Agent 64. On Agent 64, the enemies will actually change shot patterns and if you don't predict or stun them with a few shots, they are gonna do a horizontal sweep and hit you if you evade the wrong way, which gets annoying. There are more objectives and some of them require observing the map, collecting key items, or defending your partner from enemy assault. The forced escort missions aren't painful but if you aren't proactively killing enemies, they can quickly kill your VIP and thats a restart. Another gripe I have with Agent 64 mode is the fact that it doesn't give you the maximum amount of cypher points for playing only the highest difficulty, you have to play the lower difficulties in order to get the remaining 3 which is annoying, but whatever. The enemies come packing with smgs, rifles, and shotguns, with stronger ones using magnums, shotguns, and pistols. There are some exotic weapons, but the bazooka is kind of cornered off to boss fights only which is somewhat of a letdown, also there are no dual weld weapons by default (I don't think I unlocked the modifier or something, it would be a fun addition otherwise). The weapons also lack variety, aside from the smgs having the TMP and the Thompson, the other gun types only have one kind of weapon to them, with some of the earlier levels just being your starter pistol and one smg. Some more thematic weapons and enemy variety would definitely spice up the different levels, but the game so far is good. This game has a great soundtrack and map design, every place feels unique and the lighting and darkness makes locations really stand out. Alot of maps will give me that hint of nostalgia for Goldeneye and Perfect Dark, but I also felt some The World is not Enough, Timesplitters, Nightfire, Doom, and Halo in its design as well. The soundtrack will start ramping up in intensity based on the action on screen and ramps down when you defeat the enemies in the area, its a nice touch. The story I thought was cliche, but it actually made sense and had me smile at the end. The arena is the game's frosting, beat the campaign, do some challenge modes, then turn your arena into a wacky silly fest with modifiers. I can easily sit in that for hours, but if the dev adds more weapons, it would definitely be even more fun. I haven't tried the online, I figure its whatever.