Agent 64: Spies Never Die

Agent 64: Spies Never Die is a type of shooter unfortunately not seen much anymore. Based on console shooters from the ancient era that is the late 90's and early 2000's such as GoldenEye and Perfect Dark (I feel obligated to mention TimeSplitters, too, but I've not played it yet so I don't think it's fair to compare them for this review), Agent 64 makes no attempt to hide its inspiration. The controls feel slightly floatier that GE and PD, for lack of a better word, but still really good. Your crosshair isn't centred (as it should be) and you come to a stop to for precise shots. Whilst aiming, you can move sideways like when using two controllers in the N64 games, albeit much slower. Gone is the leaning us single controller players adored so much. You also can't crouch, and I found myself attempting to crouch for cover on more than one occassion. The game feels a bit slower, but that's likely due to my hundreds of hours in GE and PD making moving diagonally muscle memory. In GE and PD, you could move the square root of two times faster by walking diagonally, but that isn't in Agent 64. I still mostly moved diagonally despite this, as I'm just so used to moving like that. I played with a Switch 2 Pro Controller with no auto aim or motion controls, and it felt lovely. I found playing with a keyboard and mouse very weird, but the option is there for those who prefer that. One issue I had was that you couldn't switch weapons backwards with a controller by pressing the fire button at the same time, but this has since been added. The game uses too many buttons to actually be played with an N64 controller, which seems like an oversight. Hopefully, an option to use only two face buttons will be added in the future. Also, I can't be the only one who finds it funny that the key used the swap gadgets is Q, right? The main campaign is very fun and it feels just like GoldenEye. This isn't like your PC "boomer shooters" such as Doom or Quake; you're a secret agent going about stealthily disposing of guards and completing objectives. There are three difficulties: Agent, Special Agent and 64 Agent, and the amount of damage you take increases alongside there being more objectives to complete. This means you can play the game thrice and have a very different experience each time. On Agent, the mission may be as simple as going to the exit and killing any baddies along the way, Special Agent ups the challenge a bit and gives a few more things to do, and 64 Agent will give you no mercy if you're shot a couple of times, spare for some armour which may or may not be present. The levels are all designed well and the weapons feel fun to use. The enemies do feel a bit stupider than in GE; you sometimes can shoot someone right next to them and they won't react at all if they're not looking. I guess I've been spoilt by all the interactions you can have with NPCs in PD, but they felt kind of... boring. They're still fun to kill, though. Dana is the Natalya of this game, and yes, she [i]will[/i] run into your line of fire, and it [i]is[/i] very funny. The story isn't all that great, though, and the continuity feels a bit strange. There are cutscenes, but I sometimes felt like I wasn't given enough context to understand what was going on. Some text briefings telling you why you're going where you're going wouldn't have hurt. Yes, I get that story isn't the most important thing in a game like this, but I found Perfect Dark's to be engaging, and I so badly wanted to feel the same with Agent 64. Pulp almost feels like a Bond villain, so I'll give them that, but it felt like the game was leading up to a "big twist" that was so obvious that it felt kind of bland in the end. In reality, this isn't an issue as the game is all about the gameplay, but considering that GE and PD had decent stories, I found it underwhelming. I haven't played much of the multiplayer yet, but it's been very fun so far. The level of customisation is akin to Perfect Dark, and like in PD, you unlock more options by completing challenges against bots. I still have a few left to do, and I sometimes beat them with a few minutes left on my first try and they sometimes take many tries. The maps in the arena are just parts of the campaign's levels, but they are still a lot of fun to play on. There is co-op, too, but I haven't played it yet. If it's anything like PD's I'm sure it's a blast. You can play locally in split screen or online. Be aware that the game does use a kernel level anti-cheat, but the game asks if you want to install it when starting it, you just won't be able to play online if you choose not to install it. Par times in Doom were just fun challenges to try out, but here, there are rewards for beating them. Cheats like DK mode and paintball were some of the most memorable parts of GoldenEye, and similar things are in Agent 64, but they're called paradoxes. You can make yourself run really fast, make enemy bullets slow down Matrix-style, make yourself take damage when not moving, there's so much variety. Even the challenges have par times! Some of them are quite hard, like beating Penthouse on Special Agent in 1:40, which took me a fair few tries, and that's the [i]first[/i] level! Agent 64's equivilent to Perfect Dark's cheese are faces, but they actually do something in this game! When you shoot them, you unlock a contract where you replay the mission with set paradoxes and unlock even more paradoxes by completing them. [h3]Conclusion[/h3] Agent 64: Spies Never Die is a worthy successor to those retro console shooters that are so beloved, and is simply a must-play for fans of them. It has excellent gameplay that doesn't hold your hand alongside fun multiplayer, and it's refreshing to see a retro-style shooter that takes more from console games than Doom. It's insanely impressive for a game made by one game developer and a musician. Put frankly, Agent 64 is a GoldenEye clone, and though it may not be quite perfect (Dark), it's still a really good time! [h3]9/10[/h3]