James Bond 007: Nightfire

James Bond 007: NightFire
North American cover art for PS2
Developer(s)	Eurocom, Gearbox Software, Aspyr, JV Games
Publisher(s)	Electronic Arts, MGM Interactive
Series	James Bond
Engine	GoldSrc
Platform(s)	PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube, Windows, Macintosh, Game Boy Advance
Release	November 18, 2002 PlayStation 2 GameCube & Xbox Windows Game Boy Advance Macintosh
Genre(s)	First-person shooter
Mode(s)	Single-player, Multiplayer

James Bond 007: NightFire is a first-person shooter video game that is based on Ian Fleming's British secret agent James Bond. This marked Pierce Brosnan's fourth appearance as James Bond before the release of his fourth and final Bond film Die Another Day, however, in the video game, his likeness was featured, but not his voice, which was provided by Maxwell Caulfield. 007: NightFire was developed by Eurocom for the PlayStation 2, Nintendo GameCube, and Xbox video game consoles. Gearbox Software developed the game for Windows, which Aspyr later re-released for the Mac. The computer versions are substantially different from the console versions, featuring different missions and a modified story line. It was published by Electronic Arts in Template:Vgy. In Template:Vgy EA released NightFire for the Game Boy Advance this time developed by JV Games.

Plot summary

The game's prologue mission starts in Paris, France, with James Bond helping Dominique Paradis evade enemy cars while chasing a truck with a stolen nuclear weapon, before continuing in his car. After stopping the truck from blowing up the Effiel Tower, Dominique and James celebrate the new year.

M sends Bond undercover to a party in industrialist Raphael Drake's Austrian castle. M believes that the party is a cover for the exchange of a missile guidance chip between Drake and Alexander Mayhew, who manages the Japanese branch of Drake's industry, Phoenix International, and had stolen the chip from the United States. Phoenix is believed to be a front for weapon smuggling. Bond, CIA agent Zoe Nightshade, and Dominique, who is posing as Drake's mistress, meet in the castle library. While Zoe distracts the guards, Bond makes his way to the exchange and steals the chip. James and Zoe then escape Drake's forces in an armored snowmobile before continuing in James' car. They rendezvous with Q, who takes them out of Austria.

After the breach, Drake threatens to kill Mayhew should the operation fail. Mayhew contacts MI6, saying he will provide vital information if Bond comes to his rescue. At his Japanese estate, Mayhew is attacked by Drake's men. Bond fights his way through the estate and manages to obtain a file from Mayhew's safe. Mayhew is killed by a ninja during the process. The file leads Bond to Mayhew's office at the Phoenix Building in Tokyo.

Bond is able to infiltrate the building while the guards are changing shifts and secures official NightFire documents. He is then attacked by Drake's men before Dominique provides a distraction which allows Bond to escape via parachute off the roof of the building.

The NightFire documents lead Bond to a nuclear power plant being decommissioned by Phoenix International. Bond retrieves evidence of Drake's activities and escapes. However, he is then double crossed and captured by Kiko, Mayhew's former bodyguard, and turned over to Drake. On the top of the Phoenix building, Drake plans to kill Bond and Dominique, who has been discovered as a mole. Dominique is kicked off the rooftop and killed by Kiko. Bond escapes to the ground level before being saved by Australian Intelligence agent Alura McCall.

M sends Bond and Alura to Drake's private island, where Drake has set up a jamming signal. The pair infiltrates the island and eliminates Drake's defenses. Bond makes his way to Drake's underground silo, fighting off Kiko before entering one of three space shuttles intending to capture the Space Defense Platform. Kiko dies in the blast pit when Bond's space shuttle launches. Bond reaches the International Space Station, where Drake is. He successfully sends all eight missiles off course, saving millions of lives, and causes Drake's laser weapon to malfunction, leading to a huge explosion. Finally, Bond defeats Drake. As the station goes up in flames, Bond blasts from an escape pod and goes back down to Earth, where he celebrates the victory with Alura.

Characters

Main article: List of James Bond characters in Nightfire

• James Bond
• M
• Q
• Raphael Drake
• Dominique Paradis
• Makiko Hayashi
• Alura McCall
• Armitage Rook
• Zoe Nightshade
• Alexander Mayhew

Gameplay

Overall there are many weapons that the player can carry including grenades of various sorts and other types of explosives. In addition, there are numerous amounts of mounted weapons found throughout the game. As with previous James Bond games, the weapons that appear are based on actual weapons, but with the names changed. Some weapons appear in the console version but not the PC version, and vice-versa.

The following is a list of some of the console version's weapons and their respective real-life counterparts.

Pistols

• Wolfram PP7 : Walther PPK
• Wolfram P2K : Walther P99
• Kowloon Type 40 : Glock 18
• Kowloon Type 80 : Glock 18 (Auto)
• Raptor Magnum .357 : Desert Eagle .357 Magnum w/ laser sight
• Raptor .50 : Desert Eagle .50 AE

Sniper Rifles

• Tactical Sniper : Arctic Warfare
• Covert Sniper : Arctic Warfare Suppressed (AWS)

Shotguns

• Frinesi Auto 12 Shotgun : Franchi SPAS-12

Automatic Weapons

• SG5 Commando (both versions) : Sig 552 Commando
• Storm M32 : Ruger MP9
• Deutsche M9K : HK MP5K
• AIMS-20 : XM29 OICW (Objective Individual Combat Weapon)

Rocket Launchers

• Sentinel Guided Missile Launcher : AT-4 Anti-Tank Rocket Launcher
• Scorpion : AT-4 Heat-Seeking

Multiplayer

In the multiplayer mode of Nightfire, players can play in many different levels, including Fort Knox, from Goldfinger, Atlantis and the sub docking pen from The Spy Who Loved Me, and many Nightfire related levels, including Drake's castle, Drake's underwater base, and Drake's secret missile silo. Other levels include Skyrail and Ravine. The player may choose to play against AI bots with customisable reaction time, speed, and health. The amount of usable bots vary in the console version. In the Gamecube and Xbox version, up to 6 bots may be used. In the PS2 version, up to 4 bots may be used. In the PC version, up to 12 bots may be used. Some medals obtained will unlock new characters.

Playable Characters

• James Bond
• Dominique Paradis
• Alura McCall
• Raphael Drake
• Kiko
• Armitage Rook
• Ninja
• Snow Guard
• Yakuza
• Black Ops
• Phoenix Commando
• Phoenix Soldier

Unlockable Characters

• Renard - Platinum Medal on Paris Prelude.
• Jaws - Silver Medal on Paris Prelude.
• Baron Samedi - Platinum Medal on The Exchange.
• Oddjob - Silver Medal on The Exchange (When playing as Oddjob in Multiplayer, the player has his hat as an extra weapon).
• Max Zorin - Platinum Medal on Alpine Escape.
• May Day - Platinum Medal on Enemies Vanquished.
• Francisco Scaramanga - Silver Medal on Enemies Vanquished.
• Xenia Onatopp - Platinum Medal on Double Cross.
• Christmas Jones - Platinum Medal on Night Shift.
• Auric Goldfinger - Platinum Medal on Chain Reaction.
• Wai Lin - Silver Medal on Chain Reaction.
• Raphael Drake's Suit Look - Platinum Medal on Phoenix Fire.
• Electra King - Platinum Medal on Deep Descent.
• Nick Nack - Silver Medal on Deep Descent.
• James Bond's Tuxedo Look - Platinum Medal on Island Infiltration.
• Pussy Galore - Platinum Medal on Countdown.
• James Bond's Spacesuit Look - Platinum Medal on Equinox.

Maps

• Skyrail
• Fort Knox
• Snow Blind
• Phoenix Base
• Atlantis
• Missile Silo
• Sub Pen
• Ravine

Reception

Scores

Review scores

Publication	Score
GameSpot	7.9 of 10
IGN	8.5 of 10
X-Play

Many critics dubbed this as 'the best Bond game ever' mentioning it had a well thought out plot and was consistent although some others pointed out the negative sides of the game commenting on it's sloppy hand-to-hand combat physics. However, it proved popular with customers and in December 2004 it was released on Platinum editon for the PlayStation 2 and copies are still in shops to date.

Differences in versions

Each version of the game differed significantly from the other. The PC version, for example, had fewer levels than the console game and did not implement driving mode. The Game Boy Advance version resembled the PC NightFire, more than the console game. However, the main storyline and characters remained the same in all versions.

External links

• James Bond 007: Nightfire at Eurocom
• 007: Nightfire Official website at EA Games
• 007: Nightfire (2002) at IMDb
• 007: Nightfire at MobyGames