Control:  
The default control settings are adequate, and I found myself adapting to them quickly. For those that are extremely picky, however, there are several different setups to select from. There’s also an auto-aiming feature for those having trouble with the control setups. Overall, controls are responsive, but switching weapons and gadgets can be a pain. When switching, it usually forces Bond to hold each weapon or gadget before moving to the next one. This tends to make changing weapons in a firefight a bit more challenging than it needs to be.

Aesthetics:  
To it’s credit, Agent Under Fire boasts a rock solid framerate. If it stutters, it’s only during extremely large explosions. Firefights with three or more guards don’t seem to slow it down at all. Bond’s car is particularly well done; it even takes damage as you drive. The rest of the visuals aren’t quite so impressive; it’s clear this is a PS2 port. Environments are bland, but they serve their purpose. Most of the characters are fairly well rendered; it seems that special care was given to the female characters. In fact, one of the four features mentioned on the back of the box is the “stunning Bond girls.” They are nice looking, but I would much rather have EA spend the time making a decent game than fully rendering breasts.

Sound:
It wouldn’t be Bond without the classic theme, and it’s all over the place in Agent Under Fire. Whenever the player does something particularly cool, the theme will play for a few seconds. Other than that, most of the non-driving levels have no music at all, except for during boss battles. The driving stages feature techno/rock tracks, which aren’t especially annoying or memorable. The sound effects are pretty standard fare, but most of the voice acting is surprisingly good. Bond’s voice is especially fitting.

Multiplayer:
There are five different modes for up to four players to participate in. These include standard deathmatch, one hit kill, team deathmatch, and others. None of the modes are all that entertaining, but standard deathmatch with four players can be fun. For those with less than three other friends, bots have been included. On the downside, only four characters can be in the arena at once. If three humans are playing, there can only be one bot. Also, bots are restricted to certain modes and maps. It’s a bummer, but at least bots were included. There were none in the PS2 version of the title.

OVERALL:
Agent Under Fire isn’t a very long experience. The default difficulty setting is a breeze; players should be able to fly through it in under 8 hours. There is a medal/reward system to get the player to replay the game a bit, but few gamers will really want to. All modes of gameplay are unexciting, and few gamers will become interested in the plot. It’s not that Agent Under Fire is a terrible game, it’s just so average in every single way. Only those absolutely desperate for a Gamecube shooter should consider picking this one up, and even those people should rent it first. Oh well, at least the load times are short.

 

The Lowdown on  007 in... Agent Under Fire Aesthetics: Average Control: Average Gameplay: Average Multiplayer: Average Sound: Above Average Innovation: 2/6 Lasting Appeal: 4/6 Overall: Average! "An Average Game"