GoldenEye 007: Reloaded is a souped-up, HD version of the Nintendo Wii classic remake, which originally hit store shelves on November 2, 2010. Reloaded, being the high-res version on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, houses a bevy of new features, like 16-player online multiplayer, as well as new characters, maps, weapons, and game modes.
At a recent press event, PSU was able to take a look at Reloaded, and try out some of the best it has to offer. As a byproduct of Activision trying to recapture the magic that was Nintendo and Rare’s GoldenEye 007 for the Nintendo 64, the multiplayer ends up being what we think is the strongest offering you’ll find in Reloaded.
Equipped with leaderboards, 16-player head-to-head action, voice chat, and some very fun “Game Modifiers” that can change game rules and objectives similar to the original 64 game, Reloaded looks to stand out this holiday season as its own unique brand of multiplayer.
You can play as one of 44 playable characters in Reloaded, each from the James Bond universe, which is nothing to sneeze at. There are 14 “Classic Characters” (including Hugo Drax, a PS3-exclusive character) each with their own set of unique abilities. There’s Oddjob, Jaws, Auric Goldfinger, and even Rosa Klebb, sporting their own tricks and abilities; for example, Oddjob can throw his hat for a one-hit-kill, and Jaws takes less damage to the head due to his metal teeth.
There is no shortage of game modes in Reloaded, including the original Wii version modes like Golden Gun, License to Kill, Team License to Kill, however, there are also 5 new modes in this version like Bomb Defuse, and Escalation.
Escalation was a fun one, being a gungame deathmatch style setup, wherein players progress through a pre-set selection of weapons. Killing someone with your current gun will upgrade you to a new one, with kills getting more and more tricky, especially when you get to the revolver, or to the final round where all you can use is a melee strike.
Customizing loadouts is just one of the variables that can make any multiplayer game fun in Reloaded, especially when coupled with Game Modifiers. Game Modifiers are what you use to set the variables, like melee-only, paintball, weapons damage, player health, and a plethora of other fun options. We had a particularly good time with the “Singularity” game modifier, which causes an electric vortex to appear when two players run into each other – something that makes some hilarious moments in a 4-player split-screen session.
Split-screen is where GoldenEye 007: Reloaded shines the most, in our opinion. In a holiday season with other huge heavy-hitting shooters like Battlefield 3, and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, GoldenEye aims to carve out its own niche of players who want that frantic, classic, arcade-style split-screen multiplayer fun just like in the original.
We’re happy to say that after walking away from Reloaded, we wanted some more split-screen action. PlayStation 3 owners even have the option of playing the game with full Move support, as well as with a Dualshock. We’ll be seeing more of GoldenEye 007: Reloaded when it comes out on Nov 1.