Agent 64: Spies Never Die

In this dangerous world full of megalomaniacal madmen and masterminds, there’s only one super spy I trust for the job. No, I’m not talking about James Bond, but rather John Walter, or, as some know him, Agent 64. He’s the star of an exciting new throwback first-person shooter that is more than a little inspired by the great spy thrillers on the Nintendo 64. Shaken? Stirred? It doesn’t matter, because this is my review of Agent 64: Spies Never Die.

You play John Walter, an aging spy who is thrust back into the thick of things when an old nemesis he thought he dealt with twenty years ago comes back to haunt him. Now it’s up to Agent 64 and his daughter, Dana, to get to the bottom of Dominic Pulp’s mysterious return and thwart his nefarious plans. It’s a simple set-up that is just compelling enough to get you to play through 14 action-packed stages.

If you played GoldenEye 007 or Perfect Dark on the Nintendo 64, then you’re going to feel right at home here. This is the kind of game where every level has a bunch of spy-themed missions to complete, and the higher you set the difficulty, the more tasks you’re going to need to deal with. It’s common to go into a stage knowing that you’ll need to hack a computer, disguise yourself as a guard, take incriminating pictures, plant tracking devices and a whole lot more, all while killing bad guys and searching for hidden items.

This is a game rooted in a very old school mentality, so don’t expect Agent 64 to play like Call of Duty or Halo. Much like GoldenEye 007, the game defaults with an aggressive auto aim that really helps keep the action fast and exciting. When you do need to focus in and be precise, you can pull the left trigger to aim and move the cursor around the screen. But it’s important to understand that this is meant more for sniping somebody from a great distance or shooting a door lock, not running around the room manually aiming at enemies. I’m going to reiterate that this does not play like a modern first-person shooter.

Although you can turn the auto aim off, the levels and missions are built around that style of gameplay. That’s not to say that the game is too easy, because it’s definitely not. The levels are big, there are often a bunch of missions to accomplish and the only help you get is the occasional bullet proof vest (which is completely missing in the higher difficulties). Even with the auto aim turned on, you’re still going to need to be stealthy and not simply rush into every single battle. Some of those later levels have a bad habit of hiding enemies in some tricky places, so you’re going to need to stay on your toes, no matter what options you use.

Like I said, the levels themselves are often long and complex. The different stages are robust enough to allow you to tackle most situations in a number of different ways, including with a friend in co-op mode. You can often take a direct route full of enemies to kill, a sneakier path where you slip by without being noticed or something in between. And these levels only get more interesting as you bump up the difficulty. This opens up new areas that were previously locked away, giving you even more opportunities to toy with the hapless guards.

From the different locations to the wide assortment of mission types to all of the customization options, there are a lot of things Agent 64 gets right. I like how every level has a bonus contract that you can take on to unlock new modes, characters and options for customization. One type of contract will have you trying to kill a couple dozen guards without taking a single hit or a speed challenge where you earn a couple seconds for every guard you take out. This is a fun way to reuse the levels, and I like how it forces you to play the game in a whole new way.

Between the 14 story levels, the co-op, challenge mode, arena, online multiplayer and these bonus contracts, there’s a shocking amount of things to do in Agent 64. And that’s before you get into turning on big head mode or fiddling with the various control options. This is a game that understands what old school GoldenEye fans are looking for, and I was constantly impressed by the amount of options and modes and extras the game throws at you.

That said, there are times when you can tell that the developer had to cut a few corners here and there. For example, the campaign ends up reusing a couple of the same locations, which is a little disappointing. You also don’t get as many gadgets as you might expect from this type of spy game. Most levels send you in with little more than a hacking device and other gadgets that are directly tied to the mission you need to complete. We get a camera for exactly one mission and then never use it again. It’s a shame there aren’t more gadgets we can use against the guards and henchmen.

And that brings me to the game’s weakest element: its story. Although the set-up is certainly intriguing, there’s just not enough to it. Worse yet, you’ll likely see the big twist coming a mile away. There aren’t really that many story beats, which leads to a very straight-forward and boring narrative. There was a disconnect between what you were doing in each stage and how it tied into the overall plot. It would have been nice to see how my success missions helped track down leads or unravel key details of the story, but all of that is apparently done off screen. The player is left to fill in a lot of the details.

When it comes to the graphics, the game does a good job of simultaneously looking old, while not fully committing to the Nintendo 64 style. The visuals look like how we remember those old games, not necessarily how they actually looked. The presentation gets you in the door, but I think it will be the level designs, unlockable extras and the customizable modes that will keep you coming back for more.

I could see Agent 64 attracting a large fan base, especially when it comes to the competitive online modes. Although it’s never as big or ambitious as the thirty-year-old games it’s mimicking, it gets all of the fundamentals right and does a great job of reminding us why we fell in love with those classic games in the first place. It’s a charming throwback that truly understands what old school gamers are looking for. Move over James Bond, because there’s a new spy in town.