GamesFPSJames Bond 007: NightfireThis PS2 game might just be the best James Bond game ever made, and you’ve probably forgotten all about itWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
GamesFPSJames Bond 007: NightfireThis PS2 game might just be the best James Bond game ever made, and you’ve probably forgotten all about itWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: Electronic Arts)
The soft mechanical whir of the PS2 springing to life makes me feel eight years old again, but not as much as what I’m playing. As perhaps the first multiplayer game I ever touched, 007 Nightfire will always be important to me. Countless Sunday afternoons were spent huddled with my brother beneath the glare of a chunky Panasonic TV, armed with plenty of snacks for inhaling and kitchen towel for wrapping around our DualShocks to keep greasy fingers at bay. That last step is probably why my older brother’s PS2 still works so well; it’s a dusty yet stoic time capsule that’s now letting me relive our childhood favorites some 20 years later.
My memories of James Bond 007: Nightfire are about as fond as could be, rose-tinted nostalgia in mind. I’m talking specifically about its local multiplayer mode – my brother always played as Bond, James Bond, and I always opted for Dominique. We would go head to head in countless Team Arena standoffs against Phoenix – MI6’s sworn enemy in Nightfire – and fend off those bots with varying levels of ease. One thing I never did, though, was play through the game’s main campaign – so what better way to kick off my PS2 rediscovery than with the best bond game of all-time?
From 2002 with love
(Image credit: Electronic Arts)
Blast from the past(Image credit: Capcom)Check out thebest PS2 gamesto rediscover next, from Tony Hawk to Final Fantasy.
Blast from the past
(Image credit: Capcom)Check out thebest PS2 gamesto rediscover next, from Tony Hawk to Final Fantasy.
(Image credit: Capcom)
Check out thebest PS2 gamesto rediscover next, from Tony Hawk to Final Fantasy.
“But Jasmine,” I hear you protest, “How can you say 007 Nightfire is the best Bond game ever if you’ve not actually played the main campaign?” You have a point there, reader, but let me assure you that I am certain of it after playing through the first three missions.
Locked and reloaded
(Image credit: Electronic Arts)
My memories of James Bond 007: Nightfire are about as fond as could be.
My memories of James Bond 007: Nightfire are about as fond as could be.
Finally experiencing the campaign is an odd one for me. The controls are familiar (or at least, they came back to me after a slightly rusty start) but none of the story is. I treat each chapter like a mini dungeon of sorts, trying to work out the stealthiest and sneakiest way through my problems and ensuring to keep my silencer equipped at all times. To be honest, I was not looking forward to working with tank controls again – but thankfully, the gunplay feels a lot smoother than I anticipated. Nothing can stop me when I’ve my silencer equipped to my trusty Walther PPK, except maybe how dark the environments are.
Unsurprisingly, I was never the best at FPS games as an 8 year old. I have memories of my brother restarting our multiplayer sessions whenever the randomizer started us off with the game’s more overpowered weapons: the Golden Gun and the elusive heat-seeking Sentinel. I complained bitterly every time. I was only ever any good at Nightfire if it meant I could camp out on the roof and shoot a rocket launcher at Jaws, after all, so why would he want to make it harder for me? You can imagine my total and utter elation upon finally getting my hands on a Sentinel in Mission 2. I still blew myself and Zoe up after over-enthusiastically firing it into our cable car mid-ambush, but the knowledge that it was waiting for me made replaying the section far less frustrating.
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I’m still early on in my 007 Nightfire campaign journey, but so far, it’s impressed me in almost every way. Using L1 to shoot instead of the trigger buttons definitely took some getting used to, but I can safely say that I’m now firmly on my way to bringing down Drake and my brother is no longer sitting next to me to stop me from overusing the rocket launcher. Now if only I had that one-hit-kill Golden Gun…
There’s a new James Bond game in the works from Hitman developer IO. Here’s what we know aboutProject 007so far.
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