Agent 64: Spies Never Die Review - Licensed to Thrill... Almost
If you’re reading this review, then you’ve probably been immersed in video games for quite some time and have had the incredible pleasure of experiencing legendary titles such as Rare’s Goldeneye and Perfect Dark on the Nintendo 64. Developer Replicant D6 was clearly inspired by these classic titles when the development of Agent 64: Spies Never Die began, and that inspiration permeates through every pillar of the experience. While not every aspect of Agent 64 hits the mark like those titles of the late 90’s and early 2000’s, there’s much to like about the game, and for those hankering for that blast from the past, you’ll find exactly what you’re looking for here.
In classic Bond-inspired fashion, you assume the role of John Walter, an agent nipping at the heels of the game’s lead antagonist, Dominic Pulp (a bit of Pulp Fiction, as it were?). As a simply told but multi-layered narrative unfolds, typical mad-scientist and gentle sci-fi elements begin to emerge, teased in ways that those familiar with more classic Bond films will be aware. You’ll either take the plot or leave it, though; it’s fairly unobtrusive, but also has some kinks in the tail that are well worth checking out. You won’t find much in the way of environmental storytelling, leaving the bulk of the work to the small cutscenes that open and close each level.
And that leads us to the gameplay itself. Agent 64 derives its inspiration from the spirit and tone of Goldeneye, but also much of its gameplay design. While I played this via Steam, I was doing so on my ROG Ally X, and utilised analog control to really bottle that Goldeneye-era effect. Movement is fluid, and some pretty friendly aim-assist helps you to line up shots with your incoming targets regardless of whether they’re standing at your level, just above or just below you. There are a few instances in the game where you need to shoot an alarm, or line up a shot to target someone way out in the distance, and in this instance you can create a pointer reticule and target them. This element is certainly going to better suit the mouse and keyboard player more than it will for anyone with a gamepad.
There’s a nice variety of environments to explore, both indoor and outdoor. One snowy level in particular has some unusual topology at points that doesn’t make sense through any geographical lens, but can be waved off easily as one of those 90’s games things. For those needing to be more cautious or are grimly hanging onto their final fraction of health, there are enough chokepoints to funnel the fairly dumb AI enemies through. Even on the game’s hardest difficulties, they will simply charge through an open doorway toward you, where you can meet them with a hail of bullets as they enter like lambs to the slaughter.
When it comes to the game’s difficulty, for those who aren’t overly proficient in first-person shooters, Agent 64 may not be to your liking. Although the game includes a range of difficulty modes, and you can always default to easy, to progress the narrative through some chokepoints within the 14-level plot, you need to accrue a certain number of cyphers for the next block of missions to unlock. To earn these cyphers, you will need to complete a range of additional challenges (some of which can be brutal no matter the difficulty you’ve been playing at), or up the difficulty, where you’ll be rewarded with extra cyphers for your effort. Hit a predetermined threshold and the next quarter of the game opens up for you. To place these roadblocks in the way of the player was a strange decision; it bloats the game clock a bit, and certainly offers some new challenge and expanded mission objectives, but for those not wanting to repeat earlier missions multiple times, learn the ropes of the levels to preempt the flurry of incoming attackers, with only minor additions to the objective list to make it feel fresh – it’s not ideal.
Beyond the primary campaign, players can opt into additional challenges through the game’s Challenges mode, with a range of exciting tasks and a timer that you’re racing throughout, as well as a multiplayer suite that includes co-op play, an arena, and more, which can then be played online or offline. For a game of the size and scope of Agent 64, and given the games it has drawn inspiration from, I was quite impressed by the available options, and while some competitive matches could descend to little more than “protect the body armour to win”, larger-scale matches saw a bit more variety in strategy and outcomes present.
The N64 inspiration persists when we explore the game’s presentational qualities. Character models look like they’ve been directly lifted from Goldeneye, for better and for worse; the sound effects that come from being shot are nearly identical, and the game’s soundtrack, while a little more minimal and clearly not straying too close to the tones you’d expect from a 007 title, still hits the mark as well. The game lacks voice-acting, which would have significantly helped elevate the experience, adding just the right amount of wit and cheesy humour to the dialogue.
Agent 64: Spies Never Die doesn’t interest itself in appeasing the easy-mode player. There are simply too many bottlenecks in the experience that force you to “get good” to be accessible for the less confident shooter player. It is a shame, because the Goldeneye-isms make this a very appealing game, and the suite of options around the campaign provide the game with a lot of added depth… if you’re good enough to meet the challenge.
Agent 64: Spies Never Die was reviewed on PC using a ROG Ally X and a code kindly provided by the developer.
