In an obvious attempt to dominate the videogames market, EA (yet again) release another game from their huge bank of trained coder-monkeys. Comparisons with Rare's GoldenEye on the N64 are initially obvious. However, the master once again beats the student into a million tiny pieces. So why hasn't the game been bettered since its release all that time ago? I don't know, and EA seem equally clueless.

Gameplay:
While the storyline in Agent Under Fire has been originally crafted, the gameplay has sadly been ripped from others and falls over itself in its own clumsy way. The game does have a certain 'James Bond' feel to it but never totally immerses you or makes you feel like the special agent you are supposed to be. More like some guy who has guns and a few cool tools to mess around with. On a more positive note, the gameplay is varied and doesn't stick to one style of game. You've got the bog-standard FPS, a cool little racing game and a 3D Operation Wolf style of game. The game errs towards the FPS side of things but doesn't become completely dominant and overbearing. Which is nice because it is extremely clunky and unresponsive. There is a nice variety of locations to gun your way through and both indoor and outdoor maps are presented well but all suffer from hideous slowdown. There is little or no feeling of stealth as you work your way through the levels, which as a James Bond game I would have thought it to be an essential gameplay element. Being a spy, and all. Oh well, the weapons are satisfactory and there is a wide range of gadgets to get your sticky mitts on.

The Q-Laser, Q-Claw, Q-Jetpack, Q-Specs and Q-Remote all play their own part in the game and are pretty much essential for your completion of the game. For example the game starts off outside a facility which you have to infiltrate. You have two choices: Go in the front way, using the Q-Remote to hack into the security system and open the doors or use your Q-Claw to grapple onto a radio mast and sling your way up onto the roof and go through the air vents to get inside. The second option should have been cool and stealthy, but after you pick off the first guard from the air duct, there's no real opportunity to make your way quietly around the level.

The on-rails shooting gallery section of the game is well done but essentially limited. Obviously without a light-gun the joypad feels clunky and moving the crosshairs around the screen and pressing fire becomes a little repetetive. It all moves along fast enough, but a shallow experience nonetheless. Good marks for trying something a little different, mind.

The driving game is the little surprise in the package, being the most fun side of the game and having the feeling of being made with dedication, not just bolting it on as an afterthought. The BMW Z-3 is extremely fun to drive and features all the Bond style weaponry as we have come to love. The most essential feature that this part of the game brings is a decent change of tempo in the gameplay, after wandering around on foot, it's great fun to jump in the car and scream around the cities.

The game sounds great on paper, but all falls down around your ears when you have the joypad inyour hands and the first FPS level begins. Quite how the default configuration made it into the game, let alone become the default style of play is just staggering. Quite simply, one of the worst configurations ever. Ever. Bow down and kiss your own toes for the option of changing it, but why is it there in the first place?! None of the setups feel as good as they should though, and it's a shame because it would have scored much higher if problems like this had been sorted out.

Graphics:
The graphics are straight from the PS2's original game. No real attempt seems to have been made to maximise the texturing and effects of the X-Box. Don't get me wrong, it looks nice enough, but with games like Halo it looks like the so-so conversion it is. The major gripe is the appaling slowdown. EA don't seem to bother exploiting the advantages of any system they port their games to, which really pisses me off. Do they realise the full potential of the X-Box? Or do they see it as a PS2 which speaks in a slightly different language? Slowdown is unforgivable when the textures are this average, and especially when there is no action taking place on-screen! Moments of quiet are broken up by stuttering frame rates and much shouting of "WHY, WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?!"

Sound:
Thankfully the X-Box's surround capabilities have been put to good use, and placement of sounds are well done. Gunfire erupts all around when the action requires it, and sound effects are equally as impressive. The music is the thing that everyone recongnises, and there are a decent number of variations on the classic James Bond theme. However, that one soundtrack does get a little repetetive after a while, but not enough to distract from the action on screen.

Longevity:
Once you get stuck in to Agent Under Fire, there are a lot of things to see and do and the story drives you on to see what happens at the end. It's just the initial frustration of having to cope with a pretty ugly interface that sticks like mud to the game. Multiplayer is fun and more features are unlocked as you progress thriugh the game. At the end of a level, your play is assessed and you are awarded points as to how well you played. If you get the target score for the level, goodies are opened up for multiplayer. You can play against friends or bots (not seen in the PS2 version). It's not to the depth or complexity of any of Rare's efforts but enjoyable, nonetheless.

Round Up:
Agent Under Fire is an accomplished game which would have been so much better if the glaring negative points to the game had been sorted out. A month or so extra in optimising the code for the X-Box and actually getting someone to test the controller configurations would have helped enormously. Also if the stealth aspect had had more focus and the AI improved, this game would have had another ten points added to its score, easy. As it is, it's a nice distraction but doesn't demand your attention in the same way as GoldenEye does, maybe with the next installment (if there is one) these problems will have been ironed out, and a more polished game will naturally emerge if they are adressed. You'll get a good deal of fun after the frustration ebbs away, and if you like your console FPS', give it a rent to see if it's worth more of your time.

Pros:

• It's Bond!
  
• Variation in gameplay styles
  
• Good use of the Q gadgets
  
• Fun multiplayer modes
  

  Cons:
  

  • Clunky controller interface
    
  • On-rails shooting tires quickly
    
  • Unforgivable slowdown