James Bond 007: Nightfire
Encyclopedia
007: NightFire is a first-person shooter
video game featuring the character of the British secret agent James Bond
and a sequel
to Agent Under Fire, published by Electronic Arts
in .
007: NightFire was developed by Eurocom
for the PlayStation 2
, Nintendo GameCube
, and Xbox
video game consoles. Gearbox Software
developed the game for Windows
using the GoldSRC
engine, which Aspyr later re-released for the Mac. The computer versions are substantially different from the console versions, featuring different missions and a modified story line. In Electronic Arts released NightFire for the Game Boy Advance
this time developed by JV Games
.
The game marked Pierce Brosnan's
fourth appearance as James Bond before the release of his fourth and final Bond film Die Another Day
, however, in the video game, his likeness was featured, but not his voice, which was provided by Maxwell Caulfield
.
, France
, with James Bond (voiced by Maxwell Caulfield
with the likeness of Pierce Brosnan
) helping French Intelligence operative Dominique Paradis evade a gang chase while chasing a truck with a stolen nuclear weapon
, before continuing in his car. After stopping the truck from blowing up the Eiffel Tower
, Dominique and James celebrate New Year's Eve.
The British Government sends Bond undercover to a party in industrialist Raphael Drake's Austria
n castle. M (voiced by Samantha Eggar
) believes that the party is a cover for the exchange of a missile guidance chip between Drake and Alexander Mayhew, who manages the Japanese branch of Drake's industry, Phoenix International, and had stolen the chip from the United States
. Phoenix is believed to be a front for weapon smuggling. Bond, CIA agent Zoe Nightshade, and Dominique, who is posing as Drake's mistress, meet in the castle library. While Zoe distracts the guards, Bond makes his way to the exchange and steals the chip. James and Zoe then escape Drake's forces in an armored snowmobile before continuing in James' car. They rendezvous with Q (voiced by Gregg Berger
), who takes them out of Austria.
After the breach, Drake threatens to kill Mayhew should the operation fail. Mayhew contacts MI6, saying he will provide vital information if Bond comes to his rescue. At his Japanese estate, Mayhew is attacked by Drake's men, consisting of Japanese thugs. Bond fights his way through the estate and manages to obtain a file from Mayhew's safe. Mayhew is killed by a ninja during the process. The file leads Bond to Mayhew's office at the Phoenix Building in Tokyo
.
Bond is able to infiltrate the building while the guards are changing shifts and secures official NightFire documents. He is then attacked by Drake's men before Dominique provides a distraction which allows Bond to escape via parachute off the roof of the building.
The NightFire documents lead Bond to a nuclear power plant
being decommissioned by Phoenix International. Bond retrieves evidence of Drake's activities and escapes. However, he is then double crossed and captured by Kiko, Mayhew's former bodyguard, and turned over to Drake. On the top of the Phoenix building, Drake plans to kill Bond and Dominique, who has been discovered as a mole. Dominique is kicked off the rooftop and killed by Kiko. Bond escapes to the ground level before being saved by Australian Intelligence agent Alura McCall.
M sends Bond and Alura to Drake's private island, where Drake has set up a jamming signal. The pair infiltrates the island and eliminates Drake's defenses. M makes Bond aware of the UN, EU, and NATO forces arriving on the island to dismantle remaining enemy combatants. Bond makes his way to Drake's underground silo, fighting off Kiko before entering one of three space shuttles intending to capture the Space Defense Platform. Kiko incinerates in the blast pit when Bond's space shuttle launches. Bond reaches the U.S. Space Defense Platform, where Drake is. He successfully sends all eight missiles off course, saving millions of lives, and causes Drake's laser weapon to malfunction, leading to a huge explosion. Finally, Bond kills Drake. As the station goes up in flames, Bond blasts from an escape pod and goes back down to Earth
, where M informs him that astronomers from around the globe are reporting "unexpected meteor showers" (which is actually the debris of the now-destroyed Space Defense Platform).
(ASIS) agent who comes to Bond's aid in Tokyo and goes with him to Drake's island. She provides critical aid to Bond when he has to stop the nukes from launching of the space defense platform. She is first seen when collecting Bond from the Phoenix International building in Tokyo, giving him a lift from the building in her red sports car. Alura is voiced by Kimberly Davies.
Armitage Rook is the head of security for Raphael Drake, and like many previous henchmen, he has the abnormal ability to survive the most dangerous scenarios. He has a big size of 6'6" (198 cm) and is massive built. He is first seen at a party in the Austrian Alps hosted at Drake's castle. When 007 and CIA agent Zoe Nightshade witness a secret meeting, Rook pursues them in a Mi-24 Hind helicopter which is subsequently shot down by Bond. Rook manages to survive and returns later at the nuclear power plant not far from Tokyo in the mission 'Chain Reaction' and also at Drake's Phoenix Base, bearing a scarred left eye and armed with a state of the art 'Samurai' laser gun. Despite this advantage, he is killed while engaged in an intense firefight with Bond. In the PC version of the game, he dies when he is killed by the lethal blades of a huge fan inside a wind tunnel
-like astronaut training facility; in the console version, he is killed much later on in the plot by Bond while inside Drake's underground shuttle hangar. In both variations, he dies while fighting Bond. Rook is voiced by Richard Whiten.
Dominique Paradis is a French Intelligence agent met by James Bond whilst being saved in the mission 'Paris Prelude'. After she celebrates New Year with James, she then arrives the mission of the party to infiltrate Drake's Austrian Castle, in that she is trying to have a sort of relationship with Drake. Bond meets up with her later, in retrieving information on Drake, with a brief kiss interrupted by Zoe Nightshade. She then arrives later in the level 'Nightshift', and after spotting and trying to assist Bond with infiltrating Drake's Phoenix Japan Headquarters. However, Drake later reveals that a hidden camera allowed to see this. Later, Kiko brings Bond to the top of the building, and Drake reveals that he knows of Dominique's true loyalties. Kiko takes her to the edge of the helipad to execute her, but Dominique knocks her gun away and engages her in a brief fist fight. Unfortunately, she loses the fight and is kicked off the building by Kiko, and falls to her death to the lobby floor. It should be noted though, that her fight with Kiko created enough of a distraction to allow Bond to escape. Dominique is voiced by Lena Reno.
Makiko Hayashi (or just "Kiko") is Alexander's personal female bodyguard, very skilled in martial arts. She originally appears to be working with Bond and helps him to penetrate the Japanese branch of Phoenix International after Mayhew is murdered on Drake's orders. However, her true allegiance is revealed when she shoots Bond with a tranquiliser gun at the Tokyo nuclear plant; she then takes him to Drake. While on the top of the Phoenix Building, Kiko and Dominique get into a fight after Bond attempts to escape. During the fight, Kiko kicks Dominique Paradis off of the Phoenix Building's heli-pad, sending her down to the lobby floor and killing her instantly. Kiko continues to serve Drake from then on and attempts to kill Bond at Drake's island fortress by using a trap which drops the bridge leading to the shuttle, sending him in the shuttle launch chambers. However, Bond takes cover in the blast chambers and kills Kiko's men, forcing her to retreat. Bond activates the same trap Kiko had used on him only minutes before, sending Kiko into the Launch Chamber; Bond activates the shuttle and boards it. Kiko is incinerated in the launch chamber when she is unable to reach a blast chamber before the door closes. Kiko was voiced by Tamlyn Tomita
.
Raphael Drake is the Brazil
ian-Russia
n dual heritage owner of Phoenix International Corporation, is the main villain in the game. He poses as a humanitarian and an avowed opponent of the use of nuclear weapons, but in reality he is hoarding dozens of nuclear weapons for his own future use. He tries to take over world by hijacking space defense platform and launching its arsenal of nuclear weapons against major NATO bases in an attempt to wipe out global security. He is killed on the space station by Bond, who shoots him with a Phoenix Samurai laser gun before escaping the space station in a rocket, with Drake's corpse left floating into space as the rocket launches and the station explodes. Drake is voiced by Michael Ensign
.
Zoe Nightshade is a CIA agent who helps Bond in Drake's castle. Zoe previously worked with Bond on his last mission (Agent Under Fire). She is first seen in Nightfire when Bond sneaks into the library, where Bond also meets Dominique Paradis. After Paradis gives Bond the key to Drake's secret meeting, Zoe and Bond talk briefly about the mission, however Zoe appears to be jealous of Bond and Paradis's relationship. Zoe leaves and attempts to create a distraction for Bond but is captured under Rook's suspicion , although this may have been the distraction she was planning, and taken to the cable car outside the castle for interrogation. She apparently frees herself, as she is later seen defending it from Drake's men. Bond later defeats Rook, who is in a helicopter, from the cable car. Bond and Zoe escape by sliding down the cable car line and together they find a garage with armored snowmobiles. Bond and Zoe wake up the next morning in a small MI6 safehouse. It appears that Zoe and Bond had sex the night before. After shaking off Drake's men, Zoe and Bond get into his Vanquish car and rush to rendezvous with Q. This is the last time Zoe is seen in the series, as Alura McCall is later assigned to help Bond in his mission. She is well aware of Bond's relationships with women, as seen by her teasing nature when she encounter Bond and Dominique in Drake's castle. Zoe is voiced by Jeanne Mori
.
Alexander Mayhew is in charge of the Phoenix International properties in Japan, and is very close to Drake. When he becomes a traitor, Bond tries to protect him from Drake's Yakuza thugs after failing to protect the stolen missile guidance module back in Austria (the disappearance of this item was the reason for Drake falling out with Mayhew), but Mayhew dies when a ninja shows up and stabs him in the back with a samuri sword. Mayhew is voiced by Ian Abercrombie
.
In the multiplayer mode of Nightfire players can play in many different levels, including Fort Knox
, from Goldfinger
, Atlantis and the sub docking pen from The Spy Who Loved Me
, and many Nightfire related levels, including Drake's castle, Drake's underwater base, and Drake's secret missile silo. Other levels include Skyrail and Ravine. The player may choose to play against AI
bots with customizable reaction time, speed, and health. The amount of usable bots vary in the console version. In the Gamecube and Xbox version, up to 6 bots may be used. In the PlayStation 2 version, up to 4 bots may be used and up to 4 humans can play. In the PC version, up to 12 bots may be used. The PC version also has an online multiplayer mode.
Some medals obtained will unlock new characters. Notable characters included from previous James Bond films include Francisco Scaramanga
and Nick Nack from The Man with the Golden Gun
, May Day and Max Zorin
from A View to a Kill
, Jaws from The Spy Who Loved Me
and Moonraker
, Elektra King
and Renard from The World Is Not Enough
, Auric Goldfinger
and Oddjob from Goldfinger
, and Baron Samedi from Live and Let Die
. Players can customize multiplayer settings before playing.
However, one disadvantage to this is that the game will not save the alterations players make to the multiplayer mode.
Each version of the game differs significantly from the others. The PC version, for example, had fewer levels than the console versions and does not implement driving mode. It begins the plot right at Drake's Austrian castle, skipping over the French mission. Also, in this version, Rook dies much earlier on, in the astronaut training facility that Bond infiltrates. The Game Boy Advance version resembles the PC NightFire more than the console versions. However, the very general overall storyline and characters remain the same in all versions.
s story. Many reviewers praised the accurate James Bond model, as they said it is very realistic. It proved popular with customers and in December 2004 a Greatest Hits edition was released for the PlayStation 2, and copies are still in shops to date. The game has sold over 4 million copies, supassed only by Goldeneye and Agent Under Fire.
Reviews toward the game have also pointed to the realistic animation of the James Bond character. In addition to this, graphically most users have also positively commented on the fact that James Bond and Pierce Brosnan look and move so much alike. However, while the reviews have been generally positive, some critics believe that the main negative aspect of the game is its relatively short length. Critics also noted that Nightfire does attempt to steer away from previous Bond games (notably GoldenEye) and add a more interesting story line.
Critics also derided the game's bots, as having difficulty navigating through the multiplayer maps; probably because of this, bots are not available in one of the maps at all.
First-person shooter
First-person shooter is a video game genre that centers the gameplay on gun and projectile weapon-based combat through first-person perspective; i.e., the player experiences the action through the eyes of a protagonist. Generally speaking, the first-person shooter shares common traits with other...
video game featuring the character of the British secret agent James Bond
James Bond
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
and a sequel
Sequel
A sequel is a narrative, documental, or other work of literature, film, theatre, or music that continues the story of or expands upon issues presented in some previous work...
to Agent Under Fire, published by Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts, Inc. is a major American developer, marketer, publisher and distributor of video games. Founded and incorporated on May 28, 1982 by Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer games industry and was notable for promoting the designers and programmers...
in .
007: NightFire was developed by Eurocom
Eurocom
Eurocom is a British video game developer founded specifically to develop games for the Nintendo Entertainment System. Since then Eurocom has expanded to several other platforms including handheld game systems and most major video game consoles.The company was once famous for its arcade to console...
for the PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
, Nintendo GameCube
Nintendo GameCube
The , officially abbreviated to NGC in Japan and GCN in other regions, is a sixth generation video game console released by Nintendo on September 15, 2001 in Japan, November 18, 2001 in North America, May 3, 2002 in Europe, and May 17, 2002 in Australia...
, and Xbox
Xbox
The Xbox is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Microsoft. It was released on November 15, 2001 in North America, February 22, 2002 in Japan, and March 14, 2002 in Australia and Europe and is the predecessor to the Xbox 360. It was Microsoft's first foray into the gaming console...
video game consoles. Gearbox Software
Gearbox Software
Gearbox Software, LLC is an American video game development company based in Plano, Texas.-History:Gearbox Software was founded in January 1999 by five members of the content team from the defunct developer Rebel Boat Rocker: Randy Pitchford, Brian Martel, Stephen Bahl, Landon Montgomery, and Rob...
developed the game for Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
using the GoldSRC
GoldSrc
GoldSrc, or Goldsource, is the retronym used internally by Valve Software to refer to the heavily modified Quake engine that powers their science fiction first-person shooter Half-Life ....
engine, which Aspyr later re-released for the Mac. The computer versions are substantially different from the console versions, featuring different missions and a modified story line. In Electronic Arts released NightFire for the Game Boy Advance
Game Boy Advance
The is a 32-bit handheld video game console developed, manufactured, and marketed by Nintendo. It is the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001; in North America on June 11, 2001; in Australia and Europe on June 22, 2001; and in the People's Republic of China...
this time developed by JV Games
JV Games
JV Games is an American video game developer based in Las Vegas, Nevada. They have developed a number of titles including James Bond 007: Nightfire for Game Boy Advance, as well as Pong Toss! Frat Party Games and Incoming! for WiiWare....
.
The game marked Pierce Brosnan's
Pierce Brosnan
Pierce Brendan Brosnan, OBE is an Irish actor, film producer and environmentalist. After leaving school at 16, Brosnan began training in commercial illustration, but trained at the Drama Centre in London for three years...
fourth appearance as James Bond before the release of his fourth and final Bond film Die Another Day
Die Another Day
Die Another Day is the 20th spy film in the James Bond series, and the fourth and last film to star Pierce Brosnan as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond; it is also the last Bond film of the original timeline with the series being rebooted with Casino Royale...
, however, in the video game, his likeness was featured, but not his voice, which was provided by Maxwell Caulfield
Maxwell Caulfield
Maxwell Caulfield is a British film, stage, and television actor who is based in the United States, known for his roles as Michael Carrington in Grease 2 and as Miles Colby in The Colbys and its parent show Dynasty . He has more than 70 film, stage and television credits. He starred in Ronald F...
.
Plot
The game's prologue mission starts in ParisParis
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, with James Bond (voiced by Maxwell Caulfield
Maxwell Caulfield
Maxwell Caulfield is a British film, stage, and television actor who is based in the United States, known for his roles as Michael Carrington in Grease 2 and as Miles Colby in The Colbys and its parent show Dynasty . He has more than 70 film, stage and television credits. He starred in Ronald F...
with the likeness of Pierce Brosnan
Pierce Brosnan
Pierce Brendan Brosnan, OBE is an Irish actor, film producer and environmentalist. After leaving school at 16, Brosnan began training in commercial illustration, but trained at the Drama Centre in London for three years...
) helping French Intelligence operative Dominique Paradis evade a gang chase while chasing a truck with a stolen nuclear weapon
Nuclear weapon
A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission or a combination of fission and fusion. Both reactions release vast quantities of energy from relatively small amounts of matter. The first fission bomb test released the same amount...
, before continuing in his car. After stopping the truck from blowing up the Eiffel Tower
Eiffel Tower
The Eiffel Tower is a puddle iron lattice tower located on the Champ de Mars in Paris. Built in 1889, it has become both a global icon of France and one of the most recognizable structures in the world...
, Dominique and James celebrate New Year's Eve.
The British Government sends Bond undercover to a party in industrialist Raphael Drake's Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
n castle. M (voiced by Samantha Eggar
Samantha Eggar
Samantha Eggar is an English film, television and voice actress.-Early life:She was born Victoria Louise Samantha Marie Elizabeth Therese Eggar in Hampstead, London to an Anglo-Irish father and a mother of Dutch and Portuguese descent...
) believes that the party is a cover for the exchange of a missile guidance chip between Drake and Alexander Mayhew, who manages the Japanese branch of Drake's industry, Phoenix International, and had stolen the chip from the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Phoenix is believed to be a front for weapon smuggling. Bond, CIA agent Zoe Nightshade, and Dominique, who is posing as Drake's mistress, meet in the castle library. While Zoe distracts the guards, Bond makes his way to the exchange and steals the chip. James and Zoe then escape Drake's forces in an armored snowmobile before continuing in James' car. They rendezvous with Q (voiced by Gregg Berger
Gregg Berger
Greggory "Gregg" Berger is an American voice actor, who is known for his longtime role as Odie the dog from the Garfield franchise...
), who takes them out of Austria.
After the breach, Drake threatens to kill Mayhew should the operation fail. Mayhew contacts MI6, saying he will provide vital information if Bond comes to his rescue. At his Japanese estate, Mayhew is attacked by Drake's men, consisting of Japanese thugs. Bond fights his way through the estate and manages to obtain a file from Mayhew's safe. Mayhew is killed by a ninja during the process. The file leads Bond to Mayhew's office at the Phoenix Building in Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
.
Bond is able to infiltrate the building while the guards are changing shifts and secures official NightFire documents. He is then attacked by Drake's men before Dominique provides a distraction which allows Bond to escape via parachute off the roof of the building.
The NightFire documents lead Bond to a nuclear power plant
Nuclear power plant
A nuclear power plant is a thermal power station in which the heat source is one or more nuclear reactors. As in a conventional thermal power station the heat is used to generate steam which drives a steam turbine connected to a generator which produces electricity.Nuclear power plants are usually...
being decommissioned by Phoenix International. Bond retrieves evidence of Drake's activities and escapes. However, he is then double crossed and captured by Kiko, Mayhew's former bodyguard, and turned over to Drake. On the top of the Phoenix building, Drake plans to kill Bond and Dominique, who has been discovered as a mole. Dominique is kicked off the rooftop and killed by Kiko. Bond escapes to the ground level before being saved by Australian Intelligence agent Alura McCall.
M sends Bond and Alura to Drake's private island, where Drake has set up a jamming signal. The pair infiltrates the island and eliminates Drake's defenses. M makes Bond aware of the UN, EU, and NATO forces arriving on the island to dismantle remaining enemy combatants. Bond makes his way to Drake's underground silo, fighting off Kiko before entering one of three space shuttles intending to capture the Space Defense Platform. Kiko incinerates in the blast pit when Bond's space shuttle launches. Bond reaches the U.S. Space Defense Platform, where Drake is. He successfully sends all eight missiles off course, saving millions of lives, and causes Drake's laser weapon to malfunction, leading to a huge explosion. Finally, Bond kills Drake. As the station goes up in flames, Bond blasts from an escape pod and goes back down to Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
, where M informs him that astronomers from around the globe are reporting "unexpected meteor showers" (which is actually the debris of the now-destroyed Space Defense Platform).
Characters
Alura McCall is an Australian Secret Intelligence ServiceAustralian Secret Intelligence Service
The Australian Secret Intelligence Service is the Australian government intelligence agency responsible for collecting foreign intelligence, undertaking counter-intelligence activities and cooperation with other intelligence agencies overseas...
(ASIS) agent who comes to Bond's aid in Tokyo and goes with him to Drake's island. She provides critical aid to Bond when he has to stop the nukes from launching of the space defense platform. She is first seen when collecting Bond from the Phoenix International building in Tokyo, giving him a lift from the building in her red sports car. Alura is voiced by Kimberly Davies.
Armitage Rook is the head of security for Raphael Drake, and like many previous henchmen, he has the abnormal ability to survive the most dangerous scenarios. He has a big size of 6'6" (198 cm) and is massive built. He is first seen at a party in the Austrian Alps hosted at Drake's castle. When 007 and CIA agent Zoe Nightshade witness a secret meeting, Rook pursues them in a Mi-24 Hind helicopter which is subsequently shot down by Bond. Rook manages to survive and returns later at the nuclear power plant not far from Tokyo in the mission 'Chain Reaction' and also at Drake's Phoenix Base, bearing a scarred left eye and armed with a state of the art 'Samurai' laser gun. Despite this advantage, he is killed while engaged in an intense firefight with Bond. In the PC version of the game, he dies when he is killed by the lethal blades of a huge fan inside a wind tunnel
Wind tunnel
A wind tunnel is a research tool used in aerodynamic research to study the effects of air moving past solid objects.-Theory of operation:Wind tunnels were first proposed as a means of studying vehicles in free flight...
-like astronaut training facility; in the console version, he is killed much later on in the plot by Bond while inside Drake's underground shuttle hangar. In both variations, he dies while fighting Bond. Rook is voiced by Richard Whiten.
Dominique Paradis is a French Intelligence agent met by James Bond whilst being saved in the mission 'Paris Prelude'. After she celebrates New Year with James, she then arrives the mission of the party to infiltrate Drake's Austrian Castle, in that she is trying to have a sort of relationship with Drake. Bond meets up with her later, in retrieving information on Drake, with a brief kiss interrupted by Zoe Nightshade. She then arrives later in the level 'Nightshift', and after spotting and trying to assist Bond with infiltrating Drake's Phoenix Japan Headquarters. However, Drake later reveals that a hidden camera allowed to see this. Later, Kiko brings Bond to the top of the building, and Drake reveals that he knows of Dominique's true loyalties. Kiko takes her to the edge of the helipad to execute her, but Dominique knocks her gun away and engages her in a brief fist fight. Unfortunately, she loses the fight and is kicked off the building by Kiko, and falls to her death to the lobby floor. It should be noted though, that her fight with Kiko created enough of a distraction to allow Bond to escape. Dominique is voiced by Lena Reno.
Makiko Hayashi (or just "Kiko") is Alexander's personal female bodyguard, very skilled in martial arts. She originally appears to be working with Bond and helps him to penetrate the Japanese branch of Phoenix International after Mayhew is murdered on Drake's orders. However, her true allegiance is revealed when she shoots Bond with a tranquiliser gun at the Tokyo nuclear plant; she then takes him to Drake. While on the top of the Phoenix Building, Kiko and Dominique get into a fight after Bond attempts to escape. During the fight, Kiko kicks Dominique Paradis off of the Phoenix Building's heli-pad, sending her down to the lobby floor and killing her instantly. Kiko continues to serve Drake from then on and attempts to kill Bond at Drake's island fortress by using a trap which drops the bridge leading to the shuttle, sending him in the shuttle launch chambers. However, Bond takes cover in the blast chambers and kills Kiko's men, forcing her to retreat. Bond activates the same trap Kiko had used on him only minutes before, sending Kiko into the Launch Chamber; Bond activates the shuttle and boards it. Kiko is incinerated in the launch chamber when she is unable to reach a blast chamber before the door closes. Kiko was voiced by Tamlyn Tomita
Tamlyn Tomita
Tamlyn Naomi Tomita is an actress, who has appeared in many Hollywood films and television series.-Early life:Tomita was born in Okinawa, the daughter of Shiro and Asako Tomita. Her father then later became a Los Angeles Police Officer, rising to the rank of sergeant. He succumbed to cancer in...
.
Raphael Drake is the Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
ian-Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n dual heritage owner of Phoenix International Corporation, is the main villain in the game. He poses as a humanitarian and an avowed opponent of the use of nuclear weapons, but in reality he is hoarding dozens of nuclear weapons for his own future use. He tries to take over world by hijacking space defense platform and launching its arsenal of nuclear weapons against major NATO bases in an attempt to wipe out global security. He is killed on the space station by Bond, who shoots him with a Phoenix Samurai laser gun before escaping the space station in a rocket, with Drake's corpse left floating into space as the rocket launches and the station explodes. Drake is voiced by Michael Ensign
Michael Ensign
- Early life :Ensign was born in Safford, Arizona and was raised in both the United States and England. He trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art and spent the first ten years of his professional career working in the theatre in Britain.- Career :...
.
Zoe Nightshade is a CIA agent who helps Bond in Drake's castle. Zoe previously worked with Bond on his last mission (Agent Under Fire). She is first seen in Nightfire when Bond sneaks into the library, where Bond also meets Dominique Paradis. After Paradis gives Bond the key to Drake's secret meeting, Zoe and Bond talk briefly about the mission, however Zoe appears to be jealous of Bond and Paradis's relationship. Zoe leaves and attempts to create a distraction for Bond but is captured under Rook's suspicion , although this may have been the distraction she was planning, and taken to the cable car outside the castle for interrogation. She apparently frees herself, as she is later seen defending it from Drake's men. Bond later defeats Rook, who is in a helicopter, from the cable car. Bond and Zoe escape by sliding down the cable car line and together they find a garage with armored snowmobiles. Bond and Zoe wake up the next morning in a small MI6 safehouse. It appears that Zoe and Bond had sex the night before. After shaking off Drake's men, Zoe and Bond get into his Vanquish car and rush to rendezvous with Q. This is the last time Zoe is seen in the series, as Alura McCall is later assigned to help Bond in his mission. She is well aware of Bond's relationships with women, as seen by her teasing nature when she encounter Bond and Dominique in Drake's castle. Zoe is voiced by Jeanne Mori
Jeanne Mori
Jeanne Mori is an actress and voice-over artist known for her voice of Zoe Nightshade in James Bond 007: Nightfire.-External links:...
.
Alexander Mayhew is in charge of the Phoenix International properties in Japan, and is very close to Drake. When he becomes a traitor, Bond tries to protect him from Drake's Yakuza thugs after failing to protect the stolen missile guidance module back in Austria (the disappearance of this item was the reason for Drake falling out with Mayhew), but Mayhew dies when a ninja shows up and stabs him in the back with a samuri sword. Mayhew is voiced by Ian Abercrombie
Ian Abercrombie
Ian Abercrombie is an English actor, best known for playing Alfred Pennyworth in Birds of Prey. He appeared as Elaine Benes' boss Justin Pitt during the sixth season of Seinfeld, and as a fastidious butler on Desperate Housewives.-Biography:He is the cousin of John Abercrombie, a jazz guitarist of...
.
Gameplay
Overall there are many weapons that the player can carry including grenades of various sorts and other types of explosives. In addition, there are numerous amounts of mounted weapons found throughout the game. As with previous James Bond games, the weapons that appear are based on actual weapons, but with the names changed. Some weapons appear in the console version but not the PC version, and vice-versa.In the multiplayer mode of Nightfire players can play in many different levels, including Fort Knox
Fort Knox
Fort Knox is a United States Army post in Kentucky south of Louisville and north of Elizabethtown. The base covers parts of Bullitt, Hardin, and Meade counties. It currently holds the Army Human Resources Center of Excellence to include the Army Human Resources Command, United States Army Cadet...
, from Goldfinger
Goldfinger (film)
Goldfinger is the third spy film in the James Bond series and the third to star Sean Connery as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. Released in 1964, it is based on the novel of the same name by Ian Fleming. The film also stars Honor Blackman as Bond girl Pussy Galore and Gert Fröbe as the title...
, Atlantis and the sub docking pen from The Spy Who Loved Me
The Spy Who Loved Me (film)
The Spy Who Loved Me is a spy film, the tenth film in the James Bond series, and the third to star Roger Moore as the fictional secret agent James Bond. It was directed by Lewis Gilbert and the screenplay was written by Christopher Wood and Richard Maibaum...
, and many Nightfire related levels, including Drake's castle, Drake's underwater base, and Drake's secret missile silo. Other levels include Skyrail and Ravine. The player may choose to play against AI
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it. AI textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents" where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its...
bots with customizable reaction time, speed, and health. The amount of usable bots vary in the console version. In the Gamecube and Xbox version, up to 6 bots may be used. In the PlayStation 2 version, up to 4 bots may be used and up to 4 humans can play. In the PC version, up to 12 bots may be used. The PC version also has an online multiplayer mode.
Some medals obtained will unlock new characters. Notable characters included from previous James Bond films include Francisco Scaramanga
Francisco Scaramanga
Francisco Scaramanga is a fictional character and the main antagonist in the James Bond film and novel The Man with the Golden Gun. The film was so named because it described Scaramanga's possession of a golden gun....
and Nick Nack from The Man with the Golden Gun
The Man with the Golden Gun (film)
The Man with the Golden Gun is the ninth spy film in the James Bond series and the second to star Roger Moore as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond...
, May Day and Max Zorin
Max Zorin
Max Zorin is a fictional character and the main antagonist in the James Bond film A View to a Kill. He was portrayed by Academy Award winner Christopher Walken...
from A View to a Kill
A View to a Kill
A View to a Kill is the fourteenth spy film of the James Bond series, and the seventh and last to star Roger Moore as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. Although the title is adapted from Ian Fleming's short story "From a View to a Kill", the film is the fourth Bond film after The Spy Who Loved...
, Jaws from The Spy Who Loved Me
The Spy Who Loved Me (film)
The Spy Who Loved Me is a spy film, the tenth film in the James Bond series, and the third to star Roger Moore as the fictional secret agent James Bond. It was directed by Lewis Gilbert and the screenplay was written by Christopher Wood and Richard Maibaum...
and Moonraker
Moonraker (film)
Moonraker is the eleventh spy film in the James Bond series, and the fourth to star Roger Moore as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. The third and final film in the series to be directed by Lewis Gilbert, it co-stars Lois Chiles, Michael Lonsdale, Corinne Clery, and Richard Kiel...
, Elektra King
Elektra King
Elektra Vavra King is a fictional character, and primary antagonist in the 1999 James Bond film The World Is Not Enough. She is played by Sophie Marceau.- Fictional character history :...
and Renard from The World Is Not Enough
The World Is Not Enough
The World Is Not Enough is the nineteenth spy film in the James Bond film series, and the third to star Pierce Brosnan as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. The film was directed by Michael Apted, with the original story and screenplay written by Neal Purvis, Robert Wade and Bruce Feirstein. It...
, Auric Goldfinger
Auric Goldfinger
Auric Goldfinger is a fictional character and the main antagonist in the James Bond film and novel Goldfinger. His first name, Auric, is an adjective meaning of gold...
and Oddjob from Goldfinger
Goldfinger (film)
Goldfinger is the third spy film in the James Bond series and the third to star Sean Connery as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. Released in 1964, it is based on the novel of the same name by Ian Fleming. The film also stars Honor Blackman as Bond girl Pussy Galore and Gert Fröbe as the title...
, and Baron Samedi from Live and Let Die
Live and Let Die (film)
Live and Let Die is the eighth spy film in the James Bond series, and the first to star Roger Moore as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. The film was produced by Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman...
. Players can customize multiplayer settings before playing.
However, one disadvantage to this is that the game will not save the alterations players make to the multiplayer mode.
Each version of the game differs significantly from the others. The PC version, for example, had fewer levels than the console versions and does not implement driving mode. It begins the plot right at Drake's Austrian castle, skipping over the French mission. Also, in this version, Rook dies much earlier on, in the astronaut training facility that Bond infiltrates. The Game Boy Advance version resembles the PC NightFire more than the console versions. However, the very general overall storyline and characters remain the same in all versions.
Reception
Reviews of the game have been positive. Many critics mentioned, it had a well thought out and consistent plot. Some say it is the best 007 game since GoldenEye 007 and that it has similarities with MoonrakerMoonraker (film)
Moonraker is the eleventh spy film in the James Bond series, and the fourth to star Roger Moore as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. The third and final film in the series to be directed by Lewis Gilbert, it co-stars Lois Chiles, Michael Lonsdale, Corinne Clery, and Richard Kiel...
s story. Many reviewers praised the accurate James Bond model, as they said it is very realistic. It proved popular with customers and in December 2004 a Greatest Hits edition was released for the PlayStation 2, and copies are still in shops to date. The game has sold over 4 million copies, supassed only by Goldeneye and Agent Under Fire.
Reviews toward the game have also pointed to the realistic animation of the James Bond character. In addition to this, graphically most users have also positively commented on the fact that James Bond and Pierce Brosnan look and move so much alike. However, while the reviews have been generally positive, some critics believe that the main negative aspect of the game is its relatively short length. Critics also noted that Nightfire does attempt to steer away from previous Bond games (notably GoldenEye) and add a more interesting story line.
Critics also derided the game's bots, as having difficulty navigating through the multiplayer maps; probably because of this, bots are not available in one of the maps at all.