The Best James Bond Games That Aren’t Goldeneye

As Bond mashup 007 Legends hits consoles and we await the release of Sam Mendes’ cinematic take on Bond with Skyfall, I thought it’d be a good opportunity to look back on the 007 video game franchise.

The MI6 agent has had a varied relationship with video games, with Goldeneye still being the golden example to beat. Arguably no game since has been quite as popular or highly regarded, but some have been great all the same. So rather than retread ground and tell you why Goldeneye is the best Bond game – cause let’s face it, you already know why – I thought I’d talk about the other good Bond games. Presented in order of release, here are the Bond games you should play which are not Goldeneye.

[Lionheart377]

Funny, I have played much Goldeneye. Was a HUGE Perfect Dark fan.

[ape007]

as legendary as ge007 was, perfect dark was better in everyway possible, except for those who did not like the non bond futuristic style

[Lionheart377]

Totally agree. Couldn't exist without Goldeneye, though.

[MaxXAttaxX]

GoldenEye nostalgia aside. Nightfire on PS2 was the better 007 game back in the day.

[Eyeco]

I Loved Goldeneye as a kid but going back to the game, it just hasn't aged all that well, in fact now that I'm older and have had the chance to play older generations of games,

All Goldeneye seems to be is a more simpler version of old PC psuedo 3d shooters like Wolfenstein but in souped up 64 bit graphics, also the controls are freaking awkward. When you compare Goldeneye to PC shooters of the time like Quake , Unreal and Half-Life it just hasn't held up as strong. And believe it all not it's influence on modern FPS is no where near as apparent as games like Half-Life or even Halo for that matter.

[ind1fference]

Same here

[Sizzon]

Had a blast with Nightfire on the PS2, it had 4 player split-screen :)

[Banok]

This is what I was going to say.

goldeneye had 4 player, but nightfire had bots which made a huge difference.

nostalgia aside nightfire was a better game. but for its time nothing beats goldeneye ;)

[wingman32x]

Loved Nightfire. Until then, no other Bond game had the magic that Goldeneye had IMO, but this game came a lot closer to it than people thought it would. I remember my brother and I trying to take each other out with the heat seeking rocket launcher that had controllable bullets. Had a freakin blast with those.

Definitely my favorite post goldeneye game.

[geth1gh]

Yes!!

So many hours were waisted on 4 player split screen. Not to mention as the article said, the single player was just as awesome.

Loved the mp level with the ski lifts that went around the 2 main bases. (not the one that went over the canyon, although that one was sweet too) And the freaking remote control rockets and the brief case sentry gun. And oddjobs hat.

Come to think of it I think I liked this game better than golden eye.

[Saturne3]

From Russia with love is also a pretty decent bond game.

[vortis]

It was good but it was a downgrade from Everything or Nothing.

They replaced the fighting with QTEs and the driving/vehicle segments were far less inspired.

The multiplayer was better but there was never anyone to play with and they removed the co-op...absolutely the worst thing they could have done.

[ape007]

the best bond game after ge007 was undoubtedly The World Not Enough N64 version, amazing game, the ps1 version wasn't near as good, it's actually a different build and engine than the N64 game

[Ashunderfire86]

No way!!! That game was a downgrade. I say Agent Under Fire and the Goldeneye Reboot was the best bond games. I love the grappling hooks in the multiplayer of Agent Under Fire, they were very fun to use lol!!! Goldeneye reboot went back to its roots from the original, which is still the best one. Perfect Dark hands down beats them all including that stupid Perfect Dark Zero launch game.

[Neo Nugget]

I really want a Nightfire HD remake that adds online multiplayer.

...while keeping 4 player splitscreen!

[Haha123]

Everything or Nothing and Agent Under Fire, damn those games were awesome in multiplayer

[Oldman100]

Jams Bont 700 is a pretty cool guy.

[GTRrocker666]

Nightfire is the best one i think.

[Rampaged Death]

Bought Blood Stone again with all the Skyfall hype. We need another third person Bond game and maybe Raven should be given the chance.

[Cam977]

You've just made me want it again! I have enough on my plate right now jnuding the Mw2 platinum trophy, U3: GOTY and Dark souls for the second time. I'll buy it sometime later again though.

[GamerElite]

how big is your plate. Size of a dinner plate

[Relientk77]

I love Agent Under Fire and Nightfire, great games

[Cam977]

Night fire = Classic! I have very find memories of MP on the cable-car and castle maps. I nee to buy it again.
Everything or Nothing = nice idea and better than some of the newer games!

Frwl = I really liked this launch too.

[Amplitude]

Oh N64 FPS games how i wish i could still play you... Nowadays they're impossible to control haha i just can't do it anymore.

[randomlyrossy]

They are a bit tough to go back to, makes it even sadder that Goldeneye XBLA remake was never released.

[Amplitude]

Lol somebody clearly disagreed with you because you said XBLA. lmao that's hilarious

[wnek9]

nightfire was second best to goldeneye imo

[thebudgetgamer]

James Bond Jr. was a solid game.

[P_Bomb]

Everything or Nothing FTW.

Good vehicle sections like the bike chase on the highway, good in-game Bond moment system, good set pieces like the free fall off the cliff, good cast. Just a good 3rd person cover shooter and melee mix, before Uncharted and Gears cornered the market.

[Qrphe]

There have been much better James Bond games better than and after GoldenEye. The only reason why many are attached to GoldenEye so much is due to nostalgia.

[thehitman]

Nightfire is easily the BEST 007 game better than golden eye by far. The memories and fun on splitscreen multiplayer almost no game compares and amount of time i spent playing the campaign doing all the 007 missions.

[wenaldy]

Everything or Nothing and Nightfire.

[RGB]

Looking back and playing them again. I actually think GoldenEye was given a little too much credit. The variety in missions on a single player aspect was very limited and the multi-player, although fun, didn't have that many good maps.

The World Is Not Enough (N64)
007: Nightfire
007: Everything or Nothing

I think these 3 had more to offer.

The World Is Not Enough gave the player more options with gameplay; stealth was dramatically improved, the gadgets were useful and fun to use, plus the missions had much better variation. Yes the guns were limited and possibly the gadgets also but saturation is also a bad thing. I disagree with comments regarding the multi-player. Yes it offered less content but the maps made up for that.

007: Nightfire was literal perfection. The gameplay variation is probably the best ever in Bond games (probably on par with Everything or Nothing) and it was extremely enjoyable to play. The multi-player was spot on as well, plenty of modes and weapons sets. The game had a few good maps, not many but the good ones were real good. More interesting characters would of given it a bit of a push though. MP on PC was immense.

007: Everything or Nothing was near perfection for me, However, the games lackluster multi-player lets it down. The co-op was great and I loved the idea of having the single player campaign run with the co-op but the missing multi-player hurts this game for me, especially after Nightfire's epic job. I say missing because it was probably the worse MP for the Bond series at the time.

The single player was great, fantastic use of the license with great cast additions. The campaign offered everything and more, gameplay was fun in all variations, it had some of the best gadgets ever, going for the awards and records had purpose thanks to the great unlocks plus the co-op give it that edge that other Bond games lacked. The MP still pees me off though, what a stupid decision by EA.

[vortis]

You know what's crazy, if they re-released Everything or Nothing for today's consoles half the game would be spaced out in episodic DLC or it would have a ton of disc-locked DLC.

I agree about all the cool unlocks and trophies, gave gamers a great reason to go back and play the game.

I was little opposite of you about Nightfire's single-player, it didn't really do it for me...especially that end sequence in space, it seemed really Moonraker-ish. Still, the MP in Nightfire really saved it and it was highly replayable. I think I ended up enjoying the MP in Nightfire more than the single-player.

[SovereignSnaKe]

-I must have been starving for more Goldeneye in 2000 because I really liked The World is not Enough, and Agent Under Fire was the third (technically) Launch game I got for the Gamecube, but I think over all Nightfire left the most lasting memory of all those listed in the article! :)

[bumnut]

Licence to kill on the spectrum was the best :)

[MastaPiff]

I think your fav Bond game depends when you came of age for MP shooters. I remember dropping my very 1st tax return on a N64, 4 controllers & Goldeneye. After that, my mom had to kick my friend's out cuz they wouldn't go home. Before Goldeneye there weren't MP 4 splitscreen shooters like that (or they weren't very good). I think Goldeneye kind of innovated they more complex strategies involved in FPS's. Most FPS's before this were corridor or empty room shootouts. Goldeneye was 1 of the first to let you drop from above on oppenents, letting others chase then hide in a spot to get behind ppl, etc. I think THAT'S where Goldeneye innovated that ppl fail to realize or give it due credit for.

[abzdine]

almost all JB on PS2 were good but i remember the Nightfire and one before that were good and i enjoyed playing them.

[tigertron]

Everything Or Nothing, Nightfire, Agent Under Fire and Bloodstone.