Agent 64: Spies Never Die Reviews
Agent 64: Spies Never Die is a fun shooter that goes above and beyond to act as an accurate facsimile of Nintendo 64 shooters, particularly Goldeneye.
Agent 64 manages to capture some of the charm from GoldenEye 007, including gunplay that feels right at home on mouse and keyboard. Still, there are some rough edges that detract from the experience, including boring story objectives and poor multiplayer map design.
Even if it expects fond memories of GoldenEye 007 to get players on board, Agent 64 offers a solid, if unremarkable, retro experience with a strong amount of content.
"Agent 64: Spies Never Die is a loving homage to Nintendo 64-era shooters like GoldenEye 007 and Perfect Dark, blending retro polygonal aesthetics with modernized controls and a working four-player online mode. Generic enemy AI and a somewhat bland interface hold it back, but fans of classic spy-action shooters willing to tackle every difficulty tier will find plenty to enjoy."
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Agent 64: Spies Never Die unfortunately doesn’t enhance anything; it is a retro game and plays as such. Don’t get me wrong, it’s good fun and has a lot of content, but don’t expect days of gameplay. It’s a solid, fun retro title; if that is your genre, jump on in and relive the golden era of gaming.
Agent 64 is an almost perfect game. It offers some of the most satisfying gunplay in recent releases, despite drawing from games of the late nineties. Gameplay is addictive and offers more features than games with expensive budgets.
Agent 64: Spies Never Die is an almost ill-advised exercise in extremely specific nostalgia, veritable catnip for Millennials like me. One person put forth a worthy spiritual successor to some of the ’90s and early aughts certified sleepover classics, warts and all. It comes highly recommended for those who can still get down with the aesthetics and jank of games from nearly 30 years ago.
Agent 64: Spies Never Die is an impressive retro shooter with plenty of modern touches across the visuals, music, level design, and gameplay. It'll be a great time for anyone who grew up playing late 90's shooters.
Agent 64 is successful in replicating a lot of the look, feel, and swagger of Goldeneye, but when it comes to putting it into practice, at least when it comes to singleplayer, it doesn’t come close. And for me, the fact that the actual mission design falls so short made all of its successes feel superficial, even if, on paper, it succeeds more than it fails. You can take from that what you want. Maybe if multiplayer is what you’re showing up for, it will scratch the itch. I’d rather just disavow any knowledge of Agent 64.
I really liked Agent 64: Spies Never Die. Sure, it’s limited in scope, and Xbox owners can already play excellent remastered versions of both Perfect Dark and GoldenEye 007, but that didn’t stop me from having a blast with this surprisingly well-put love letter to Rare’s legendary shooters. It faithfully recreates their physics, controls, and mechanics, while adding just enough quality of life improvements and modern visual flourishes to make it feel like much more than a fan project.
Agent 64: Spies Never Die likely won't win you over unless you have played and enjoyed the games that inspired it. If you don't have a history with GoldenEye 007 or Perfect Dark, I wouldn't recommend you try it because the art style and gameplay will feel foreign compared to any first-person shooter you've played since 2000. That said, if you do enjoy the outdated jank of those games, you'll get a not-as-good experience, but something you can play with friends and have a good enough time in. This game is banking on you having the nostalgia to enjoy this, and if you do, you'll likely be content with it, but maybe not fall in love.
Agent 64: Spies Never Die not only recreates the experience of playing GoldenEye 007 and Perfect Dark on the N64, but it is a reminder of why they are among the best games of all time.