This remake isn't much more than CoD with a James Bond theme, and because of that it lives in the original's shadow.
This remake of the beloved N64 classic tries to duplicate that same magic the original had, but instead all it achieves is giving us a Call of Duty ripoff that has a James Bond theme. In no way, singleplayer or multiplayer, does this game do the original any justice nor does it compensate for the fact that we'll likely never see the original as a downloadable.
Gameplay, 6. There are several ways of controlling the game: you can use the normal Wii remote and nunchuk with motion controls, the zapper, the classic controller, or you could just go oldschool with the Gamecube controller. The game controls decently no matter what input you use.
The campaign is a little different from other FPSs on the market. It doens't feel like a generic military shooter and it isn't quite as linear as others but the game doesn't give you nearly as much freedom as the original did. Yes they allow you to use multiple paths but the game fails to give you that sense of freedom and sneakiness that it did on the N64 and instead all it does is try to combine the linearness of Call of Duty with the freedom of the original N64 classic. What GoldenEye's campaign does right is also what it does differently from most shooters, such as implementing stealth, but what it does wrong, and also disservices the classic, is try to be like Call of Duty when the game is most definitely not meant to be like it, like having regenerative health (albeit you can turn this off but unfortunately the game is designed for regenerative health), and scripted gameplay.
One of the key selling points of this game is the return of split-screen gaming. While the modifiers are nice the game ruins that by, once again, trying oh so desperately to be like Call of Duty.
If you were expecting the online MP to be like playing the orignal with your friends but with your own screen, you're in for a bitter disappointment. For this mode the developers didn't even seem to try to do things differently from, guess what? Call of Duty, except that it's totally barebones.
Presentation, 4. I'm gonna frank about this; the graphics are just plain awful. I don't care that this game's on the Wii because I know the Wii is capable of way better graphics than this. If you've ever followed me on the System Wars Forum here on GameSpot you'll know that I'm not big on having great graphics but dear God this game pushes the envelope. This is one of the only games I've ever played where the visuals actually negatively affected the gameplay. In many MP levels I could barley see anything because of how poor the graphics are. In fact, in any level that was dark at all I found myself struggling.
GoldenEye also lacks personality to a point where this game just feels straight up generic. There's no soul to the game whatsoever. The voice acting is ho-hum, the music is exactly what you'd find in literally any James Bond video game.
Value, 6. The singleplayer should last you about 10-12 hours. If you can get over the graphics the online multiplayer should give you some time to kill although it gets old quickly. If you can find three friends who can also get over the poor visuals to share one screen then the local MP might actually last you a while.
PROS
A better than average campaign despite some of it's glaring flaws
Some of the levels and maps will give you a nice nostalgic feeling of the 1997 classic
CONS
Copies Call of Duty in too many ways to count
Horrible graphics
No soul
Besides the graphics GoldenEye doesn't have any particular terrible flaws, but it also doesn't have much going for it either other than nostalgia. I hate to play the nostalgia card, but that's all this game really is. I don't think I could, in good conscious, recommend this game to anyone besides motion control fans. If you're not a motion controls fan then I recommend just playing the original, or if you wanna play this game anyway despite the terrible graphics, you just may be better off buying Reloaded. Please don't thumb down my review because you think I'm a Nintendo hater, or a motion control hater, or a Wii hater, or a GoldenEye (read my review of the original if you don't believe me) kind of hater. I just found this game to be a bitter disappointment.