Honestly, if you grew up with a PlayStation 2 or a GameCube, you probably remember the "Bond Era" of gaming. It was a strange time. We were all chasing the high of GoldenEye 007, and Electronic Arts was basically throwing everything at the wall to see what stuck. James Bond 007: Agent Under Fire was one of those experiments. It didn't have Pierce Brosnan’s face. It didn't follow a movie plot. It was just... its own thing. And you know what? It actually worked.
Most people forget that this game was originally supposed to be the PS2 port of The World Is Not Enough. When that got scrapped, EA Redwood Shores—the studio that eventually became the legendary Visceral Games—had to pivot fast. They built a brand-new Bond story from the ground up. It felt like a fever dream of 60s gadgets and early 2000s "X-treme" action. It was fast. It was loud. And it had a grappling hook that basically broke the game in the best way possible.
The Identity Crisis That Made It Great
Let’s talk about the "Not-Pierce Brosnan" in the room. In James Bond 007: Agent Under Fire, Bond looks like a generic action hero. Legal issues with Brosnan’s likeness meant EA had to use a different model, though the voice actor (Andrew Bicknell) did a decent enough job trying to sound like the suave commander.
It feels weird at first. You're playing a Bond game, but you aren't playing the Bond of the time. However, this detachment from the movies gave the developers a weird amount of freedom. They didn't have to follow a script. They could just make a fun shooter.
The levels are pure distilled spy tropes. You start in a submarine base in Hong Kong, and before you know it, you’re in a high-speed chase through Bucharest. The pacing is breakneck. Unlike the more methodical GoldenEye or the later Everything or Nothing, this game felt like an arcade shooter. It was "007 on caffeine." The shooting was snappy, and the "Bond Moves"—those specific cinematic actions that gave you extra points—rewarded you for being stylish rather than just efficient.
The Q-Claw and the Death of Gravity
If you ask anyone what they remember about this game, they’ll say the Q-Claw.
Most shooters back then were very horizontal. You walked down hallways and shot guys. But James Bond 007: Agent Under Fire gave you a grappling hook masquerading as a cell phone. Suddenly, you were Spider-Man with a tuxedo. You could zip up to rafters, hide in the shadows, and rain down fire on unsuspecting guards. It was incredibly janky, sure, but it added a verticality that was rare for the time.
Then there was the Q-Decryptor. And the Q-Laser. Everything was a "Q-something." It felt like the devs were leaning into the absurdity of the gadget era. You weren't just a soldier; you were a walking Swiss Army knife.
Why the Multiplayer Was Secretly Elite
Everyone talks about Nightfire when they discuss Bond multiplayer, but James Bond 007: Agent Under Fire laid the groundwork.
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The maps were small and chaotic. "Town" and "Castle" were staples for any weekend sleepover in 2001. But the real game-changer? The jetpacks. Yes, actual jetpacks.
You haven't lived until you’ve been in a four-player split-screen match where everyone is flying around with rocket launchers while the frame rate chugs along at 15 frames per second. It was glorious. It was the kind of local multiplayer chaos that just doesn't exist in the era of matchmaking and skill-based lobbies. You could customize the weapon sets to be all "Phoenix International" rockets or just "Wolfram" pistols. It was simple, but it was incredibly replayable.
The Technical Weirdness of 2001
Looking back, the game is a fascinating time capsule. It used a modified version of the Quake III Arena engine (id Tech 3). That’s why the movement feels so slick.
It also featured some of the best driving missions of that hardware generation. EA had the Need for Speed guys helping out, and it showed. The BMW Z8 felt heavy and powerful. The "Precious Cargo" mission, where you’re protecting a car from a van with a mounted gun, was a genuine technical achievement for the PS2 launch window.
But it wasn't perfect. The AI was... well, it was 2001 AI. Guards would often stand still while you shot them from a balcony. The story, involving a villain named Nigel Bloch and a plot about cloning world leaders, was essentially a Saturday morning cartoon. It didn't have the grit of the Daniel Craig era or the prestige of the classic Connery films. It was pure pulp.
What Most People Get Wrong About Agent Under Fire
A lot of critics at the time dismissed it as a "placeholder" game. They said it was just something to fill the gap until a "real" Bond game came out.
I disagree.
James Bond 007: Agent Under Fire represents a specific moment in gaming history where "fun" trumped "realism." It didn't care about reload animations or tactical cover. It cared about whether you could blow up a tank while jumping a car over a bridge. It understood that the fantasy of Being Bond isn't about the paperwork—it's about the gadgets and the narrow escapes.
It also introduced the "007 Bonus" system. This was basically a checklist of cool things you could do in a level. Instead of just finishing the mission, you were encouraged to find the most "Bond" way to do it. Use the laser to open a lock? That's a Bond Move. Snipe a guy through a vent? Bond Move. It turned the game into a score-chaser, which added hours of replayability that most linear shooters lacked.
The Legacy of Malprave and Bloch
The villains were actually somewhat memorable, despite being original characters. Adrian Malprave was a cold, calculating corporate villain who felt like a precursor to the modern techno-villains we see now. The twist with Nigel Bloch—no spoilers, even for a 20-year-old game—was actually a pretty clever use of the cloning theme.
It's rare for a licensed game to create its own lore and have it stick. While we never saw these characters again, they fit the 007 universe perfectly. They were flamboyant, had ridiculous secret bases, and spoke in the kind of monologues that make you want to press the "fire" button immediately.
How to Play It Today
If you’re feeling nostalgic, playing James Bond 007: Agent Under Fire today is surprisingly easy, but there are some caveats.
- The Console Experience: The GameCube version is widely considered the best because of its stable frame rate and slightly better textures. The PS2 version is the "classic" experience, while the Xbox version offers the highest resolution.
- Emulation: If you’re using PCSX2 or Dolphin, the game scales beautifully to 4K. It reveals just how much detail the developers put into the character models, even if Bond doesn't look like Brosnan.
- The Controls: Be warned. Modern shooters use a standardized "dual-stick" layout. In 2001, we were still figuring it out. You might need to dive into the options menu to find a layout that doesn't feel like you’re rubbing your brain against a cheese grater.
The Verdict: Does It Hold Up?
Surprisingly, yeah.
It’s a short game. You can probably beat the whole thing in about five hours. But those five hours are packed. There’s no filler. No "open world" towers to climb. No microtransactions. Just mission after mission of pure action.
The music also deserves a shoutout. It’s a mix of the classic Monty Norman theme and early 2000s breakbeat electronica. It shouldn't work, but it captures that specific "millennium spy" aesthetic perfectly.
Actionable Next Steps for Fans and Collectors
If you're looking to dive back into this world, here is how to get the most out of it:
- Hunt for the Platinum Medals: Don't just finish the levels. Each level has a "Platinum" score requirement that unlocks cheats like "Golden Gun" or "Gravity Boots." This is where the real challenge lies.
- Try the "Bond Moves" Challenge: Play through a level without using a guide and see how many of the scripted "Bond Moves" you can trigger naturally. It changes how you perceive the level design.
- Multiplayer with Bots: If you don't have three friends handy, the game actually has decent bot support for its time. Crank up the bot difficulty and turn on the jetpacks for a chaotic afternoon.
- Check the Credits: Take a look at the names involved. You'll see a lot of people who went on to define the action-horror genre at Visceral Games. The DNA of high-intensity set pieces started right here.
James Bond 007: Agent Under Fire isn't the greatest Bond game ever made—that title usually goes to GoldenEye or Nightfire—but it is perhaps the most underrated. It was a bold, weird, gadget-filled experiment that proved 007 could survive, and even thrive, without a movie tie-in to lean on.
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Expert Insight: When playing the driving missions, remember that the physics are heavily influenced by the Need for Speed: High Stakes engine. Avoid excessive braking; instead, use the handbrake to initiate slides, which preserves your momentum—a key trick for hitting those tight Platinum medal time limits.