If you're at conflict every time a game debuts on multiple platforms, this column is for you. The Head-to-Head series of articles cuts through all the different takes the editors have on the games, compares the facts, and presents you with one uniform opinion on all the versions.
James Bond 007 in...Agent Under Fire (PlayStation 2, GameCube, Xbox)
EA's ongoing exclusive contract with 007 license holders Danjaq is quite a coup, if you consider the amount of copies Rare's GoldenEye 007 sold on N64. Unsure about how more mature content would do on the console, Nintendo dedicated very little promotion to the title and yet GoldenEye sold millions based on word of mouth and license name alone. When MGM and EA teamed up to deliver a game based on the movie Tomorrow Never Dies, it didn't matter that the feel, look, and quality of the title were nowhere near that of GoldenEye. People bought it -- and as long as the movie franchise continues to go strong, people will continue to buy the games. But EA's got a contingency plan as well. Starting with Agent Under Fire, EA is separating the games from the movie franchise. Tough the game retains the brand name and the spirit of 007, the "James Bond in..." games don't have to be based on the same storylines and give game developers more freedom to include original gameplay elements that look like Bond, but haven't necessarily appeared in a Bond movie or novel.
Though initially developed on PS2, EA has ported 007 to Xbox and GameCube as well. This article is designed to let you know which version you should buy if you own multiple platforms.
Control
Agent Under Fire's controls fall somewhere in between modern console first-person shooters and GoldenEye. You can independently move your aim via the right control stick, and move the character with the left stick -- if you choose to set it up that way. If you're a veteran FPS gamer, the default setup is a little confusing at first as it ignores standard first-person shooter control configurations in favor of a more outdated scheme that heralds back to the "single analog" days. But EA was nice enough to include four different configurations, including the better dual analog setup, so there should be a control scheme for everyone.
There is no doubt that gaming consoles are converging when it comes to controller design, so porting the PS2's control to the Xbox and GameCube has proven a very easy task. While the PS2 version lets you strafe via its two extra shoulder buttons, the function is moved to the analog sticks on Xbox and GameCube. The shoulder buttons on both consoles are used to shoot (and for the manual aim), effectively duplicating the basic feel of a gun trigger on the right button. Alt fire is located on the black Xbox button and Z on the GameCube, the D-Pad is used for weapon/gadget switching, with Xbox's additional white button duplicating the weapon cycling function. In the end, all three versions control pretty much the same, although it must be said that the analog shoulder buttons on Xbox and GameCube feel more appropriate, especially during the game's driving portions (where the shoulder buttons act as gas and brake). The only downer in all three versions is the inability to adjust pitch and yaw in the single-player "quest" mode. This sadly prevents you from adjusting the controls further to your liking as the default rotation is a bit on the slow side.
Winner: Tie (PS2, GameCube, Xbox)
Turn the page to see a comparison of multiplayer and sound.
Multiplayer
Luckily, the ability to adjust your pitch and yaw is built into the game's multiplayer mode, along with a slew of other character and gameplay options. As a matter of fact, Agent Under Fire's multiplayer options are solid all around and definitely worth a look if you're into split-screen battles. Since EA had some more time to tweak the game, the GameCube and Xbox versions have received a slight upgrade in the multiplayer department: bots. Nothing dramatic, mind you -- you can't battle a horde of bots with your three buddies. Instead, bots are used as stand-ins when a human player is not available. So while you can only play Agent Under Fire's Top Agent tag mode with three or four players on PS2, the Xbox and GameCube versions support single player combat against up to three bots in both Combat Training and Top Agent. All three games feature Combat Training, Protect the Flag, Top Agent, and Golden Gun multiplayer options, a slew of modifiers such as Golden Bullet, Low Gravity, Full Arsenal, and more, as well as 12 arenas.
While the PS2 version slows down a lot during multiplayer combat and requires a multitap for four-player battles, the Xbox and GameCube versions fare much better. The GameCube version in particular proved to be the most multiplayer friendly, thanks to smooth framerates and extremely quick stage load times. Nothing is more annoying than waiting for a level to load when you're ready to blow your friends to smithereens. The Xbox version actually has longer load times than the PS2 original, while the GameCube multiplayer stages load in less than half the time.
Winner: GameCube
Sound
Monty Norman's James Bond fanfare remains one of the most recognizable movie themes around and EA made a wise choice paying the extra cash for the license to use the music in Agent Under Fire. (In case you're wondering, it was not included in The World is Not Enough game for N64.) But the "too much of a good thing" rule applies here too, as most people who've played Agent Under Fire complain that the theme is overused to the point where you don't want to hear "tadaa da daaaa!" anymore. Every time you open a door or unlock something, the fanfare sounds without mercy. The sound effects are good overall and the three versions sound the same when played back on two-channel TVs. Gamers with surround sound systems will once again find that the Xbox version's Dolby Digital provides the best audio experience (even if the game once again lacks a low frequency effects channel). The sound separation on the Xbox version outperforms the (analog) stereo surround on the PS2, but the developers of the PlayStation 2 version actually did a fine job at using the rear channel to let you hear opening doors, alarms, and ambient noise behind you. I'm not sure how long Nintendo is planning to keep Factor 5's DPLII sound tools out of developers' hands, but this is one game that could have definitely benefited from surround separation -- whether it's Dolby Pro-Logic or Dolby Pro-Logic II. The GameCube version, which runs in two-channel stereo (without the neat surround effects of the PS2 game), comes in third in the audio department.
Winner: Xbox version
Turn the page to see which version is graphically the best.
Graphics
Agent Under Fire isn't a bad looking game. The architecture is fairly complex on most of the levels and there are some nice reflection and specularity effects. The polygon models and effects remain unchanged in the Xbox and GameCube versions, but the two later releases look a bit better than the PS2 original. The flicker is gone, jaggies have been reduced, and some of the more over-the-top colors have been toned down to make the game look more realistic. Sadly, EA didn't fix the one thing that really needed fixing in the visual department: the yellow pellet-like gun fire animations. The bullets fly so slowly, I often wonder why the enemy drones don't just simply step out of the way. At the risk of sounding like a freak, I'll just say that the "kills" aren't satisfying enough because of the slow bullets and the delayed reactions of the victims. The framerate in the PS2 version tends to chug in wide-open areas, a flaw that has been fixed for the most part in the two ports. Oddly enough, the Xbox version now chops up in completely different areas to the point where it appears to be the most unstable of the three. The GameCube version's FMV clips are expectedly lower quality than the PS2 and Xbox movies, but the GameCube version's smooth framerate (with slight drops in the driving portions) still makes it the best looking out of the bunch.
Note that the screenshots of the Xbox version are taken with the help of the dev kit's built-in capture tool (so they appear sharper than the other shots, which were captured with an external tool since Nintendo and Sony don't offer similar devices).
Unlike most other EA games, Agent Under Fire doesn't offer 16x9 widescreen support for HDTV and DTV sets. Neither the PS2 nor the GameCube version supports 480p (progressive scan) -- the Xbox version seems to have some sort of bug that changes the signal (it will reset the video signal and switch between 480p and 480i between missions. Weird).
Winner: GameCube
Feature | PlayStation 2 | Xbox | GameCube |
Media/Size | 1 DVD (4.7GB) | 1 DVD (9 GB) | 1 GCD (1.5GB) |
Stages | 12 | 12 | 12 |
Multip. Arenas | 12 | 12 | 12 |
Multiplayer | 4 (multi-tap) | 4 | 4 |
Resolution | 640x480 | 640x480 | 640x480 |
Progressive scan | No | Yes & No | No |
Widescreen | No | No | No |
Sound | Stereo Surround | Dolby Digital 5.0 | Stereo |
Control configs | 4 | 4 | 4 |
Initial load time | 50 sec | 33 sec | 28 sec |
Avg. level load time | 14 sec | 18 sec | 8 sec |
Multip. load time | 14 sec | 12 sec | 3 sec |
Volume control | 2 sliders | 2 sliders | 2 sliders |
Vibration | Yes (on/off) | Yes (on/off) | Yes (on/off) |
Difficulty settings | 3 | 3 | 3 |
Final Verdict
EA did a great job porting the original PS2 game to GameCube. Although it would have been nice to see some serious enhancements such as bump mapping, the improved framerate and smoother look is much appreciated. Sadly, the port's not perfect as the sound in the GCN version isn't quite up to par with the PlayStation 2 game. You won't notice it if you don't have a Pro Logic capable receiver, but take it into consideration if you're an audio nut and you value sound more than visuals. The Xbox port is a little sloppy when it comes to graphics and load times -- and outside the built-in Dolby Digital support, the game doesn't use any of the console's strengths to good effect. If you disregard the lack of surround sound in the GameCube version, Agent Under Fire GCN is clearly the best out of the bunch. Load times are shorter, the framerate is more stable, the flicker and jaggies of the PS2 version are pretty much gone, and the control setups work just fine. It would have been nice if EA could have fixed some of the things gamers complained about when they first played the PS2 game, but as it stands, Agent Under Fire still provides some much needed first-person action on Nintendo's neglected new console.