007 : Nightfire

James Bond 007: NightFire on PlayStation 2 is a first-person action adventure that treats the Bond license as a full original mission rather than an adaptation of one film. Bond is drawn into an investigation of Phoenix International and its influential owner, Rafael Drake, after a critical component for a United States space-defense platform is stolen. The stakes quickly climb from a New Year’s Eve operation in Paris to a global pursuit involving MI6, CIA allies, glamorous double agents and a plan codenamed NightFire. Pierce Brosnan’s likeness gives this PS2 Bond a familiar screen presence, while the game tells its own 007 story around him.

The campaign is built as 12 objective-led missions, beginning with the Paris Prelude and moving through an Austrian castle, Tokyo, a South Pacific island and the final confrontation above Earth. It does not confine Bond to ordinary corridor shooting. Briefings and changing objectives ask for evidence, rescue work, sabotage and infiltration as well as combat, and the levels regularly frame an encounter as a choice between a quiet approach and a direct assault. That variety gives the adventure its spy-film rhythm: one moment is about slipping past security, the next about escaping a collapsing situation with every weapon available.

Q’s equipment is central to the PS2 experience. Bond uses specialist tools alongside firearms: a decrypter can open secured systems, a laser watch can cut through hinges and locks, and his sunglasses can switch to night-vision or infrared functions for hazards and surveillance. The game also marks opportunities for context-sensitive action, so climbing, hanging, ledge movement and gadget use become part of reaching an objective rather than mere decoration. Completing missions well matters, too, since performance awards unlock further multiplayer options, character choices and gadget upgrades.

This is specifically a console version of NightFire, and its set pieces include forms of action absent from the Windows release. Bond takes the Aston Martin V12 Vanquish onto the road and, in one memorable sequence, beneath the water after it converts into a submarine. Other moments use turret shooting and vehicle piloting to break up the first-person missions. GameCube and Xbox players received the same broad Eurocom-developed console campaign, while the PC edition was a different Gearbox production with altered missions and no driving sections. The later Game Boy Advance game is another separate adaptation, condensing the premise into nine handheld objective-based levels rather than reproducing this PS2 campaign.

On a DualShock 2 controller, NightFire is designed around twin-stick first-person play: the left analog stick handles Bond’s movement while the right stick controls the view. The default scheme places manual aim on L2 and firing or gadget use on R1, with dedicated controls for cycling weapons and gadgets, alternate fire and other actions. There are separate control layouts when Bond is driving or using a rail-shooter weapon, which keeps the vehicle missions from feeling like standard on-foot encounters. The manual also supports control configuration, useful for anyone returning to the game after years away from the PS2.

Away from the campaign, the PS2 disc has a substantial local multiplayer mode with split-screen play, match customization, familiar Bond faces and computer-controlled opponents. Its scenarios range across free-for-all, team, flag and objective-focused modes, and solo-mission rewards feed back into what can be selected here. A Multitap can expand the local setup, while the PS2 version permits up to four AI bots in a match. That bot limit is one of the practical differences between the console editions: GameCube and Xbox can field up to six, and the PC game approaches multiplayer through Internet or LAN play instead of this living-room PS2 focus.

The multiplayer maps draw both on NightFire’s own locations and on the wider Bond imagination, making a simple deathmatch feel more like an after-hours tour of the series. Rules can be adjusted for time, score, team damage, weapons remaining on the ground and bot behavior, so the mode works whether the goal is a quick one-on-one duel or a crowded custom session. It is an especially fitting companion to the single-player game because the campaign’s medals give a reason to keep revisiting missions before returning to the multiplayer menu.

NightFire’s appeal on PS2 is the way it moves between the recognizable pieces of a Bond adventure without reducing them to a single gimmick. There are silenced pistols, explosives and heavy weapons, but also surveillance, stealth, gadgets, lavish enemy facilities and an Aston Martin escape. The result is a 2002 PlayStation 2 Bond game with a clearly defined identity: a cinematic, mission-based shooter whose strongest distinction is the console mix of espionage objectives, vehicle spectacle and customizable local multiplayer.