James Bond Theme Composed by Monty Norman

Release Date: July 16, 2002

            Promotional Release

     It's hard enough for composers who are not named John Barry to come in to the Bond film franchise and be embraced with open arms. On the video game side of things, well, no one cares that much really. There aren't many people who would take game developers to task for not utilizing a composer who could provide a proper Barry-emulated score in the run-and-gun format of the James Bond games. However, that doesn't keep the talented composers on this side of the franchise from dabbling in it from time to time. Such is the case with this title...the only Bond game in recent memory to arrive on the PC platform. While the music continues to match the high ferocity requirements of a first-person shooter, Anderson and Tymoschuk actually attempt to imbue the classy style of the film scores into this title, and the result, while never straying far from its video game roots, is an impressive attempt nonetheless.

     With the arrival of Pierce Brosnan to the franchise, the video game market for James Bond licensed titles has grown over the years. First was the still King of the Hill title of Goldeneye that helped launch the Nintendo 64 console system. A lame Playstation license of Tomorrow Never Dies came next, followed by the less-than-fantastic adaptation of The World is Not Enough for the Nintendo 64 and Playstation consoles. From that point on, Electronic Arts (who is the current holder of the license) decided to go for a more original approach, debuting two Playstation 2 first-person-shootings, Agent Under Fire and Nightfire, and finally going for the whole shebang with the quite delightful Everything or Nothing, which came out early this year. To prove just how big of a nerd I can be, I have played everyone of these titles, and  just a quick note for those interested, Goldeneye, Nightfire, and Everything or Nothing are the best.

     So that comprises the short form of the modern history of games based on the character of James Bond. Now it's time for a little explanation as to how exactly I have a review of this on here. When I first started this site way back in the late nineties, I had intended to review both mainstream releases and other scores of a more arcane nature. After all, you can find a review of Titanic anywhere, right? Can you find it here? Nope. But can you find a review of the music to the PC version of James Bond 007: Nightfire? You betcha! Getting the files is quite easy, especially if you have anything that can read Ogg Vorbis files (a music format that competes with MP3 but has yet to catch on in the mainstream). The music is simply laid out on your hard drive in a not-too-hard-to-find location. But this is a review and not a tech guide, and not bother e-mailing me as to how to do it, as I did it for my own personal reasons (and to be able to have a standard format in which to base this review).

     This is an all-synth score, but a generally good one. Save for the Gunbarrel cue, which pretty much has to be structured conventionally, the music handles its electronic origin with ease and manages to slip in more conventional references in ways that work within the heavy techno pounding that any good action game score comes with. Of course, there are more tension-building moments that occur whenever Bond (i.e. you the player) are skulking around various locales. These work well enough in typical fashion, but when all is said and done, the biggest selling point of the music is the constant inclusion of the Bond theme. Where Barry and even Arnold have grown somewhat tired of throwing it in all the time through their respective careers, there is no holding back here. This is a good thing though, since the main title song is not quite up to snuff and sounds nothing like a Bond song should. There are slight references to it throughout the music, but nothing quite in-your-face. How the music really works is with the little references to Bond music of the past (especially in music for a cutscene not included on here, which is a nice homage to Thunderball). There is even a reference to the funky 70s style that took hold of a few of the earlier scores in the Phoenix Rising cue.

     As with a lot of video game scores, this one suffers from some repetition and the whole experience is not totally cohesive with all the jumping of locales (none of which are really used to great effect besides the Japanese style in Uninvited Guests). Really, Nightfire for the PC is such a disappointment game-wise (the PS2 version is much, much better) that most will go without ever sampling this one. It's not a terrible shame since the music is completely serviceable and fun, if not much more. Those who have already plunkered down their hard-earned cash, however, might as well get some more mileage out of it.

     As video game scores go, this one is a winner, though sometimes only due to the continuing presence of the always delightful James Bond theme. Though unless you're a rabid fan, I wouldn't recommend the $20 need to purchase the game just to get the music. But if you're interested in the PC version, you'll at least get some nifty music files along with it.

1 - Gunbarrel (0:17)

2 - Main Title (4:41)

3 - Rendezvous in Austria (5:21)

4 - Airfield Ambush (6:47)

5 - Uninvited Guests (3:48)

6 - Phoenix Rising (5:08)

7 - Hidden Agenda (5:37)

8 - High Treason (6:15)

9 - Island Getaway (6:33)

10 - Zero Minus (5:02)

11 - Re-Entry (6:05)