The 90s were a golden time, when developers had an eye for history-making games. Agent 64: Spies Never Die was revealed during the PC Gaming Show, and now has a demo available. This retro-inspired first-person shooter is very clearly inspired by a very specific game, one that changed the face of shooters and multiplayer forever: Goldeneye.
A trailer was debuted during the PC Gaming Show. Agent 64: Spies Never Die is a game all about style and substance. The style is in its visual presentation, with blocky 64-bit textures portraying a retro and nostalgic world, one that focused on gameplay over graphics and where gameplay could go. The substance was in its gameplay, and how a game can reward a player with excellent gameplay that keeps them coming back for more. The trailer showcases a familiar yet old-fashioned near-future world, one with plenty of bad guys to shoot and an abundance of weapons to use. The trailer sees various environments and enemies, and a solid amount of explosions. One interesting feature teased is a campaign edition, which appears to challenge players to craft their own campaign missions for others to try. There wasn’t much else revealed during the trailer, which includes the story. For the story, all that was teased was “Protect the future against the phantoms of the past.” The trailer concludes with the announcement that a demo is now available on Steam, and shows a small N64 replica in-game.
Call it a strong sensation of nostalgia or the yearning for games to be the rebellious and wacky medium they once were, but Agent 64: Spies Never Die, even in its current state, is an automatic buy for me. There was a sensation of thrill, fun, exploration, and wonder that the 5th generation of consoles provided that rings strongly, even today. Of course, games today are better than they ever have been, and audiences today have far more experiences to see, but there was this strong sense of pure fun and wonder that games once had that made them more exciting and ambitious. The fun was to conquer a level, defeat a boss, and battle competitively with your friends to create memories and sensations that stay with you, even in the toughest of times. Agent 64: Spies Never Die isn; ‘t looking to be a game that recaptures the past but a game that seems to bring about the feelings we need in this day and age.
