Agent 64: Spies Never Die (v1004)

A blocky spy thriller with a sharp 1990s console sensibility, Agent 64: Spies Never Die turns secret-agent fantasy into a brisk, objective-driven first-person shooter. You play John Walter, a globe-trotting operative hunting the criminal mastermind Dominic Pulp through high-rise offices, icy installations, museums, underground ruins, and more. Its world is knowingly pulpy rather than grim, pairing dramatic international espionage with chunky visuals, exaggerated action, and the kind of mission structure that rewards learning a level inside out. The result feels like a lost era of split-screen shooters rebuilt with modern conveniences.

Each of the 14 campaign assignments mixes firefights with specific operational goals: accessing computers, recovering intelligence, rescuing bystanders, and finding routes through guarded facilities. Enemies put up enough resistance to make careless runs costly, while weapons and level layouts encourage strafing, using cover where available, and prioritizing threats instead of simply charging forward. Solo players can tackle the story alone, but online and local split-screen co-op make the missions especially enjoyable when partners divide objectives and cover different angles. Three difficulty settings substantially alter the experience, adding extra tasks and expanding accessible sections on the harder modes, so replaying missions reveals more than a tougher damage model.

Its greatest strength is how seriously it takes replay value. Time goals, challenges, and unlockable Paradox modifiers let players enable deliberately strange effects such as oversized heads, altered projectile speed, melee-focused disarms, or removed reloads, while Contracts remix familiar spaces under special rules. Competitive multiplayer supports local play and online matches with up to eight human participants plus bots, alongside customizable Deathmatch, briefcase-carrying, and zone-control modes. Anyone who misses the mission design and couch competition of GoldenEye 007 or Perfect Dark should feel immediately at home, though newcomers benefit from starting on the standard Agent setting before chasing the deeper difficulty variants.