Agent Under Fire Console Comparisons

Agent Under Fire is unique in being the only Bond game of the sixth generation to be exclusively developed for the PlayStation 2. A downsized version of the PS2 team would go and port this game over to the GameCube and Xbox with interesting results.
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Will be updated over time.

General:

Resolution:

PS2
(640x448)

GCN w/ Deflicker Filter
(640x448)

Xbox w/Deflicker Filter
(640x480)

The PlayStation and GameCube versions play in a 10:7 aspect ratio. The Xbox version crops it into a 4:3 aspect ratio. 

This is also the only time I'll use screenshots with the deflicker (blur) filter present as to make the screenshots more equal. It's not to be mistaken with anti-aliasing which these consoles couldn't really do.

 

GCN/Xbox Magazine Doubling Gold Award:

Despite not being advertised, one of the gold awards you unlock before Forbidden Depths also doubles the capacity of your weapons in the vehicle levels. This is exclusive to the GameCube and Xbox versions of the game.

Precious Cargo:

Normal:

KA-57S: 50-450

CH-6: 6-0

Shotgun: 8-40

Gold Award:

KA-57S: 100-400

Shotgun: 16-32

Forbidden Depths:

Normal:

KA-57S: 50-700

CH-6:  6-Unlimited

Shotgun: 8-16

RCH-1: 1-3

Gold Award:

KA-57S: 100-650

CH-6:  12-∞*

Shotgun: 16-8

RCH-1: 2-6

*Normally you start off with 6 but it is possible to have 12 rockets at once. 

Reflection Effects:

PS2

GCN

Xbox

The metal reflection texture is more visible on GameCube and Xbox. More so in the former than the latter.

Flare Effect:

PS2

GCN/Xbox

Throughout the game various light sources feature this unique flare effect. Ranging from LEDs like these to the panels you use the Q-Remote/Q-Decryptor on. These go absent in the GamcCube and Xbox ports.

Grapple Points:

PS2

Xbox

GCN

Grapple points no longer have a flowing glow effect on them on GameCube. But the glow effect might be too visible on Xbox sometimes.

Upgraded Xbox Textures:

Only a few textures were upgraded when ported over to Xbox. Namely the faces of Bond, Zoe, and Natayla are now twice as big than the PlayStation/GameCube versions.

 

Bloch in particular doesn't just get an upgraded face but the textures for his body also got bigger textures. This does come with a change of color for his boots which are now brown instead of black.

Bad Layering:

PS2/Xbox

GCN

Models may sometimes appear over the windows they're supposed to be behind.

PS2

GCN/Xbox

And sometimes they won't appear at all.

Helicopter Presence:

In Night of the Jackal, Fire & Water, and Mediterranean Crisis, the sound of the gunship you fight is supposed to pan to any direction depending on where it is from Bond's POV. But on GameCube and Xbox, this is broken and only plays in Mono or one channel meaning you can only hear it as if it were in front of you at all times.

16-bit Color Depth:

Dithering is present in the PlayStation and GameCube versions of the game. It appears as dots on the screen that represent shading which normally wouldn't have been visible back then on older displays with composite cables and CRTs that would've blended it seamlessly.

For PlayStation, you can see this anytime during vehicle levels and FMVs.

But on GameCube, the entire game runs at 16-bit color instead of 24-bit color like Xbox or PlayStation. What makes it worse is that GameCube's method of dithering can flickering on CRTs far more often than PlayStation 2 games with their use of dithering so a blur filter is used to partially hide these dots at the cost of sharpness.

GameCube Loads:

PS2/Xbox

GCN

The GameCube version lacks a loading icon.

GameCube Knockback:

Present only in the very first release of the GameCube version. Knockback is accidently enabled in the single player missions so explosions and gunship fire will push or launch you like in the multiplayer.

Xbox Slowdown Bug:

Whenever you transition to an on-foot map from the main menu, the game tries to run the very first section of any mission/multiplayer map in 60fps, bypassing the 30fps cap present everywhere else. The problem with this is that the Xbox port is only optimized to run at 30fps and thus massive slowdown occurs as the game fails to reach 60fps except during very light moments.

The reason for this is that this port does not feature a double buffered v-sync or frame-skipping technique the other consoles use where they divide the frame rate in order to maintain the same speed.

 

Idle Animations:

During vehicle levels (specifically the on-rails segments), the animations for when you're not firing a weapon and just holding them are missing on GameCube and Xbox. This results in them being dead still and looks odd when aiming.

Main Menu:

Title Screen:

PS2/Xbox

GCN

PS2

GCN/Xbox

Copyrights updated to 2002.
GameCube version adds the typical "Licensed by Nintendo."
Agent Under Fire logo moved down a bit on Xbox.

"Press the START button" simplified to "Press START."

Mission Select:

PS2

GCN/Xbox

A difficulty option was added to the mission select. It can still be switched in the options menu just like on PlayStation.

Multiplayer Setup:

PS2/GCN

Xbox

Player count removed on Xbox.

Multiplayer Menu:

PS2

GCN

Xbox

On Xbox, players joining is now an opt-in system determined after the setup instead of during. This affects the match type selection as well as it doesn't bar you if you don't have enough controllers plugged in.

An option for bots is now available for non-PlayStation systems.
The page changing options was removed.
The Agent player name was changed to all caps.

Trouble in Paradise:

Rapid Fire P2K:

Exclusive only to this level, the P2K's has been given an upgrade to its firing rate. It now fires at a rate of 0.04 instead of 0.2 like in the PS2 version.

The upgrade is likely an accident as the GameCube/Xbox version is supposed to have the P2K fire at a rate of 0.40 instead.

Orange Flowers:

PS2

GCN/Xbox

Some foliage was made invisible when viewed from the front.

Crane:

PS2

GCN/Xbox

The crane's transparency was fixed.

Lights:

PS2

GCN/Xbox

The light effects were toned down. Making them smaller and no longer cause the geometry to go transparent when they shine over it.

Submarine:

PS2

GCN/Xbox

The submarine in Trouble in Paradise/Poseidon is missing a shine effect that makes it look wet.

Sharks:

Exclusive to the ports is this easter egg. Just press the action button on this "button" and the sharks will shoot out lasers.

Bad Diplomacy:

Missing Geometry:

PS2

GCN/Xbox

Part of the architecture behind Bond is missing.

Stained Glass:

PS2

GCN/Xbox

All the windows are just transparent. Some lit-up windows were also removed.

Cold Reception:

Shiny Piano:

PS2

GCN

Xbox

The lobby piano and stool are missing their shine effect. It was also made redder in the Xbox version.

Seats:

PS2

GCN/Xbox

The transparency on the bottom of the seats are broken.

Night of the Jackal:

Balcony:

PS2

GCN/Xbox

PS2

GCN/Xbox

You can't see through this balcony anymore.

Elevator Lights:

PS2

GCN/Xbox

The elevator button doesn't light up anymore. The ceiling lights are also no longer dimmed like they were on PlayStation.

Streets of Bucharest:

Tinted Windows:

PS2

GCN/Xbox

The DB5's window tinting was removed.

Fire & Water:

Reworked Background:

PS2

GCN/Xbox

The sea level has risen. The edges of the skybox now include silhouetted mountains(?) 

 

Poseidon:

Q-Remote Range:

PS2/Xbox

GCN

The range of the cloning terminals has dramatically increased on GameCube.

Evil Summit:

Steam:

PS2

GCN/Xbox

The steam effect is broken, losing all color and transparency in the process.

Multiplayer:

Leaderboards:

PS2

GCN/Xbox

GCN/Xbox

Whenever you get fragged, a leaderboard will appear. You will also be required to press A/FIRE to respawn immediately which isn't necessary on PlayStation as it does it automatically.

Harbor Doors:

PS2

GCN/Xbox

PS2

GCN/Xbox

Harbor has had its doors removed. Presumably because it would've interfered with the bot pathfinding.

TL;DR:

PlayStation 2:

Pros:

• Only version without a deflicker filter.
• All effects present.
• All lighting present.
• Least compressed audio.

Cons:

• Worst performing version.
• Vehicle segments run at 30fps.
• Requires multi-tap for 3+ players.
• No bots in multiplayer.
• On-foot levels are jaggy looking due to field-rendering (game runs at an alternating 640x224.)
  

GameCube:

Pros:

• Vehicle segments run at 60fps.
• Added bots for multiplayer.
• Bigger FOV

Cons:

• On-foot levels use deflicker filter.
• Most effects broken or missing.
• Simplified lighting.
• Runs entirely at lower color depth (16-bit) than other versions.
• Worst audio.
• Level fade transitions are missing.
• Worst quality FMVs in vehicle levels.
• Missing animations in vehicle levels.
  

Xbox:

Pros:

• Partial 480p support (vehicle segments only.)
• Vehicle segments run at 60fps.
• Added bots for multiplayer.
• No low-pass filter applied on audio.

Cons:

• On-foot levels run at 30fps or below.
  
• Uses deflicker filter.
• Most effects broken or missing.
• Badly scaled HUD.
• Simplified lighting.
• Slowdown during initial run of certain maps. Map reload necessary to restore proper speed.
• Cropped FMVs in vehicle levels.
• Missing animations in vehicle levels.