GoldenEye Rogue Agent was a game I did a review on back many years ago on my channel where I played the Nintendo DS version but I have never ever taken a look at the real version of the game and then comparing it to the Nintendo DS version. Looking back I do respect the Nintendo DS version more for it being the first proper First Person Shooter to appear on the two screen handheld console. Now I have removed the review of the Nintendo DS version because I don't feel happy with the way with some of my opinions and also have some things like the controls that I think have aged better then I originally thought. So I will be given a second and more honest thought with the Nintendo DS version of the game and see if it is truly better or worse than the console versions.
Anyway back during the days of the sixth generation of game consoles EA has been making quite a cash grab with various James Bond titles but however neither game was able to capture the same magic as the Nintendo 64 classic GoldenEye. In 2004 EA released GoldenEye Rogue Agent and there was no better example of being nothing more than a big cash grab as this game.
What you can tell that they are trying too hard to capitalize on the popularity of the hugely successful GoldenEye on the Nintendo 64 but however it has ultimately nothing to do with either the movie, novel or the Nintendo 64 game. Instead of playing as the iconic 007 Agent who instead is seen only in the intro mission, you are playing as an ex-MI6 who had his right eye shot off during his encounter with Dr No. During a training simulation sequence you fail the test and for whatever reason are held responsible for the death of 007 and resorting to violence and brutality and then kicked out of MI6. You then take on the offer to work for Auric Goldfinger's criminal organization SPECTRE against Dr No who has declared war on Goldfinger with also assistance from Pussy Galore and Oddjob. The term GoldenEye only comes from the main character's codename where he literally has a GoldenEye created by Francisco Scaramanga which gives him different abilities. How the game is supposed to take place makes little to no sense, you have the different James Bond characters from the films and novels like Goldfinger, Pussy Galore, Oddjob and Scaramanga that came out in the 60s and 70s and then you have Xenia Onatopp who was from the 90s and then you have the setting itself which is somewhat futuristic with aircraft and weapons that look like something from a Terminator movie rather than James Bond. What's worse is that while you do side with some Bond villains throughout the game the other Bond villains however act on their own accord just to see who is the vastly superior Bond villain of them all and you never get to take on MI6 or James Bond which is further disappointing. It makes the storyline play out like bad fanfiction at worst and it sort off removes the feeling of working alongside the iconic Bond villains.
Now the game itself is a First Person Shooter where you make your way through each level shooting down enemies that get in your way. The game uses elements of Halo 2 where it has Health regeneration and also the ability to dual wield small weapons like pistols like your sidearm which has unlimited ammo, sub-machine guns, shotguns which are the most useless shotguns in any shooting game because the damage they do even when dual wielded is so terrible that you are better off throwing stone bricks at their face instead. You also have other small weapons like MK2 Detonators which are pistols that shoot small explosives that can be detonators when they attach to a target Venom 200ml which stun a target, the Mag-Rail that can shoot through walls and also Grenades which you can throw if you don't have a gun equipped on the left hand. You also have Assault Rifles, Sniper Rifles, Miniguns and also Rocket Launchers which are two handed weapons and will drop or holster other small weapons that you have and Assault Rifles and Sniper Rifles have scopes on them allowing you to snipe enemies from distances.
Usually James Bond games are all about using various gadgets that can be used in some situations but instead of that this game plays out as a straight forward FPS game. You do have access to your GoldenEye powers where you have MRI Imaging which allows you to see enemies in cover which is handy with the Mag-Rail weapon, Hacking which allows you disrupt enemies' weapons and also turrets so that they attack enemies, a polarity shield which protects from damage for short time as well as sending out an energy discharge during melee encounters and lastly a magnetic field which allows you Jedi Force powers to send enemies flying to their death.
This game also uses a Rogue Bonus system where if you do certain actions during a mission you'll get a bonus. These include using traps on your enemies when you find one available to use which are pretty cool, killing enemies with melee attacks, using enemies as shields, getting perfect shots by shooting in the head and so on and combine that with the GoldenEye abilities it does give the gameplay some variety.
The vast majority of enemies you are just guards that utilize different guns against you but you do have some tanks and also some aircraft enemies that force you to use rocket launchers or other kinds of explosive weapons to take them down. The AI at least is reasonably clever as they do retreat and take cover and I do like that they often comment if you are either using your GoldenEye powers or reloading your weapons for example, only thing is that in some of the later levels the AI does get annoying when they are constantly strafing all around, I know it's kind of the point that they react to the player's playstyle but it can be tedious when are they just strafing around just to make them tedious to take down. I also find it funny that they sometimes use their own allies as shields as if that tactic would save them.
This presents an issue when you notice that the weapon spread is just ridiculous especially from the assault rifle and sub-machine guns that you will be using alongside the pistols for most of the entire game. The crosshair spreads out so far too quickly even when burst firing that it is just difficult to hit things meaning that you will be burning through your ammo quickly and having to swap. On that note you know how in every FPS game made by good developers the crosshair is meant to be placed in the centre of the screen showing where you are aiming at, well GoldenEye Rogue Agent decided to put the crosshair above centre by the upper third. It's like someone saw in a Halo game that the crosshair was below centre and decided to take that idea and do the complete opposite and it is just stupid that someone would think it would be a good design choice, thankfully the Nintendo DS version doesn't do this and have the crosshair in the centre where it should be which is one of the things that version does have over this.
The controls on the console versions of the game work fine and I like that on the Nintendo Gamecube version that to pick up other weapons you press A in combination of L or R buttons to equip weapons in ever your left or right hands. You can enable Auto-Aim and somewhat try to ignore that stupid crosshair placement and allow the Auto-Aiming to do the job even then your weapons will sometimes not hit an enemy or vehicle despite being an open wide space and exposed making the shooting more tedious or deliberately miss your target because the thing don't lock on properly.
The gameplay in GoldenEye Rogue Agent isn't all that good, using the GoldenEye abilities and also using the traps are good when you do get opportunities to use them but for the most part you are encouraged to using them and don't feel fully utilized as most of the time you are better off playing it as a standard First Person Shooter. There are about 9 missions in the game that will take and you will beat through all of these missions in about 5 hours or so unless you are playing on higher difficulties plus the game is very generous with checkpoints if you do end up getting killed. There is also a Multiplayer Mode but however you are limited to Split Screen Multiplayer as there is no AI Bot Support and the online play for the Xbox and PS2 versions have shut down in 2006 due to inactivity making the Multiplayer a rather worthless inclusion.
The graphics aren't too bad for a game released in 2004, the textures are nice, the models are pretty good even if they got some generic looking model for the likeness of James Bond. The explosions on the other hand look fantastic and it is just incredible to watch things explode on the screen, the animations are also pretty good incredible and so when enemies get sent flying. The game is capped at 30 FPS (25 on PAL versions) and it can maintain a steady framerate aside from when there are too much explosions going off at once which are only rare occurrences. The Soundtrack on the other hand while lacking the James Bond theme it is very generic at best and nothing that is honestly fitting or enjoyable to listen to and lastly the voice acting is rather passible at best.
GoldenEye Rogue Agent tries but yet it tries too hard not only being nothing more than a cash grab using the GoldenEye name to capitalize on the popular Nintendo 64 FPS game but yet having nothing to do with it what-so-ever and also adds in health regeneration, shields and other elements that make the game play more like a Halo game except worse. The crosshair is placed wrong, the gameplay focuses on more straight up run and gun than a James Bond game and the game can be very repetitive from start to finish. The story is a mess and it plays out like bad fanfiction at it's worst plus it never captures the feeling of wanting to work for the villains of the Bond universe and worse off you never go against MI6 for them dismissing you or against James Bond. Like imagine how better the game could have been if you tagged along with all of the Bond Villains against MI6. If you bought the game hoping that it would be just as amazing as GoldenEye for the N64 then you are in for massive disappointment and it is not worth getting if you have to pay more than £5 for it. It did a version for the Nintendo DS which honestly it plays really well for one of the first FPS games to be released on the Nintendo DS platform and soon I will be revisiting the Nintendo DS version and giving full honest opinion on it.
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Game Score: 5.0/10
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Game Title: GoldenEye Rogue Agent
Platform: Nintendo Gamecube
Developer: EA
Genre: First Person Shooter
Age Rating: PEGI: 12+
Release Date: 26th November 2004 (Europe)
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The Good Points:
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Using various GoldenEye abilities and machine traps are pretty cool
Fantastic amount of explosions going off
The Bad Points:
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Storyline never makes you feel like a Bond Villain and plays out terribly like bad fanfiction
Ridiculous weapon spread and the placement of the crosshair is stupid
Other gameplay elements feel very underutilized and plays more run and gun than a James Bond game
You never go against MI6 or James Bond
It has nothing to do with GoldenEye on the N64 or the film
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Reviewed by: Anthony Hayball (AQWBlaZer91)
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