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GoldenEye
from developer Rare on the Nintendo 64 was an instantly-classic FPS,
especially with its magnificently conceived multiplayer. It was
amazingly fun as a single-system multiplayer session, back in the days
when there wasn’t any online console multiplayer availability.
GoldenEye was just a brilliant overall game.
But ever since the Bond franchise was bought by Electronic Arts,
removing Rare from the development picture, there hasn’t been another
Bond game that has captured that true GoldenEye gaming magic, even
though many – (not all) – of the Bond games since then have been
good themselves.
EA has tried and tried to grasp hold of the overall GoldenEye charisma,
but hasn’t been able to find the elusive winning formula that
separates games from being just good to classic. The latest attempt,
GoldenEye: Rogue Agent (GRA), cashes in on the GoldenEye name, but
without James Bond as its lead character and a new first-person shooter
gameplay engine (Havoc). While GRA does catch a precious few shiny
glimmers of the GoldenEye touch, GRA again joins the ranks of
good-but-not-GoldenEye-great EA Bond games.
The single-player storyline of GRA is actually not bad at all and
well-developed, as far as the usual Bond storyline goes. After a virtual
training mission in your tryout to be the next double-O agent that,
because of your reckless and shoot-first-ask-questions-later style,
leads to the “death” of the virtual James Bond (Bond’s only
appearance in the game), you are dismissed from MI6. Those polite,
British! If that was a U.S. secret agent, I doubt he would be allowed to
leave without a nice bullet in the back of the head as a parting gift,
but nonetheless you are able to vacate and become a rogue agent who
gains employment from supervillian Auric Goldfinger. Goldfinger wants
you to help him eliminate his arch nemesis, the equally evil Dr. No.
With no other options and a penchant for deviant behavior anyway, you
join him, but a skirmish with Dr. No costs you sight in your right eye.
But Goldfinger restores your sight with a new “eye”, complete with
cool new powers that will aid you in your quest for revenge against Dr.
No, and eventually after a few upgrades will be a handy weapon for
defeating foes. Revenge does finally come for you, now known as
GoldenEye, which leads to a betrayal that only creates another thirst
for revenge that needs to be satiated. Along the way, you’ll encounter
all types of Bond movie villains including Oddjob, Scaramanga, and two
double-entendre named vixens, Xenia Onatopp, and Pussy Galore.
Goldfinger’s missions will have you traversing the entire globe to
points east, west, north and south, including Hong Kong, Switzerland,
and Fort Knox. This gives the developers a perfect excuse to design a
diverse range of game levels, including casinos, underwater lairs, and
other secret locales for the denizens of evil. There are plenty of spots
to secure cover while under fire for GoldenEye, an intentional feature
that is due to the gameplay element that requires you to use cover to
your advantage. It’s a smart twist in relation to the
go-in-with-all-guns-blazing approach that GoldenEye is used to. Now, you
must learn to be more patient in your killing, because if you try and
take on enemies without employing cover strategies, expect to be killed
on a consistent basis.
Besides this reliance on covering techniques, the most inventive feature
implemented into GRA is the use of the eye of GoldenEye. By the final
stages of the game, you will have four powers available for your eye:
you can hack weaponry, computer and electronic equipment; see through
objects you happen to be using for cover to locate enemies without
exposing yourself to gunfire; give yourself a protective shield force
impenetrable to weapon fire; and finally, allows you to use the
induction field to throw nearby enemies to their doom and death. There
are many areas that these powers are very helpful, especially your hack
power, that without its use, you wouldn’t be able to progress through
certain areas of the game.
Another interesting inclusion is the ability to use environmental
elements to vanquish enemies. For instance, in the prison holding area,
you can electrocute the platform in front of the cells, and the
deathtrap will fry anybody that happens to be on that platform at the
time (but your enemies can also use these deathtraps to their advantage,
so beware!).
Expect the usual assortment of Bond weapons that the franchise is famous
for, including the requisite rocket launcher and the new, extremely
powerful (but hard to master) Omen gun, that immediately vaporizes any
unfortunates (including GoldenEye) that fall into the path of its fire.
Dual-wielding weapons, just like in Halo 2, double the killing pleasure
in GRA. The game’s targeting system hit the bull’s-eye too, giving
players satisfying, fill-them-with-lead firefights, made all the easier
mowing down foes when two guns are in hand. Different types of guns can
be utilized for each hand, such as a fast-firing HS-90 submachine gun in
one and a slower firing, but more powerful Mamba 12 GA single-hand
shotgun in the other. Strategizing using different weaponry with
different levels of lethal force is essential in many areas of the game
with multiple enemies to eradicate.
And you’ll need smart fighting tactics too, because the enemy A.I. can
be rather resourceful and hard to kill, although it can also be unevenly
balanced at times with its
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