Goldeneye: Rogue Agent

THE BAD:
Graphics
Cutscene
Story
Multiplayer
Gameplay in general

SUMMARY:
Do not be fooled by the nice advertising. This is another cheap, short, EA cash in on it's licences. There are many bad points, but lets start with the one good.

The innovative dual weapons system, which allows you to hold and fire most guns in either hand, with R1 for the right hand and L1 for the left. On two handed guns, L1 is used for the scope or something similar, while an empty hand can be used to lob near-useless grenades.

Now that that's out of the way, we can concentrate on the flaws. There are nice ideas for graphics, but they're so flat, bland and boring you can't believe it's the same console running FPS's like Killzone or the up and coming Timesplitters 3. Enemy design is boring too. There are about 5 different enemy skins throughout the game. The cutscene presentation and music, normally a strong point of EA, is alright here, with some decent voice acting, though I don't think your're character actually talks. The menu music is poor though.

The levels are also awesomely linear, with a few traps thrown in. You may get a laugh when you steam an enemy in the sauna, though you can easily complete the game not using any. Same goes for the Goldeneye, EA's idea to cash in on the good Goldeneye name. The functions of the eye are detailed in other reviews here, so I won't go over them. Let's just say it won't be needed to often.

The promised Online multiplayer fails to show up, so you're left with a crap, botless splitscreen mode. Agent Under Fire's multiplayer is nearly as good as this. I don't see why you'll want to touch it if you've got broadband for any of your other games, or if you've got Timesplitters or another splitscreen game.

Basically, don't fall for another EA scam. If you absolutely must see how it goes if you're a masochist or Bond fan, you can rent it.

THE BAD:
- Only eight sub-divided missions.
- Cut-scene graphics a little fuzzy.
- Can take a while to get used to the fiddly controls.
- The plot isn't described hugely well.

SUMMARY:
Oh, EA Games... when will you stop causing controversy with your take on the James Bond licence? Sure, so the only people before you were Rareware, but even now, you're proving that you can definately do it better despite the growing number of people moaning about the next generation series of 007 games.

However, things have changed. Now, it's not all about James Bond himself. Now, it's about being bad.

"GoldenEye: Rogue Agent" is one of the most accomplished First-Person Shooters ever to grace the PlayStation2 (or any other console, for that matter). It concerns the story of a secondary character in the James Bond Universe, a mysterious MI6 Agent called Mr. Hunter. During training, his dangerous and violent attitude causes the virtual death of 007 and as a result M throws him out of the service. Receiving a card from super-criminal Goldfinger, he starts working for Auric Enterprises. As payment, Goldfinger's ally Scaramanga gives Mr. Hunter a synthetic eye made of gold, to replace one blasted out by rival underworld boss Dr. No, and endows it with special powers. The assassin GoldenEye is born, and that's where the game begins...

The reason I've tried to describe the set-up story as much as possible, however, is because the game itself does very little of this for you. A one-line order from Goldfinger may be heard over a movie of your helicopter approaching the Hoover Dam, for example, and then suddenly you're wading through the soldiers loyal to Dr. No. This could be a disadvantage for those of us interested in this James Bond spinoff, but is also an advantage to those of you who want a white-knuckle First-Person Shooter and not "Metal Gear Solid"-style motion pictures in between the missions. These short cut-scenes are a source for gripe, too, not for their length but for their quality. You see most of the major Bond characters in these cut-scenes only, and their fuzzy graphical presentation means you're left wanting to see more... despite this, the voice acting is amazing, especially from Christopher Lee as Scaramanga and Judi Dench as M. Therefore, taking into account all the factors, the cut-scenes are distinctly average.

Anyway, enough about the story side of things, because "GoldenEye: Rogue Agent" is mainly a superb First-Person Shooter, not a Bond movie in itself like EA Games' "007: Everything or Nothing". You're given two very useful new approaches to the First-Person Shooter genre: first, a two-handed weapon system. R1 and L1 use each hand, meaning that you can pick up two weapons and use them in conjunction to down foes. This makes for some very interesting combinations, from shotguns and sub-machine guns to pistols and grenades, that you can use. A third shoulder button, R2, provides you with a melee attack that gains you extra points (more on that system later) and even grab enemies and use them as human shields, "XIII"-style. The focus is really on being evil, with the ability to mash soldiers' fingers if they're hanging over a railing or throw bodies into crowds to cause chaos.

This is where the second inovation comes in: the "GoldenEye". IMPORTANT: this game has nothing to do with the original Nintendo64 "GoldenEye 007" title. The name comes from this new device, which gives you powers in combat, and it happens to be gold because it's made by Scaramanga (The Man with the Golden Gun, lest you forget) and Goldfinger (who loves gold). Now, the powers on offer are very evil indeed, from a pulse that lets you disable a guard's weapon to the ability to see through walls and aim with a special rail launcher. Also included are a bullet shield, a hacking function that lets you take control of electronic components in the scenery and activate traps and a telekenetic power to throw enemies around the room, into walls and into other enemies. The "GoldenEye" is easy to use and simple to access, and comes into play more often than you would think. The abilities are unlocked as you play on through the missions by Scaramanga, and by the time you've got them all, you're adept at using the "GoldenEye". So, there you go... EA Games aren't ripping off the original game, but creating something new and interesting in the Bond Universe.

The single player experience, unfortunately, is a little short. With only eight sub-divided missions, it's easy to get lost in "GoldenEye: Rogue Agent" and then suddenly finish it in a day or two. Unlockable extras based on the point system (told you we'd be back to that), which rewards nasty actions and special types of opponent death, who, by the way, are powered by a new E.V.I.L. artificial intelligence that makes them... well, evil, mean that you'll be playing through a couple more times to get everything, but overall, it's slightly lacking. That's where the multiplayer splitscreen comes in, however.

It is the best multiplayer splitscreen First-Person Shooter around, period. You still get the dual weapon system, you still get the "GoldenEye" powers that are tweaked for fairness between the four, three or two combatants, and you're sent to loads of different locations from the James Bond series' past. Some standout maps include the Carver Printing Press, the Golden Gate Bridge (complete with blimp) and Scaramanga's Funhouse, and all are complete with hidden traps, dangerous falls and hiding places filled with powerups. The different game modes include straight deathmatches, domination games and team-based battles, and can be modified with special types including "Golden Gun", "You Only Live Twice" and "Licence to Kill". There are no bots, but there is no need for them. This really is the definative multiplayer splitscreen First-Person Shooter, with all the wonderful bells and whistles of the single player thrown into some of the best locations created. The only slight niggle: the character skins are mainly faceless guards... yep, a tiny, ridiculous niggle. GoldenEye, Xenia Onatopp, Oddjob and Dr. No are still available, so who cares?

"GoldenEye: Rogue Agent" is, in a word, amazing. Forget all the other dubious First-Person Shooters made under the EA Games' James Bond licence, because this is nothing like it: very little 007 himself, all the best villains in one, and a new and fresh take on the outdated First-Person Shooter genre. The advertising junkett makes a good point, you know... why save the world when you can rule it? Why play any other shooters on the PlayStation2 when you can play "GoldenEye: Rogue Agent"?

Who needs a licence to kill, eh?

THE BAD:
Went Back To First Person (Everything or Nothing had both first and third so you could have more varitey)
People who talk crap about this game!

SUMMARY:
GOLDENEYE ROUGE AGENT IS COOL!
I got bored of being Bond all the time it was always the same crap. Him trying to talksexy to all the bond girls and them talking back sexy. Sum one wrote a review saying the graphics are crap? What are you talking about the graphics are awsome. And what are you talking about not enough weapons there are tons of weapon combos. And if you think the EM HACK is useless, what if your extreamly low on health and ur facing a guy with a Harpoon hack his weapon and kick his @$$!

THE BAD:
You don't play as James Bond
Very repetitive
Not enough weapons
Bad graphics
Dull multiplayer
Not hard

SUMMARY:
Goldeneye: Rogue Agent is another Bond game but this time without Bond. People are going to be disappointed that you don't be OO7 and EA have gone back to first-person shooting.

The game starts off with a good intro. You do a VR Mission for MI6 with James Bond himself. You actually kill him during the mission but it was with VR so it fine. But M slags you off and then you find yourself being ba ba ba bad to the bone.

Now that you are bad you can do whatever you like. You can take hostages, dump gold on people, headshots and a few more. But the game unfortunatey linear and there is only one way to get through the levels. You can certainly have fun though.

You also have a Goldeneye (clue's in the title) which you can you to see you enemies through walls, hack into things become invincable for certain amount of time and more. They are pretty useless until a certain moment. What's the point in hacking into you enemies gun when you just shoot a hole right through them?

The weapons are typical EA goodness. You have a basic Spec 9 (pistol) which never run out of ammo. You also have a good arsenal of assault rifles, machine guns, miniguns and more. But there are not enough unfortunately. You can really hold one weapon at a time but you can dual in desert eagles, shotguns etc. You need to pick your weapon wisely to get to the road of victory.

The graphics are grey and brown all the way through. It's very basic for an EA game. It's very jerky and it just looks crap.

The game has multiplayer but it's pretty rubbish and it also has online stuff.

Goldeneye: Rogue Agent is fun but not as good as it should have been. Worth a rental.

Graphics: 5/10
+: Good atmosphere
-: Really basic and it's just poor

Sound: 8/10
+: The professionals are doing the voice work
-: Music is drab

Gameplay: 6/10
+: Really fun occasionally
-: Veeeerry repetitive

Lifespan: 6/10
A standard 10 hours

Overall: 6/10

THE BAD:
Not enough guns
But the worst of all is the dumb Pro's Who gave this game a bad rating remember Critics dont like anything

SUMMARY:
Over all this game is awsome,who doesnt enjoy being a bad guy and accualy shooting people for no reason? Sometimes your character will get stuck when trying to turn such as sharp turns. But I will give this a 2 thumbs up! The golden eye is fun to goof off with. Duel Welding Weapons are awsome. Playing as a bad guy can be fun. Over All I would recommend it. Cause Everyone Loves Playing as the bad guy. Cause alot of people get tired of playing as the good guy. Death Traps are awsome to kill your enemys with. Such as the Gold Poring trap, Burn your enemys with liquid gold...sounds like fun. Over All Two Tumbs Up!

THE BAD:
The only thing that's bad about this is...... ALL THE TASTELESS BASTARDS WHO GAVE IT LOW RATINGS!!!!!

SUMMARY:
I've said all I need to. A much better game than everybody says. Same with games like Ghosthunter, Oni, and all the rest of those good games that nobody appreciates, 'cause their too narrow-minded!