GoldenEye: Rogue Agent

GoldenEye: Rogue Agent was a 2004 first-person-shooter video game developed by EA Los Angeles, and published by Electronic Arts, for the Nintendo GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox, and Nintendo DS! It was a James Bond theme video game, but was a departure from the norm, as this time the player did not take on the role of James Bond, but rather an ex-MI6 Agent.

Basically, the player is playing the part of the ex MI6 Agent, who had lost an eye after an encounter with Dr. No, and after a botched simulation of an attack on Fort Knox, the agent is dismissed by M. The player character then gets recruited by Auric Goldfinger, and has his lost eye replaced with a cybernetic one manufactured by Francisco Scaramanga. The Agent then goes on a series of missions, trying to prevent Dr. No from using a weapon called the OMEN (Organic Mass Energy Neutralizer).

As you can see from all that information, several major villains from the world of James Bond make appearances in the game. Other ones of note include Ernst Stavro Blofeld, Pussy Galore, Xenia Onatopp, and Oddjob.

GoldenEye: Rogue Agent is a game I can remember really well, as it was so very different to many other James Bond games that had been released up to that point. One thing that always pops into my head (whether I want it to or not), was the game’s menu theme. It was quite a cool and memorable theme. As soon as it loaded, the tension began, really helping you to be propelled into the action to come.

Whilst the game was a first-person-shooter, it had an almost arcade on rails like experience, with a Goldeneye 007 like feel and charm to it. There wasn’t a lot of allowance for stealth. Enemies just shot at you as soon as they could hear you, or more likely as soon as you entered the room. But luckily, you had a high-tech array of weapons to choose from. Many weapons were pretty simple affairs, from pistols to machine guns, and even two handed massive machine guns also. But then there were those that were just a little bit different. Weapons like ones that you could shoot at enemies whilst behind cover. Or a pistol that shot sticky grenades, which you could detonate at will. And I’m pretty sure there was also a weapon that slowed down the targets move speed too.

But it wasn’t just guns at your disposal. The cybernetic eye also had an array of in-built gadgets, which could be used on enemies too. These ranged from a shield barrier, to an EMP device that could knock out enemy weapons (plus some others I have forgotten about).

The game had a standard going rise in difficulty as the game progressed, with the story featuring plenty of cool cutscenes featuring the above mentioned characters. But what was pretty cool, was the rather large maps and locations you would be sent on. Missions took place in very large locations, ranging from Fort Knox, to an entire casino, and even the Hoover Dam (which is as far as I got).

I really liked GoldenEye: Rogue Agent. It was a very different game to some of the other James Bond releases in recent years, plus the combination of locations, cutscenes, and array of weaponry and gadgets (and that menu theme), made it a very unique experience. Personally, I think it’s a real shame that it’s a concept that’s only been tried once in the world of James Bond video games; because when I first played it, I couldn’t stop playing it. It was Awesome!

It also came with two discs, which was rather odd for a GameCube game.