PlayStation 2

GoldenEye: Rogue Agent

GoldenEye, the character, might not be a spy to love, but he sure is a spy you'll love to play as. Rogue Agent does one thing good, and that's provide you with a good time, something that felt empty in parts of previous Bond titles, and in several FPS in recent memory, including Halo 2. All that matters in my mind is if you're having a good time. GoldenEye: Rogue Agent succeeds in doing that, be it single-player, which you'll play again on the Hard difficulty, after beating Normal, just to see how more advanced the AI can get, or to go head-to-head with friends in multi-player. Just remember to forgive and forget about the title, as this is not in any way connected to GoldenEye for the N64. If for nothing else, pick GoldenEye: Rogue Agent up for the multi-player, and Pussy Galore.

Do you remember the Joy of GoldenEye for the Nintendo 64? It has returned to console gamers to bring back the classic deathmatch (before Halo) gaming matches that you most likely played all night while your mom screamed at you to go to bed.

It is, and remains, fun to be a bastard.Goldeneye: Rogue Agent may be the best James Bond game yet, which is funny, because Bond is only in it for about thirty seconds. It's an FPS, like Goldeneye on the N64, but it sets itself apart from the recent glut of them with its style, its difficulty, a standout soundtrack from Paul Oakenfold, and the host of inventive ways in which you can kill people.

In the '90s, Doom may have defined the first-person way of killing, but GoldenEye brought it to the masses. Now, after lying dormant for years, the series has been revived by EA. Although some major changes have been made -- most notably to the primary cast -- things are much the same. In other words, Rogue Agent is a solid first-person shooter in which the solo game is satisfying but the multiplayer is everything.

In the end, GoldenEye is more of a disappointment, than it is a bad game. It's entertaining, but there was so much to work with here that the end result is unfulfilling. This is one of the cases where a developer like Rare or Bungie would have delayed the game for a year or two, just so they could make the game that the fans expect. Unfortunately, EA tends to rush products out the door for the holiday season, often sacrificing quality along the way, and Rogue Agent is the latest victim.

I like EA’s approach of putting players into the shoes of a loose cannon, but the game just lacks that Bond chemistry that we’ve come to expect. Much like Timothy Dalton as James Bond, Rogue Agent doesn’t fit well into this secret agent’s universe.

In a fall season slammed with AAA first-person shooters, Electronic Arts' move to release GoldenEye: Rogue Agent only two weeks after Halo 2 and one week after Half-Life 2 can be seen as either gutsy or stupid -- either that or just plain bad luck. One really must wonder. However you dice it, EA took a chance with the Bond license, giving gamers the opportunity to play as an evil agent, an anti-Bond character with all the skills and smarts as the world's most famous British spy, but with none of the rules, restrictions or ethics.

With Pierce Brosnan vacating the role of James Bond, Electronic Arts has been put into an interesting situation. How do you make a James Bond game when there's no James Bond? Well, a hero is only as good as his opposition is bad, so there's certainly room to tell a story from the other side of the tracks. That's what EA has done with GoldenEye: Rogue Agent, but an uninteresting story and lackluster gameplay, both online and off, leaves this latest adventure feeling rather flat.

Chamar esse game de "GoldenEye" parece uma tentativa desesperada da Electronic Arts em se aproveitar de um clássico, e o resultado é uma grande decepção para os fãs. O jogo é competente, mas a soma da falta de personalidade com as pequenas falhas criam uma equação apenas medíocre.

An entire dictionary of words could be created to describe this game's mere existence: Opportunistic, misleading, deceptive, audacious, presumptuous, disrespectful, insulting, ambitious, unambitious, imaginative, ridiculous, lazy, bold... cheeky (Bond is British, after all). From its inception, the very notion of the title was offensive, yet strangely alluring. Yet, as outrageous as the premise was, the truth is that the end result is neither abhorably awful or surprisingly fantastic, but simply mediocre.

When I first heard of another GoldenEye game, nostalgic flashes came into my head of the disfigured N64 controller, Big Head cheats, and….oh yeah…one of the greatest videogames ever developed!!! But here I am, holding a copy of GoldenEye: Rogue Agent and I don’t want to continue playing it. To be honest, EA Games messed up on what Rare perfected and everything from storyline to gameplay reeks of mediocrity.

Ah, after two horrifying days I was finally able to write my review. No, it wasn't G:RA that kept me away from doing my duty: warning you about this game! No, in fact it was my computer which bumped into my fist, got a heavy concussion and lost its memory and all vital functions too. Luckily the doctors were able to read its last thoughts and copy them into another brain so that its spirit will at least only live twice.

Très grosse déception, Goldeneye n'est pas la révolution que tout le monde attendait. Simple FPS sans vraiment de saveur, le titre d'EA se place comme un petit jeu divertissant durant un week end, mais pas au prix du neuf. Relativement plat et sans réelle âme, le soft ne parvient pas à convaincre, et n'arrive pas de plus à utiliser à bon escient ses trouvailles. Espérons qu'un prochain épisode corrige ces lacunes et fasse à nouveau resplendir le nom Goldeneye.

To me, it seems like Electronic Arts' line of thinking with this game was to create a mildly above-average first-person shooter, and hope that it would sell millions on mostly its name. To their credit, EA did produce an innovative title with some fun moments, but ultimately, it's going to disappoint fans of the original, no question. I wish I could say better things about the title, as Electronic Arts was kind enough to actually send it to me free of charge, but I'd be lying if I said I had more fun with this than with, say, Serious Sam: Next Encounter. Check it out if you're a big fan of the Bond universe, or if you've liked the recent offerings in that particular license; just don't expect it to live up to its own name.

When is a sequel not a sequel? Certainly when the sequel in question is Electronic Arts' GoldenEye: Rogue Agent. Rogue Agent is an obvious attempt to ride the coattails of Rare's Nintendo 64 classic, GoldenEye 007. Like the older game, Rogue Agent sports both a single-player adventure and an involved multiplayer mode. However, EA has failed to replicate the overall quality of Rare's effort, leaving Rogue Agent as nothing more than a vaguely competent FPS with a big-name license.

'WHY SAVE THE WORLD, when you can rule it?' The box cover for GoldenEye: Rogue Agent promises alot but does it deliver? On some levels yes, on others, that's a definite no. Whether you picked up this game because you're a Bond fan, or you just wanted something different to play, you may be a tad disappointed with what EA has to offer in GoldenEye.