GoldenEye: Rogue Agent

GoldenEye: Rogue Agent (2004)

For starters this game has nothing to do with Brosnan's movie GoldenEye or a remake of the Nintendo classic game based on the movie which I've never played. This is based on an alternate universe like you experienced watching classic tv Star Trek or the later DS9 where you have to believe that legendary villains killed off in the movies live again in a futuristic setting. In the opening mission they kill off 007 looking a bit like Brosnan but voiced by someone else and after getting out of Fort Knox, a quick cameo by Dame Judi Dench as a stern M kicks your character out of MI6. So what do you do ? You accept an invitation to work for Goldfinger ! The story is covered over 7 missions with some familiar settings: Fort Knox, Auric Enterprises, Midas Casino - Vegas , Hoover Dam, The Octopus, Crab Key & Volcano Lair. Unfortunately I was hoping Bond would resurrect himself for the ending but sadly not. When you lose an eye during an early battle, Goldfinger's technicians replace it with a gold-hued, synthetic and upgradeable eye and you become GoldenEye. When you earn an upgrade, you are advised by none other than Scaramanga ( voiced by Christopher Lee ) playing the Q role. Flying you around is a shapely and younger Pussy Galore and brief appearances from side-kicks Oddjob and Xenia Onatopp.

Yes there is a multiplayer section called Splitscreen but haven't played due to no 2nd player/controller but the graphics look good as they use movie locations like Moonraker's shuttle launch and AVTAK's Golden Gate Bridge. So a single player is unable to test his skills against chosen 'bots' like Nightfire which is again disappointing. It has a poor compilation game trailer at start/pause with no voice-over and the opening/ending titles are passable but game song's lyrics seem unrelated.

There are 3 levels of single play: easy, normal & hard. I'm not the greatest player probably due to age and slowing reactions but sorry you shouldn't have to use cheats to complete the game at easy level. After a few years break I toned up my skills and reached the Dam mission at normal level and then returned to my two final incomplete missions at easy ( you must be joking ! ) level to see the demise of Dr. No & Goldfinger. It's not an enjoyable or memorable game but leaves you frustrated when unable to complete and the save mode isn't great either. For example to retry a mission on Red Fraction 2, you may start at different stages if completed, not with this game you must start from the mission's beginning to go down numerous scenarios shooting the baddies. This is why a late, late review. So if you enjoy just 1st person shooter games this may amuse you but if you're looking for variety of shoot & drive this one isn't for you.