Goldeneye: Rogue Agent Review

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GoldenEye: Rogue Agent

Review by Old RoosterJanuary 2005

“The Name Is Bond, James Bond?”

What gift do you give a fellow who has lived almost seven decades and has a lot of stuff? Well, one of my favorite presents this Christmas, and one the wife had expected to likely be returned, was a boxed, 14-volume set of Ian Fleming’s James Bond novels. It’s been many years since I’ve read them, and seen the related films, so I’ve set about the exercise of beginning at the beginning, Casino Royale, reading the novel, then renting the related film. About five in at this point (From Russia with Love), I’ve developed a renewed appreciation for Fleming’s writing, with Moonraker ranking as my favorite thus far.

However, and it’s a major “however,” what has not been at all impressive is the translation of these works to film. Indeed, most of the Fleming-related Bond films were released after his death (Fleming’s, that is; Bond can’t die), and I have to believe Mr.  Fleming would be mightily displeased with the outright butchering of some of his finest work.

You can see where I’m headed, can’t you? GoldenEye: Rogue Agent uses the franchise to offer up a new character, an evil, or at least morally confused, “00,” sort of an unfunny Jimmy Bond, if you remember your Casino Royale film. It often appears as if our traditional 007 hero has or is about to step over a moral boundary. Well, this 00 agent has really crossed the line, and he is let go to find some other kind of work. His introduction to this new life first comes in the person of our old acquaintance, Auric Goldfinger, who finds a place for this deadly ex-agent. Indeed, his “work” doesn’t have to change much at all. Goldfinger is in a pitched battle with Dr. No and is able to outfit our man with many of his old tools of the trade, including an ingenious “golden eye,” enabling all sorts of deadly aggressive tactics.

Let’s Hear it for P. Galore, X. Onatopp and Oddjob!

A few of our favorite book and film characters make appearances, but these are largely token window dressing. Rather, the storyline, if one can call it that, serves primarily as a setting for a shooter with a gimmick. You move through the rather dull levels armed with a host of weapons, one in each hand even! This is called a “dual-wield weapon system”—good grief! Of course, as all good shooters require, there is an assortment of guns of various shapes and sizes.  But the frosting on the cake becomes the increasingly powerful accouterments to your golden eye. Upgrades are available, depending on how good your kill rate is, ranging from seeing through walls to manipulating electronics, deflecting bullets and sending enemies flying (cf.  PSI abilities of Second Sight). Deathtraps of various types abound, as well as nicely controlled A.I. baddies taking pot shots. Thank goodness, you do have the infrequent occasion to rest a bit, which automatically regenerates your health.

The graphics are fine, as is the framerate, with the cutscenes being mundane and not especially motivating. Sound effects and voice acting are well done, with some voice overs, such as that from Christopher Lee, especially pleasing.

Controls are workable but cumbersome for this old guy. I still prefer my shooters to be on the PC, with good old mouse management.  Save points are close and frequent enough to enable not as much repeating after dying as in many titles.

This GoldenEye Lives up to the Term “Rogue”

GoldenEye: Rogue Agent is the most disappointing game I’ve played in a few months—and I play a lot of games! It’s shallow, empty, tedious, rarely involving or interesting. The fired 00 character is one I could not care less about, he hardly ever speaks, and little about him is revealed. Interactions with famous Bond film/book personages are infrequent and meaningless. Levels have different backdrops, but all are essentially run-and-gun within a linear dime-novel storyline. 

Unfortunately, the “golden eye” gimmick doesn’t begin to save the game. A much better job of PSI-ing is done in Second Sight, along with a dramatically better and more involving story.  As a Bond game, this GoldenEye doesn’t begin to compare to the excellent 007: Everything or Nothing. Playing nasty is a lot of fun in such games as Evil Genius and Chronicles of Riddick, but it offers no satisfaction in this effort.

If a rogue is one who doesn’t fit, doesn’t mesh, doesn’t belong, than GoldenEye: Rogue Agent is aptly named. It’s not really the Bond world, in spite of famous names. This anti-hero is a cold-blooded killer who makes me want to root for the other bad guys. The Bond license, gimmicky shooters, even hitmen are all shown to much better form in many other games. I simply can’t recommend GoldenEye: Rogue Agent, except, perhaps, to one who simply has to have every “Bond” game, or every shooter. Might one suspect that the holiday-timed release of this humdrum game, with its implied relationships to Bond, GoldenEye of N64 fame, and Bondian characters, was a cynical marketing decision? Of course not, I wouldn’t think that. On second thought, yes, I would.

What I Liked About the Game

  • The concept and setting form an interesting premise …

What I Didn’t Like About the Game

  • … which premise, tragically, is fumbled rather badly;
  • Controls are mushy and often imprecise;
  • Beyond the first two hours, I really just played to get it done;
  • Even then, it’s only a 10-hour game;
  • The tedium is compounded by what could have/should have been! The End

The Verdict

The Lowdown

Developer: Electronic Arts Publisher: Electronic Arts Release Date: November 2004

Available for: PlayStation 2Game CubeXbox

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Links provided for informational purposes only.  FFC makes no warranty with regard to any transaction entered into by any party(ies).

      Copyright © Electric Eye Productions.  All rights reserved.  No reproduction in whole or in part without express written permission.

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14 Responses to Fear Factor

  • Fear Factor | Tap-Repeatedly.com | Reality Topics Blog

    […] nobody@flickr.com (graftedno1) wrote a very interesting post today.   Here’s a quick excerpt:My greatest fear is to be trapped alone in a confined space with a blind human, in total darkness. They have a heightened sense of smell and hearing, and. […]

  • Matt "Steerpike" Sakey

    Lewis, you made me think of the scariest moments I’ve experienced in gaming, and we’re very similar people.

    Bioshock had two moments – the dentist and the flooded room filled with mannequins.

    Thief had Return to the Cathedral, which was terrifying to me. Thief 3 had Shalebridge Cradle, which is so scary it ought to be fined.

    System Shock 2 kept me on the edge of my seat, but it was more lonely panic than true fear.

    Korsakovia was so scary that I uninstalled it.

    And STALKER. Oh, god, the haunted labs in STALKER. The latter two games don’t have scares like that. Few games do.

    It’s especially rare for a game to have more than mere “moments” – for a game to be scary from beginning to end, that’s a triumph.

    Wonderful article. As if Gregg’s review wasn’t enough to convince me that Penumbra is not something I have the courage to play!

  • DPenn

    I’m with you Lewis … I’m a bit of a puss. I just have a hard time wrapping my head around the idea of dread as entertainment.

    Still, I’m drawn to dark stories when they have something interesting to say, whether it’s a game like Thief or a film like, say, Gaspar Noe’s Irreversible. So I’ll push through, sometimes peering through my fingers.

    The trouble with games, though, is that if you look through your fingers, you’re probably just going to have to play through the scenario again. :~)

  • Mike "Scout" Gust

    I wanted to play this game. I downloaded the demo but the controls were just too wonky for me to get my head around. I liked the atmospheric vibe a lot. I think I’m a bit desensitized from an overdose of horror movies in my youth so I don’t so much get the dread thing from these games as a nice creepy vibration. If only the controls were better…

  • Lewis B

    @ Mike, what’s wrong with the controls bud? As someone who despises poor control schemes, Penumbra’s is just like any other FPS, except to examine things you right click on them.  To use things you left click.  I’m not sure that can be considered difficult 🙂

  • Gregg B

    @Steerpike: Yeah my greatest shit-scared moments were with those games too. A few spoilers below people, so beware.

    Bioshock – Haha, I remember the dentist. I didn’t really find the game that scary overall but the bit where you go into the wine cellar and notice a mannequin facing the wall and after upgrading your weapon it’s stood directly behind you motionless and quiet just for a moment before attacking you. I shat a brick. I also missed that bit originally until Lew told me about it.

    System Shock 2 – same as you really, more unremitting tension all the way through rather than specific terrifying moments. Oh actually, theres a bit where you call a lift and it breaks then you realise a service droid is coming to fix it… I do remember having sleep issues after my first encounter with the cyborg ninjas though.

    Thief: The Dark Project – The Sword and Return to the Cathedral and Down in the Bonehoard and well, loads of them. The Sword made me break out into goosebumps though because there was a bit where you could hear this creepy giggling which seemed like it was following me about then it suddenly changed to this horrible throaty noise. What made matters worse was that the EAX (bless you Creative) made my foot steps sound like somebody else was there with me. That level was incredible, a bit too incredible as it seems I missed great chunks of it because I was so eager to leave.

    Thief II: The Metal Age – Trail of Blood where you end up in that opening with those damn tree beasts. God the first time I saw one of those hurtling towards me I actually died shortly afterward. Do you remember that Mechanist child walking around on one of the levels? That was a little creepy.

    Then there’s Penumbra: Overture – quite a few bits but I’m not mentioning them here.

    Oh and S.T.A.L.K.E.R. – The brain scorcher lab just because it was so damn quiet. My imagination seriously got the better of me there. Those stuffed animals and heads I’d seen in various buildings led me to believe that those creatures were lurking somewhere in the Zone, specifically that lab.

    @Mike: My control setup was perfect after some tweaking (as well as the simple weapon swing fix). If you ever fancy giving it another go, give me a shout and I’ll let you know my setup.

  • Lewis B

    I’m not sure why guys, but one of my starting paragraphs had gone missing, even though I copied it straight from the original source, and It was fine earlier. 

    Incase you missed it due to some technical issue you might want to re-read just after “Well no she wouldn’t in truth, but in Penumbra: Overture you don’t want to move anyway.” at the very start for those who’ve already read the article. Apologies 🙂

  • Mike "Scout" Gust

    Lewis, it was the weapon swing. It had this terrible, unresponsive feel to it, like trying to hit through molasses. I couldn’t stand using it. I tried the .ini fix as mentioned in the review but it didn’t seem to help. Of course this was the demo…but that shouldn’t have made any difference. I might try the second game instead as I guess they did away with the weapons thing.

    I’m see your first paragraph just fine. It’s the dialogue, right?

  • jdeuel

    I like the argument that weapons can remove fear, but even loaded to the teeth with ammo in AVP’99 the Marine missions were frightful because the enemy was anywhere at any time.

    As for Penumbra Overture, if the controls are anything like the original Penumbra they need to hack in some Wii-Remote 3d controls. I did not like using my mouse for 3d movements.

  • Gregg B

    @Mike: I’ve read that many people avoided conflict altogether in Overture which incidentally is something forced upon you in Black Plague. As somebody who has been renovating a house over the last 6 months with no DIY experience I can safely say that swinging a hammer is significantly easier in real life than it is in Overture without the fix. The fix balanced that for me.

    I’d highly recommend completing the first Penumbra because it’s one big build up to Black Plague which spoils the ending to Overture in the intro. And it’s a great ending too. Just so you know!

  • Lewis B

    @ Steerpike, those moments you mention are all my worst too!!  Do you remember the Robot labs in SS2? Absolutely terrifying, waiting for robots to burst out on you! 🙁 oh and have you ever player Condemned?

    @ Mike, The use of weapons in Penumbra is different to say HL2, where the player is physically holding the weapon, as in Penumbra it floats slightly infront of you.  However, if you change the control method to normal weapon swing, it’s no different!  Speak to Greggi and he’ll tell you what to do 🙂

    @ jdeuel, AVP the original and its sequal were scary however what type of fear do you think it is? I don’t think it’s anything more than sheer tension.  Having a Smart Gun makes you feel incredibly powerful.  I can honestly say in Penumbra the fear is sheer unrivalled terror, where you actually have to force yourself to play on.  It genuinly is that scary! 🙂

  • Jason Dobry

    It’s so true, an arsenal of weapons and ammo rapidly deflates any sense of horror or uneasiness in any game for reasons you already mentioned. Sakey, I thought Bioshock was more “lonely panic,” while I was pretty much always terrified in System Shock 2. I really, really, REALLY did not want to enter The Many’s nursery, and my weapons were so unreliable and ammo so scarce that I never felt safe.

    Silent Hill was terrifying for the same reasons. Ammo was rare and I frequently had to rely on my pipe for self-defense.  Even when I had ammo, the game mechanics prevented my character from being anything other than marginal with any firearm.

    Fear had one moment for me: I was climbing up a ladder, and as I reached the upper platform, my guy briefly looked down as he climbed off. As my perspective looked up again, that Ring-esque little girl was RIGHT THERE, reaching for me. I screamed and she was gone.

    What else…the original Aliens vs. Predator sent me into a locker room and I could only hear the facehuggers scurrying about somewhere within. I had to go in there. I advanced about three steps before the damn thing screamed and filled up my screen with its repulsive underside as it implanted me with its spawn. My roommate made fun of me for weeks for screaming like a girl child.

    Korsakovia–meh.  I was too annoyed and frustrated by the box rearrangement/jumping puzzles to be scared. I uninstalled it after an hour of play, I think. Maybe the scary parts were later, but I doubt it.

    As for Penumbra, I did play through about half of it before other games distracted me. I remember unease and creepiness, but no sweaty fear. I think I’m to blame here, or, more precisely, my daughter, who was still an infant at the time and generally allowed me only to play during the day for 45 minutes at a time. I was denied total immersion and the fear effect suffered. Maybe I should give it another go after I finish Call of Pripyat since she sleeps through the night now. With any luck, Penumbra will keep me from doing the same.

  • Gregg B

    I played the demo of F.E.A.R. but that ladder scare is the only bit I remember. Christ, that made me jump. I’m not too good with cat scares.

    Also I felt exactly the same about Korsakovia. It was creepy at first but then it began to irritate me far too much and it just soured the experience. I stopped playing as a result. Not to mention, when I realised I could bash those smoke-things with my crowbar they didn’t bother me nearly as much.

  • Online Up

    Great article. I look forward to reading more in the future.

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