GoldenEye: Rogue Agent (PS2) > Reviews (11)

*My review of Goldeneye: Rogue Agent is based on single-player experience.*

The game is set in the (fictional) world of James Bond but has nothing to do with the Goldeneye film or Goldeneye 007 game. So it's excuse for having Goldeneye in it's title?

You play as Mr. Hunter, who has lost an eye as well as a place in the MI6. In joining Auric Enterprises, not only do you share a common enemy in Dr. No, but - to assist in his elimination - you are given an eye which enhances your abilities: the Goldeneye.

The presentation is poor in places in this FPS. Goldeneye: Rogue Agent sure takes it's time to start up; the FMV sequences feel rushed, are of a rather low resolution, and cannot be skipped initially; the mid-level prompts to update player profiles suggest perhaps that the lengthy levels should have been split into several stages.

Goldeneye: Rogue Agent opts only for an all-action approach. The action comes thick but not fast. Player movement and weapon reloading seems slow, and with X and Y sensitivity adjusted to maximum aiming is still sluggish.

And by thick it's not subtle. The levels are strictly linear. There tend to be two enemy types to deal with per section, and when it comes to theirs taking hits, it's either head shot or not - it seems, what with the limited animation to follow it up with. Then the visual indication to show the spray of bullets is weak - I reckon Mr. Hunter has none too steady a hand, and you would do well to be awarded for accuracy, since the accuracy of some weapons will leave something to be desired. When using the zoom feature of a weapon the health and armour bars are not shown. The enemies you battle can be taken as hostage, as human shield, however, hand-to-hand attacks are choppy, so close-quarters combat is not convincing.

The E.V.I.L. AI is bad in the wrong way. When the Goldeneye MRI Vision upgrade - which detects enemy presence through obstacles - does work, you'll find alerted enemies firing and dodging as if they can see you, when they clearly cannot. And on Normal difficulty at least, the enemies have a tendency to back off and hide so it's up to you to seek them, but not the other way around, meaning where there is sufficient cover there will be sufficient time for health to be replenished. Throw in a system whereby weapons are swapped as a means of staying armed with ammunition, and the action stutters in short bursts.

From start to finish, the action is the same throughout, and it's such that lapses - like the lifts and empty paths (for loading purposes) - are welcome. Despite the Goldeneye Upgrades, the FPS system feels a backwards step from the N64 hit, and the lack of bots means it doesn't have the initiative in multiplayer. Only if you've the shortest of attention spans might you find this to be decent.