If you owned an Nintendo 64 then it’d likely you’ve heard of GoldenEye 007. Released in 1997, the game was groundbreaking and to this day holds up in the quality department. The game never had a sequel in the strictest sense. Video game company Rare, the makers of GoldenEye, released a spiritual sequel with Perfect Dark. The game was built on the same engine but featured new, original characters.
No one really expected another GoldenEye to me made. But then in 2004 GoldenEye: Rogue Agent saw release. It’s title is deceptive in that it has nothing to do with the movie GoldenEye or the N64 game.
In the game you take on the role of GoldenEye, a rouge M16 agent who has aligned himself with the forces of evil.
What Kills The Game
It falls flat on it’s concept. The premise has much promise but game is just lacking. Much of that is due to the rating. The game has a T for Teen rating. It would have benefited greatly from an M for Mature rating. It’s rather weak to be playing a rogue agent who is just shooting people. What we have here is a guy who’s been wronged, a guy that is furious. An M rated game would of allowed him to cut loose. He would have been able to take all his experience as an agent and apply it to twisted revenge tactics. I think that darkness would have given this game the edge it needed to overcome the shadow cast by it’s name usage.
Why I Love It
The game makes stellar usage of the James Bond license. Several familiar faces pop up. Goldfinger, Dr. No, Odd Job, Pussy Galore, and Xenia Onatopp. Being able to interact with classic Bond characters in a fresh way is a novel concept.
I truly enjoy this game and feel it got a bad rap. A sequel was planned but poor sales axed that idea. Which is a shame as further installments would have created wonderful character mash-ups of classic Bond characters.