By Benjamin Turner
| May 12, 2004
GoldenEye is back, at least in name, and it looks like the most interesting Bond game in years.
What if, just to imagine a bit, all of the most diabolical villains in the James Bond universe chose factions and started a war? Impossible? Not anymore, as that's exactly the premise of EA's upcoming first-person Bond game, GoldenEye: Rogue Agent
. And if that's not enough of a twist for you, this is a Bond game where you don't play Bond. Instead, you're a bad guy yourself. EA must have thought that if it was going to be breaking some rules, it might as well go crazy.
According to Rogue Agent
's weird little universe, the nefarious Goldfinger and cold, ruthless Dr. No are in the midst of a vast criminal war. Neither can seem to get an edge, but perhaps you can help tilt the balance. You play the fiendish, ex-MI6 agent known as GoldenEye, so known because of an unfortunate encounter with Dr. No. Now, with a golden, artificial eye, GoldenEye undertakes a series of devilish missions to ensure Goldfinger's victory and exact vengeance for his missing eye.
As you might have noticed, this isn't quite a direct sequel to the multi-million selling N64 hit GoldenEye: 007
. It's not even clear if Bond will be present, though odds are he will be. But despite the storyline oddities, EA is hoping to recapture that special something that made the original GoldenEye
so endlessly popular. In other words, the single player will be solid, but EA is paying just as much attention to the multiplayer. In addition to myriad options and modes, the multiplayer will feature AI opponents so good that the developers are calling it "Evil AI."
One of the more interesting facets of the game is that it'll encourage you to play like a villain. Just as Bond had his "Bond Moments," GoldenEye will encounter situations which can be handled cruelly, diabolically, or just downright dispicably. For example, what better use for an enemy than as a human shield? Or if you have the chance to set your foes aflame rather than shoot them, why not? GoldenEye is rewarded for behaving in-character, so you should take every opportunity you can to be an out-and-out bastard. It'll be even easier when you find tne of the game's "Death Traps," elaborate setups of trick and traps that can result in very grisly demises.
To be sure, GoldenEye: Rogue Agent
is a big departure from the N64 classic, and its justification for its name is silly, to be generous. That said, with all the fresh ideas and development talent EA's throwing at it, it's hard to imagine Rogue Agent
being anything less than marvelous.