More "GoldenEye: Rogue Agent" Details Emerge

Following EA’s press release announcing the current status of their new game, as well as its new title, Gamespot has interviewed Chris Plummer, the senior producer at Electronic Arts, who divulged even more information about the upcoming game.

GoldenEye: Rogue Agent will take the Bond franchise into its darkest territory yet when players take control of an agent tossed out of Her Majesty’s Secret Service for reckless brutality.

The game begins during Bond’s assault at Fort Knox against Operation: Grandslam, Auric Goldfinger’s infamous plan to set off a nuclear bomb within the gold suppository. As an aspiring 00-agent, your character is working alongside James Bond to put an end to Goldfinger’s scheme. However, when you get a little over-enthusiastic about the job in hand, MI6 dismisses you for being reckless.

After being cast out from the organisation, you find your way to working for Auric Goldfinger himself, whereupon your character receives the physical deformity that results in your monikor, GoldenEye. EA’s press release mentioned the golden synthetic eye the character possesses, but never touched on how it became acquired.

The rumoured working title for the game that was a precursor to GoldenEye 2, was GoldenEye: Dr. No vs. Goldfinger, which has its basis in the latest news to surface, which is that there is a bitter battle between the two supervillains for control of the criminal underworld. The battle hits hits peak when your character gets caught in the crossfire and loses his eye, which is then replaced with a synthetic one. GoldenEye then embarks on revenge against Dr. Julius No, the man responsible for his physical deformity. From there, your goal as GoldenEye, is to rise to become the ultimate Bond villain.

Moving away from the storyline, Plummer revealed that the game has been in development for a year, whilst the idea was formed about a year-and-a-half ago. The game has been in full production for several months, aiming for a November 2004 release.

Plummer revealed that the general idea is to create a Bond game that will “live up to the legacy” of Rare’s 1997 masterpiece of the same name, and ultimately deliver the best first-person shooter experience on consoles. Plummer hopes that the new game will bring everything people loved about the original GoldenEye but updated for the latest generation of consoles.

Like Everything or Nothing, GoldenEye: Rogue Agent will employ Hollywood talent behind-the-scenes, including legendary Bond production designer, Ken Adams, Academy Award-winning costume designer Kym Barret and Final Fantasy: The Movie character artist René Morel. Further, the game will contain a plethora of classic Bond characters, including Dr. No, Goldfinger, Oddjob, Xenia Onatopp and Pussy Galore, shaking and stirring the Bond mythology.

As for the all-important aspect of weapons within a first-person shooter, Plummer says that GoldenEye: Rogue Agent will contain a number of real-world weapons, in addition to weapons that have been designed specifically for the game. Grenades, especially, will play an integral part in the game, says Plummer. They are “more gadget-like” and will allow players to take out enemies in “more creative ways”. Your player will also carry around a special weapon, which is, as Plummer puts it, “your baby”. As you continue through the game, you can add to and customise your own weapon. The game will also employ a brand new hand-to-hand combat fighting system.

Like the original GoldenEye, split-screen multiplayer will be an important part of the new EA game (in fact, work on the multiplayer aspect began before the single-player missions). The game will feature more multiplayer levels than single-player levels. There will also be on-line play for the PlayStation 2. No word on the rumour that surfaced last month that the game would utilise X-Box Live, however.

Plummer outlined EA’s plans to unveil the game at the upcoming E3 convention, where two missions will be displayed: the aforementioned opening sequence of Operation: Grandslam (from the PS2 version) as well as multiplayer map in the form of Drax’s Moonraker launch complex (from the X-Box version).

Most impressive is the very first footage of the first-person shooter in action, which appears very reminiscent of Rare’s original game. The footage, as well as the interview with Chris Plummer, can be viewed here.