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> Results: Goldeneye: Rogue Agent
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I have been a fan of first-person shooters (FPS) so long that I was actually looking forward to the release of Wolfenstein 3D in 1992. So besides keeping myself busy with a continuous stream of PC first-person shooter titles, whenever a new handheld system comes along I immediately start looking forward to trying out whatever first-person shooters are released for it.
Generally, this is an exercise in futility. Games like Doom or Quake for the Pocket PC only remind you how much better the PC versions are. The best games for the Game Boy Advance, such as Duke Nukem Advance, are merely ﾑgood'. But the Metroid Prime Hunters: First Hunt demo included with the Nintendo DS system indicated that this might be the first handheld capable of truly playable first-person action games. It is a mixed blessing that GoldenEye: Rogue Agent is the first release of this type for the DS. It's good that there is an enjoyable game that shows off the system's great first-person controls and keeps us occupied for a couple of months until Metroid Prime Hunters is released. It's not good as this is nearly a direct port of the console game released last year to lackluster reviews. There is at least one major addition: a ﾑVirtual Training' multiplayer mode in which you can battle historical Bond villains to unlock GoldenEye abilities, or play against other players using the DS' wireless capabilities.  The controls are worth mentioning on their own. Using the D-pad for movement, the L and R buttons for firing the left and right weapons, and the touch screen for looking and aiming provides the best and most fluid first-person shooter controls outside of the PC's keyboard and mouse combination. It is a joy to control the game this way. I found myself doing snap-turns, and expertly strafing in and out of cover very quickly. In other handheld first-person action games I worry about hitting enemies, but in Rogue Agent I was choosing my shots, sniping with ease on a regular basis. The game consists of running through well-drawn but unimaginative areas, taking out well-drawn but largely stupid enemies, in order to reach various checkpoints along the way to the final area objective. There is little variety in the environments or enemies, and only the addition of a one-hit-kill weapon for the final mission brought in any real challenge once the player was accustomed to the setting and enemy patterns. Rogue Agent's Virtual Arena is playable in single player mode against ﾑbots' or in wireless multiplayer mode against other owners of the game. You can also play a single card mode that allows others who don't own the game to download a single small map from your system to their DS to play deathmatch. The multiplayer is enjoyable largely due to the controls, and I found myself in a nice deathmatch with the kid sitting beside me on the plane home from vacation.  I really had a pretty good time playing Goldeneye: Rogue Agent because it's a genre I love, and because it has really good controls. It's not a very good game, however. The single player section is only a few hours long, and while multiplayer is fun enough to keep people playing for a while, the game will fall off the face of the planet the moment Metroid of any other decent first-person shooter becomes available. For now, if you are a shooter fan looking for a fix on your Nintendo DS, this is the only game in town. 
Would you let you child play an older shooter like Quake II or Jedi Knight? If so, there is no concern with Goldeneye: Rogue Agent There is no inappropriate language, no adult themes, and no blood. But the game is still an intense, action-packed shooter in which you are constantly assigned to eliminate enemies. Therefore I recommend it as a 10+ game at a minimum, but preferably stick to the Teen rating.
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