Somewhere, hiding in the back of my mind, is a group of cells that harbors my fondest memories. Squirreled away in this island of gray matter are memories of baseball games and air shows, conferences and classes, and somewhere, off in the corner is when I got the original GoldenEye for the Nintendo 64. Many hours were spent tracking down my friends in the multiplayer and many more were lost trying to beat the story mode. So when I heard that there was to be a "new" GoldenEye made, I was a bit wary. Was EA about to pull out my old memories, only to rip them asunder? Or would they manage to make a game that would enhance those memories?

My first experience with GoldenEye Rogue Agent was at my friend Carl's house (also co-owner of this website). He had bought the game upon release and needed some people to beat up on in the multiplayer, so Silver, Jones and I were the obvious recruits. After many frustrating games, we all got up to a level where Carl doesn't kill us quite as bad as he used to.

When I finally got the game, I had already had a good experience, and I hoped that it would continue.

Taken by itself (with no comparison to the prior GoldenEye) Rogue Agent is a shining piece of work. The story is stellar, the graphics are smooth and detailed, the audio is good, the gameplay is innovative and controls are intuitive and efficient.

I'm just going to shoot you both.

You are GoldenEye, and agent dismissed from MI6 for using excessive force, and as M calls them "inexcusable tactics". Upon your termination, Auric Goldfinger offers you a job. It seems that the villains we know and love - namely Dr. No, Goldfinger and Francisco Scaramanga have formed a super-organization. Dr. No however seems to have betrayed the rest of the group and is attempting to steal the OMEN (a super-weapon) from Goldfinger. You're job is to stop this from happening.

Throughout the game you meet characters that run the gamut of the James Bond universe. Xenia Onatopp, Oddjob, and Pussy Galore, are all included in various roles.

The scope of the game is incredible; ranging from the frozen wastes of the arctic to Hong Kong, Las Vegas to the bottom of the sea, the settings for all this destruction never cease to impress.

The only foreseeable downside in the story is that it's a bit short. There are only eight levels, but this is made up for the length of levels. Many take about a half-hour to complete, and it is not unusual to kill upwards of 200 enemies in a single mission.

The graphic quality of this game is phenomenal. Backgrounds are not haphazardly done, but detailed landscapes, designed to give the setting depth. Character models, while being futuristic in some sense, do not lose realism. The characters that we know from the films look the same in the game, with no detail being lost in the transition from film to disc.

Perhaps the most incredible graphics detail was in the weapons. No longer do you carry around a giant, bullet-firing pencil, but rather detailed guns that look as if they are fresh off the factory floor. Even the fictional guns such as the OMEN and the Venom are well-conceived and look as if they could exist in some government lab somewhere.

The physics engine also gave me quite a shock. In the past, a grenade just killed someone. Now, it picks them up, throws them across a room, bounces them off their buddy, and kills them in a rather gruesome way. Bullets do the expected damage, with capped knees resulting in the sudden inability to walk. A gut shot doubles an opponent over, and a head shot…well…suffice to say not many people can take a bullet to the face.

The sound effects of this game are good, but nothing to write home about. This is not to say that it doesn't have its high points. The voice acting is stellar, with Christopher Lee reprising his roll as Scaramanga, Famke Janssen providing her talents for Xenia and Judy Dench giving a very brief performance as M.

Haven't we already DONE this?

The remainder of the audio is standard. A driving soundtrack composed by Paul Oakenfold adds a sense of urgency to the game, but is never overpowering. Weapon sound effects are typical, but to be honest, there are only so many different sounds a gun can make.

Electronic Arts got very innovative in this game. A dual wield system allows you to independently use two weapons, or use a larger item such as a rocket launcher or mini-gun. A Halo-like health system wherein your health is revitalized after a certain period of time is very useful, giving players a reason to seek out effective cover.

Perhaps the most inventive new feature is the GoldenEye itself. Losing an eye after a less than auspicious encounter with Dr. No, you have had it replaced with a synthetic eye capable of being upgraded. MRI Vision (x-ray), an EM Hack (disable enemy weapons, trigger death traps from a distance, or turn remote turrets to your side), a polarity shield (use it to deflect enemy attacks, or use a melee attack on an opponent to kill them instantaneously) and a Magnetic Field (pick a guy up and throw him across the room - obviously quite lethal for him, and maybe the person he hits…) are all valuable tools that have been added to your arsenal.

The control system works out very well. There are multiple styles to use depending on your preference. Without getting too in depth about it, the dual control sticks are combined efficiently, and certainly make it easy to navigate the levels. The dual wield weapon system is utilized with the right and left shoulder buttons with melee attacks being triggered by the Z button, so all attack functions are controlled by two fingers.

What would a "sequel" to GoldenEye be without a multiplayer system to match? The levels are unique - not just direct ports from the game, but scenes from the Bond universe. You can duke it out in Carver's Press, or toss your opponent into San Francisco Bay. This feature adds to the lasting appeal of the game significantly. While the campaign mode may grow stale in time, the age old ritual of shooting your opponents in the face with a shotgun is a thrill that just never gets old.

EA's latest offering to the Bond series of games is one that shines in most areas, giving the player a unique experience - playing a game in the most evil way possible. I would recommend this game whole-heartedly for any Bond fan, as well as any first-person shooter enthusiast. It's definitely worth the 50 bucks.