GoldenEye 007 Review

It is hard to dispute the weight that Rare had in the game industry during the Nintendo 64 era. GoldenEye 007 is a game that sold millions of units across the globe and jumpstarted the Nintendo 64s split-screen multi-player. Without a doubt, GoldenEye featured some of the most revolutionary gameplay on a console in the 3D arena – from character animations, enemy AI, graphics, gun selection or the most popular aspect of the game, its four player split-screen multi-player component.

Like almost all Bond games, (GoldenEye started the Bond video game series) GoldenEye had stunning backgrounds, foregrounds and settings. The characters in the game looked like the characters in GoldenEye (the movie), even though they were blocky and did not carry any expression, much like any game from this generation of games. The most realistic aspect of GoldenEye that Rare added, and was one of the first companies to do so for a FPS, was blood.

The best part of everything Bond-related is definitely the Bond music. GoldenEye 007 has a huge selection of Bond music changing depending on the level. Who does not like the sound of guns, grenades and mines in the morning? Great sound effects, like reloading guns and moans of pain from the AI make this game very unique when it comes down to sound during the N64s lifetime.

GoldenEye’s controls were revolutionary. Kind of like in Eternal Darkness, which came out in 2002 for the GCN, GoldenEye had a targeting system. You could use a stealth approach and kill enemies by shooting them in the head with a Silence PP7 or go out shooting with an assault rifle. You use the joystick to move and the C Pad to move the camera up and down. The A button changes your weapons, while Z is used to shoot.

The single-player GoldenEye 007 experience was as revolutionary as its multi-player. GoldenEye 007 was one of the first games to establish a stealth aspect to gameplay with its silenced PP7 and evasion of alarms. Had it not been for GoldenEye, the idea of first-person stealth elements in 3D may never have been possible, as GoldenEye was one of the first to venture into its realm. Being James Bond though, you are not restricted to silence killing as you will bear an AK47, machine guns and other rifles as you annihilate your enemies while completing missions across each of the game’s multiple levels.

There is no doubt that GoldenEye 007 had the best FPS multiplayer ever created at the time of its release and potentially still holds that position today. Four players could join in on a groundbreaking shooting mayhem. Each level is unique and some come from the single-player part of the game, many inspired by sets from the film. Unlike in some other FPS multiplayer, GoldenEye had the capability of having numerous amounts of characters, levels and weapons that you could unlock from playing the single-player. Another unique and revolutionary part of the multiplayer was the radar system in GoldenEye, which allowed you to see your enemies, find them and kill them easily, without looking on their screen.

The best part of this Bond game is that it is undoubtedly the most loyal to a Bond movie. Most everything in the game is based from the movie with Rare providing background on each mission, adding to the game a feeling of being in the movie, which no other game had ever accomplished up until that point. The single-player mode was challenging, with three different modes (agent, secret agent, and 00 agent). Like most Bond games/movies, Bond has a huge arsenal and many Q gadgets.

This is my favorite FPS and my personal favorite video game. I’m a huge Bond fan, owning all 20 movies on DVD. This game lives up to the best Bond flick that I have seen, GoldenEye. GoldenEye is Rare’s masterpiece, the undisputedly best game that they have ever developed. It is no wonder why Microsoft would want the powerhouse developer of GoldenEye under their tent. If you still do not have GoldenEye or a Nintendo 64, get yourself out to a game store and find them.