GoldenEye 007 (1997)

While GoldenEye feels quaint, clunky and certainly hasn't aged nearly as well as Doom or Quake (both of which came out before GoldenEye), you can't overlook how transformative GoldenEye was as a game. Gaming PC was still niche and certainly not as big as the raging console wars. A console was more affordable and importantly accessible for the average consumer. Which made Doom and Quake more isolated from the broader market. Even to this day, while PCs have established a hegemony (mostly in the form of phones and tablets), consoles are still a popular way for people to experience gaming. GoldenEye brought the first person shooter into the pop culture. Leading to rise of other popular console shooter franchises such as Call of Duty and even Fortnite. Sure there's a massive time gap there, but GoldenEye demonstrated the market viability to the genre.

GoldenEye's controls are not buttery smooth. In fact, the greatest challenge to the game is the controls. The enemy AI is laughably bad and basic. Enemies lumber around and awkwardly dodge and perform Dark Souls fat rolls. Still, this type of behavior was quite rare to see in shooters at the time. Another thing GoldenEye did that was Rare (pun intended) to see was the hit detection on enemies. Where they would react to where you shot them. Whether in the throat, hand (you could shoot a weapon out of enemy) or of course in the nuts if you're feeling particularly sadistic. None of these animations will blow the mind of a modern gamer, but this created a sense of weight and feedback from the weapons. What's kind of interesting is the devs actually had to cut and tone down some death animations because the producers felt they were too violent. Even the detail of having bullet holes on walls was something that wasn't standard at the time.

Another interesting game design was the objective based missions. Where you are thrown into a mini sandbox and need to tackle different objectives. These can honestly be a bit of a mixed bag where it's not always clear what you are supposed to do. For example, on the Streets mission on 00 Agent, you need to talk to Valentin. That's all you're told. You need to turn down a street, get out of the tank, walk down an alley and enter a building to find him... not sure how you find him without a guide given you also have a time limit for the mission. There are mission briefing, but they are rarely informative but have a lot of fun flavor to them. I ended up reading each one because I found them amusing. Doom and Quake didn't have these types of objectives. You just went around the level, killing anything that moved, and trying to find keys to progress. Don't get me wrong, I think Doom and Quake rule, but GoldenEye did do something novel for the genre. Even if it came in a compromised n64 form.

While the n64 felt designed for Mario, resulting in the game still feeling great to play (IMO), the single thumb stick sucks when it comes to shooters. To be fair, this was before the hegemony of dual-thumb stick controls that all gamers have become quite accustomed to. I believe it was the 3rd Alien game on the PS1 that actually first used dual-thumb stick controls, so most console shooters at this time were awkward. People were still trying to figure out the genre. Still the game compensates around this awkwardness with the slow AI and the generous auto-aim. I honestly was shooting from the hip for most the game, except for a few later missions where there were meanly placed turrets. So you will end up mowing down hordes of goons firing from the hip. But hey that's what you saw in all those classic and great 70s-80s action movies. So not the worst outcome.

Another limitation, aside from the control set-up, would be the hardware itself. There was limited space of what could be stored on a 64 cartridge. Which is certainly why everything looks so blocky and pixelated. But that was the standard of the console at the time. There are some levels, that are bigger and more open, that do tank the frame rate down to the single digits. This was also an issue in Rare's far more ambitious Perfect Dark (which does improve everything from GoldenEye in almost every way, that game rules).

Aside from the challenge of trying to operate the game via clunky controls, there are some damn tough missions. The hardest for me was probably Bunker 2 where you need to escape from the prison. If you fire a gun on 00 Agent difficulty, seemingly infinite soldiers will spawn. There is a pair of throwing knives in a sewer grate, that if you somehow know they are there you can use your magnet watch to grab, but those are very clunky to use. Easily died the most on this mission. I did find the secret mission Aztec to also be quite hard. Enemies hit you like a truck and Jaws is dual wielding assault rifles and is tanky as fuck... you got to cheese the AI hard on this mission. Bosses in general were not great in this game. They often would use a powerful weapon that would shred you to pieces, the controls are awkward so you can't really dodge them, and they were all tanky. The final boss of the game I did find kind of frustrating since Janus runs around mocking you while endlessly spawning goons charge you. Was kind of tough because Janus takes tons of clips to bring down and there is no healing in the game.

Still this is a game that's really hard to separate from its impact on both the video game industry and the shooter genre. I had fun with it. I have played some split screen GoldenEye recently and I did still have fun with it. Sure, other shooters are more enjoyable to play. But it's the multiplayer that put GoldenEye on the annals of history. The single player campaign was fun and all, but it lacks the lasting impact of you calling your friend out for screen looking!

I'm entirely convinced that this game maintained its acclaim for so long because you played it when you were a kid and it lingered in licensing hell for 25 years, preventing you from looking back at it without rose-tinted glasses. If you play it now with the Xbox Remaster you'll find one of the most basic and bog standard FPS games to exist and that's not even a criticism of the game's age. Doom, Quake, Turok, Duke Nukem, Hexen/Heretic all released before this and most were on consoles around the same time. Half Life came out a year later.

The gameplay is straight up walk forward and the game does the aiming for you. The enemies are all the same with very little weapon variety. It felt like I was playing Doom but all the enemies were Zombiemen and I was armed with the Chaingun and had Partial Invisibility on. The environments are bland with only about a dozen or so decals to mix things up. The controls are fine, but you can tell that Rare couldn't be bothered to update the controls to have the "B" button back you out of the watch menu. I can only assume that it that wasn't there in the original release either, and I shudder to think about how the original on N64 played with its third leg controller. The story isn't difficult to follow, but I swear the missions in the middle were out of order, maybe it was like this in the movie, I wouldn't know I didn't see it. The game's best feature is its music which is very catchy but to be honest I expected at least this from a James Bond game. The multiplayer is fine and I had a good time playing it with some friends, although it is still inferior to the multiplayer of other FPS games at the time, some of which were also on Nintendo 64.

I'm giving this a 3 because I'm aware of the game's legacy and for the most part its playable, albeit a bit boring. Maybe I would've liked it more had I played it back in 1997, but even with that time's standards it still pales in comparison to what came out a few years before and what came out immediately after. I don't know what I'm missing here, but I can say that this game is only worth playing in present day for the legacy.

The controls are really not great in this game. It just seems to intuitive to us now that in a first person shooter, the left stick moves the player and the right stick moves the camera and the sights are always pointed at the middle of the screen. But yeah, not here. If it weren't for the aim assist in this game, I definitely could not have gotten through it. Thank goodness works okay to just kind of point in the general direction of the bad guys with the left stick and let the auto-aim do its thing lol.

But yeah, overall a really enjoyable game. I thought that some of the levels in the middle felt kind of boring and lazy though. And I wish it would let you select whichever difficulty for any level, regardless of your completions of previous levels on that difficulty!! I couldn't get past the jailbreak level on normal so I just set it to easy, but then I had to play through the rest of the game on easy too!! Also that prisonbreak level just was really an unenjoyable level imo. The best levels were definitely the first 6. Dam was a really strong way to start of the game. Facility was undoubtedly my favorite though. Sadly it hit a bit of a slog in the middle with a bunch of levels that felt like just a bunch of random shit thrown together, rather than the meticulously crafted levels where playing through it felt like walking through very very well thought-out architecture. The last few levels in Cuba were pretty enjoyable though too.

The graphics are very dated, of course, but they hold a serious charm imo! They clearly did the best with what they had, and there's something very pleasant about that retro game graphics aesthetic now. The soundtrack was quite good too.

Gunplay was nothing to write home about. Never felt a need to use anything other than whatever SMG could churn out bullets the fastest. The shotgun was the only gun I felt actually changed up the gameplay in a way that was interesting and they only used it in one, otherwise very boring level!!

I mentioned it already, but I really need to drive home just how well designed the first six levels are. When a game gets you to feel EXCITED about memorizing where each enemy is and memorizing the whole floorplan of the level, that's how you know there's some good level design happening.

I grew up in an era when Goldeneye on N64 was a staple in every home of a N64 owner. If you owned a 64, you owned Goldeneye. Perfect Dark was a close substitute, but not as common (although a better game in my opinion). Not owning the console myself, I spent a lot of afternoons and evenings playing split screen multiplayer with my friends, or tagging out taking turns beating random missions or trying to unlock all the cheat codes. Naturally, when a release was coming to Xbox, I had to jump on a playthrough.

Truthfully, I did not have high hopes for a Goldeneye port on Xbox. A lot of old games suffer from people remembering them through a nostalgic lens and coming to realize the game they once loved was actually not very good. I was pleasantly surprised when Goldeneye was actually still really, really good.

Its hard to remember the nuts and bolts from my youth, but playing through the game again, I couldn't automatically recall where to go to find everything or how to flawlessly navigate every level. If you were brand new, you would have to seek out objectives and find your way through a level. While the levels are linear (ish) its still not spelled out for you how to find everything or get everything completed. Mind you, I also only played on Agent difficulty, so levels like Caverns become trivial because you literally just have to walk through the level till the exit, while the harder difficulties have a swath of extras to complete. Point is, even someone brand new and blind to Goldeneye would find enjoyment here.

I don't want to go down the rabbit hole of performance and graphics too much, partly because I don't fully understand it or how it could be made better, so for the sake of future reviews as well as this one my comments will be limited (as in, I don't know HOW to make it better and why this game suffers). This is an emulated port of Goldeneye put onto Xbox. The graphics look the same polygonish, blurry, blockly style as they did in 1997, so don't expect polish. Also, screen tearing is very noticeable on bigger open levels like Surface. There is some slowdown issues, but not anything I don't recall from playing on the N64. I guess what is most disappointing is Goldeneye could of been remastered and updated to look and play really good, but instead it was just ported over with no polish. Also, there is no online multiplayer which I feel like would of been easy to incorporate, however my ignorance again speaks volumes when it comes to programming and development.

New to Goldeneye or reliving your glory days, its worth a run through at least on Agent difficulty. Roughly 3 hours long, you can beat the entire game in an evening. If you remember the levels, probably even less. And power to you if you can beat them all on 00 Agent, or unlock all the cheat codes.

PS. If Judy Dench was a piece of furniture, she would be Judy BENCH.

The names loaf... LEMONloaf.

This is without a doubt the best adaption of a movie turned video game and its influences on modern gaming are still present today.

Before Call of Duty took the reigns of best selling first person shooters, there was Goldeneye. At the time of its release it was revolutionary in every way, from its advanced aiming mechanics to its linear gaming interface.

Even nearly 25 years after its initial release, it's still the greatest adaption of a James Bond film, and one that still hold up today, blocky graphics and all. I can't tell you how many hours my brother and I played the multi-player mode, good times indeed.

A must play for collectors and video gaming enthusiasts alike.

I know this game has aged like crapola wine and was janky to begin with, I was a PC FPS nut at the time but I don't care geez do I love this game. It's always fun in different layers. many of my friends are a lot better at it too but i find it satisfying to play it and unlock cheats and 'pseudo-speed run' it's probably one of the few games i feel that I am actually good at. I could walk away from video games for ten years sit down to play and know these maps instantly remember where to go or where something in the game is. I imagine a lot of people out there are like that too and imagine that this is a very common game people can speed run (it naturally encourages it with the cheats)

The thing about this game is that despite it flaws (and limitiatons) it has smart design in certain places. And I know its because I've played it so much but you can't help but appreciate little things like that. I somewhat imagine that when it was being made they playtested it a lot and improved because of that. Like the cheats for instance. OK so what kind of cheat should we make for this level? OK throwing knives, how about we start out the player with some then? (and so on)

I'm playing it because there was an additional achievement set unlocked at retroachievement. Salsa makes some of the best sets to fit games overall on this site, but this one is by a few parties and geez it's probably the best set on the site! When I saw what the new ones were I hadn't unlocked I couldnt resist but to pick it back up! God I want to 100% this game so bad but I know theres a few that are going to drive me bonkers I can't unlock.

Oh, Goldeneye. You are beloved in the hearts and minds of many a child of the late 90's. Why? In its defense, this will only be for the single-player campaign.

While I did enjoy the auto-aim making up for the nightmarish controlling of the analog stick, there were some portions (shooting off like twenty locks in the floor of a train? What prepared you for this) that required such control and aim that N64 input could not reliably provide.

Objectives vary based on difficulty, but given how vague and dull the objectives were, I would rather have just shot everyone in the room, which would be an option with the exception of irritatingly infinite enemy spawns in other levels.

Graphically I won't rate the game low; it's blocky as all heck but smoothly works and the blocks are easy to move around. Except where any notion of verticality is concerned.

Goldeneye is a game primed by fond memories, but should've followed the way of Quake III Arena and ditched the campaign and controller input in favor for that oh-so highly rated multiplayer and a mouse. God forbid you have to fight the controls more than you fight the enemies.

Enjoyable? It's honestly one of those games that got hyped in your childhood, but going back to the control scheme is like wrestling with a rigid octopus. Stick with a later platform for controls and just keep those shiny memories of evenings and weekends or whatever you enjoyed with this game's multiplayer (I repeat, not single player. You have masochistic tendencies if you enjoy that part); going back will only disappoint.

Just a quick note about my 3 star rating for GoldenEye. I think that at the time I would have given this a 5 because it was outstanding for console gamers back then... excellent campaign, engaging multiplayer, the Bond charm, wonderful level design. While the campaign, Bond charm and level design is definitely there, the multiplayer suffers due to the fact it just hasn't aged well.

This is mostly because it's fairly basic. It's solid and still fun, but Perfect Dark added bots, more options, etc and is a more robust experience. The levels will always be wonderful, and it's easily one of the most influential console games, but if I were to play this today for the first time, I wouldn't look at it as fondly. This is true for some older games, but truly great old games stand the test of time. I would still rate PD as highly now, but this does suffer a bit from time passing it by. Still... it's fucking GoldenEye. I wouldn't give up the memories for the world.

First things first, one huge thing I like about Goldeneye is the controls. I can honestly say it has the best controls for a console FPS (that I've played anyway, maybe there's better). Of course, that's with 1.2 Solitaire, the other control schemes are pretty bad, but at least it gives you the choice, a nice little thing that many modern console games don't do. All the buttons you need are right next to each other, while also being spaced out enough to not press multiple at the same time, there's no need to stretch your fingers too far for anything, and it's good to use for both left-handed and right-handed people, thanks to movement being mapped to both the d-pad and c-buttons (in 1.2). The camera is also very smooth and responsive, something not apparent in most console first person games - the analog stick is not as responsive as, say, a mouse.

This is most likely all due to being more of a fast-paced game compared to modern fps games, which tend to be "get shot a couple times, run behind cover for a few seconds to regen, rinse an repeat". No strategy is involved and forces the player along a linear pathway, rather than letting them explore and devolving gameplay to nothing more than 'point and click'. Exploration and fast paced gameplay are a couple of the many reasons I love 90's shooters.

Anyway, the gameplay of Goldeneye is simple, but refined, as well as having interesting features which work well and compliment each other. The player can take two different approaches - balls to the wall, full guns blazing; or being more stealthy and tactical. Both are just as effective as each other and both provide the player with fun ways to play in such a way. Want to make a bunch of noise but use powerful weapons? Dual DD44 Dostoveis are fun as hell, or even an RCP-90. Your trusty silenced PP7, D5K Deutsche or even fists are good for a stealth approach.

Weapons as a whole are excellent in Goldeneye as you're given a fairly large variety and the majority are fun to use and have fantastic sounds, hell, even the bog standard KF7 is great to use. The shotgun, Magnum and Moonraker Laser are particular favourites. The only real complaint in regards to weapons is that even though you have a variety, this variety doesn't present itself often enough - most levels will have you using the same few weapons and a lot of the really cool ones like the Magnum and automatic shotgun are pretty rare (though it's understandabl for the OP weapons like the Golden Gun or RCP-90). It would also have been cool to use the laser watch outside of the Train level, there were several moments where it could be used.

Level design is exquisite - maps are open-ended and give you several different ways to complete objectives, allowing you to play in different styles with few restrictions, as mentioned before.The level designers had never worked on a game before, which made them work in this more open-ended style, a trait which greatly benefited the game. Compared to a modern James Bond game like Quantum of Solace (which I quite enjoyed to be fair), it really gives it a more rich, unique experience rather than being a generic corridor shooter. You get to be familiar with the levels in Goldeneye and you get to learn effective routes through it, whereas with something like QoS, the levels are more forgetable and you walk past everything and never see them again, making most places appear fairly dull (at least in comparison to Goldeneye). Take Facility for example, you get a choice as soon as you start the level, just before you drop from the vent you can decide whether to take out the guard in the stall stealthily - which requires precision - or just leave him and most likely alert him later. You're then given a few routes to take and as you play, you can experiment to see which is most effective. Something as simple as that encourages replayability - and I've been replaying Goldeneye since the early 2000's.

Every level also feels different and unique (though they use Surface and Bunker twice) and follows the film closely without feeling overly forced like a lot of liscensed games. The fact that they allow for multiple approaches to a situation, as said before, is a huge plus and makes it great fun trying to find the best ways to beat the par times. Most levels also have a sense of simplicity to them while still feeling fleshed out and not feeling boring. Archives is a good example, overall it's a fairly short and easy level, however the space it occupies is utilised extremely well. Every room has a purpose, though not all are relevant to the game - the design is realistic without being obnoxious like so many "realistic" games tend to do. Goldeneye's levels remain fun to explore, especially for secret stuff like the movable walls in Archives.

And as for music, does much even need to be said? Let's just say there's a reason Grant Kirkhope is one of my favourite game composers - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRhRCvEeYvk. It's hard to explain, but each song really fit's its level while also really having a "James Bond" sound to it. Take, for instance, Bunker - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxW7jRDwmuY. It gives the sense of being stealthy as well as bringing thoughts to technology, something which may be a more subjective view. Or Depot - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0PZqy4ewk8 , which has a very "military" sound to it.

That's all the good things done, now for the huge flaw Goldeneye has - the AI is absolutely piss poor. Goldeneye feels easier than what it really should be, even on 00 Agent difficulty, they're quite bad at times. My favourite example is in Archives, where you can literally stare a guard in the face - right after shooting up the previous room, mind you - and he won't notice you because a railing is in the way. This is made stranger by the fact that there are similar situations in Caverns, yet those guards actually spot you. Overall, it's not too big of a problem, the fact that every other aspect of the game is near flawless more than makes up for it.

In short, Goldeneye's pretty fun.