GoldenEye 007 review

by Piyoz on Apr 16th, 2012

When people look back on movies from decades past, such as those black-and-white musical films, people never really remark on how primitive, how outdated, and how bygone such films really are. Compared to today’s standards, these kinds of movies lack the appeal and luster that you find nowadays. Nostalgia aside, what classic films have accomplished is something that the English language has no word for. I will refer to this quality as being brilliant. It is brilliance that makes these films triumphant, grandiose, beautiful, and human at the same time. These movies set the bar for the industry; they raised the viewers’ expectations and made something that people far in the future will still enjoy watching. They achieved timelessness.

GoldenEye for the N64 fits this description better than many other shooter games out there. The fact that this game was made is a miracle in its own right, seeing that this was a small project that Nintendo had little faith in. This movie tie-in came out nearly two years after the GoldenEye movie did, and it gleaned far more popularity that the actual Pierce Brosnan film. I’m not sure what it is about the legacy of Ian Fleming, the brand new face of James Bond, and the super spy’s journey to be useful in a post-Cold War political climate, but it all makes one hell of a game! Why is that?

In the same way that old movies never lose their appeal despite having lost social relevance, GoldenEye for the N64 maintains itself as a solid shooter for the clear fact that it was well made. Given what was available to game developers in the 90’s, this title excelled far beyond anything else. GoldenEye was the first fully three-dimensional shooter, but it wasn’t only that. Making a good shooter that looks nice, controls well, and feel natural is nothing special. The game industry has always been making top-notch first-person shooters. What makes GoldenEye stand out (besides graphics) is something far more abstract.

I’m not much of a FPS fan. It’s not my preferred genre, but GoldenEye remains at the top of all my gray N64 cartridges to this day. What makes GoldenEye unique by principal is that fact that shooting is not the primary purpose of the game play. Yes, you do shoot plenty of Russian soldiers by the dozen, but beyond that, you truly get the feeling that you are James Bond.

The problem with many James Bond titles is that they descend into senseless and stupid firefights. GoldenEye requires actual and concentrated espionage. Going through bunkers and silos with guns-a-blazing is not the best idea here. The game encourages you to use your silenced pistol to take out soldiers individually, avoid cameras and turrets, and gather intelligence, records, tapes, and open safes with hidden keys. For the first time ever, the player could actually be a spy! You could infiltrate bases, track helicopters, and meet with mob bosses! The icing on the cake, of course, is that you are not just any old MI6 agent; you are James Bond! You are the spy! You’ve been in so many movies over the years! You’ve been portrayed by tons of excellent actors! You have become the generation’s standard of masculinity! What’s not to love?

It is at this point that I will remove the rosy-tinted glasses. I invite you to do the same. Let’s actually look at this game for what it is. We’ve established that GoldenEye is the epitome of James Bond, manhood, and mid-twentieth century paranoia. But what about the game? Sadly, I believe that the software of GoldenEye has become secondary in most people’s opinions. These days, people tend to overlook the flaws that this title has, and they are plentiful.

The most obvious and most laughable detail of GoldenEye is the NPC’s. Watch all the Russian soldiers, civilians, terrorists, and story-relevant characters. Weapon-wielding characters have the vision of a falcon, the ears of a bat, but the intelligence of a cheese sandwich. Shooting through unsuspecting polygons has never been easier as it is here, yet making a path past a wall of four guards is nearly impossible on 00 Agent setting. Enemies like to take six or seven rifle rounds before finally dying, that is, if they can even reach you. Enemies like to run endlessly into walls in pursuit of everyone’s favorite sleuth.

The game deviates from the story of the movie in some good ways and some bad ways. There is no real explanation for two trips to Severnaya, but at the same time, the Statue Park stage is very well executed. The Cradle mission is far too simple (just shoot up a computer), but the dam mission that opens both the movie and the game is equally exciting in both forms (even if you jump off without a bungee cord). The Silo mission is new, but it is also my favorite stage. The inclusion of the Egyptian pyramid duel and the Aztec temple job are very nice and rather difficult. The Archives mission is mostly nonsense, in search of a Natalya who loves to run away from you, and the Streets mission is better done on foot.

What made GoldenEye so popular is the multiplayer, however. I don’t see how this came to be, because playing this mode reminds me how far the gaming industry has come since 1997. Playing GoldenEye multiplayer is to playing Halo multiplayer as rubbing two dry sticks together is to a lighter and a can of hairspray. Multiplayer here is so archaic and primitive that active gamers will laugh at how poorly this mode has aged. People who don’t play games as much (like my brother) might still enjoy this mode in the same way that two one-eyed pirates would have fun shooting grenade launchers aimlessly in a dark cavern, hoping to hit someone eventually. The cheats make this multiplayer interesting, though. You can turn on Paintball mode for some innocent jitters. You can turn on DK mode, which give all players huge heads and ape-like arms. You can turn off radar, turn on invisibility, or find out who has the best reflexes with a Golden Gun duel.

Bias aside, GoldenEye is an excellent game. Considering what Rare was capable of producing back in 1997, this title is yet another among Rare’s genius, genre-changing, and world-famous games that will live forever in gaming history as one of the most creative FPS games of all time. Does the game hold up today? Absolutely not. Is it fun and thrilling to play nonetheless? Without question. GoldenEye took a great movie and a timeless intellectual property and created something worth every second of playing. The campaign is engaging and exhilarating all the way through.

In the same way that old movies might lose some relevance and appeal as technology and social values evolve, GoldenEye has also been replaced by an astronomically profitable genre of first person shooters. Games come and go. These days people rave and rant about titles like Halo, Call of Duty, and Team Fortress 2. Someday, new series will come along and replace everything we know now with something so much more refined, intuitive, and creative, that we will look back on all the fun we had with warm glows on our faces. We’ll think about how great those games were, but also how games have changed so much as society changes.

This is what has happened to GoldenEye. The world around the game has changed so much, but because of the significance that it has had to the industry, I think it will be a long time before something like GoldenEye disappears from the public eye.

Graphics:
Rare sure loves to stun its players with nice graphics. Character designs are lacking, but stage detail is very impressive. I often find myself gazing at the mountains of Western Russia in the dam level. Environmental graphics are hit-and-miss; the jungle looks pretty but the frigate is pretty meager in detail. The Streets of St. Peteresburg are somewhat impressive for the N64. Close-up work on the weaponry is very nice, as well.

Weapons:
James Bond’s trusty PP7 will always come in handy, silenced or unsilenced. You’ll come across plenty of other types of guns, as well, such as the AK-47 (most of the game happens in Russia), various pistols, combat rifles, and the infamous Golden Gun. You can have at it with grenades, grenade launchers, rocket launchers, throwing knives, remote detonation mines, proximity mines, and your laser watch.

Audio:
Grant Kirkhope and Graeme Norgate team up this time to deliver a riveting and exciting soundtrack! It is surprising how much one theme song can make so many unique, situational themes for different stages. For example, the train level has a very…uhm…train-like sound to it. The jungle is merely jungle ambiance that would be recycled for use in Jet Force Gemini. Each stage has its own remix that fits with the tone and purpose of the mission, hence establishing an unforgettable sense of urgency and tension at critical moments like the Control Room and the Train Yard. Robin Beanland, who would one day help with the soundtrack to Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts, even jumped in to bring us some relaxing elevator music.

Gameplay:
All things considered, the game play here is magnificently well-crafted. For a 1997 three-dimensional FPS, Rare did a hell of a job crafting the controls to fit the clunky and awkward N64 controller. For its time, these controls are excellent. As I mentioned before, what makes GoldenEye special is that it is more than a senseless FPS; it’s a spy game. You go about as a spy doing spy things on Her Majesty’s Secret Service. If you’re lucky, you can make it through each stage by being loud and obnoxious and obvious, but the point here is to be silent, efficient, and undetectable. No other game pulls that off in quite the same way.

Story:
Why am I considering the story? Well, because it’s based on a movie. The premise is that before the fall of the Soviet Union, 007 and his bestest pal 006 went on a mission to destroy a chemical weapons plant in Russia led by a General Ouromov, but the mission went awry. 006 was killed. 007 escaped. Years pass. The Communists lose power and Cold War is over. What does James Bond have to do now that the Commies are out of the picture? As it turns out, there is a lot left over after the Soviet Union crumbled, and these certain angry individuals are something that only James Bond can take care of. But the truth might be more than he can handle. The game tries to carry this story as best it can, but can’t help but drop important pieces and characters here and there. The plot is coherent, but miscommunications between plot devices, characters, and linearity are a problem.

Conclusion:
It cannot be denied that GoldenEye is a classic. Just playing now will remind you of better times when gaming as a hobby was simpler and friendlier. But don’t let nostalgia take over! GoldenEye is still clunky, archaic, and silly compared to what we have these days. Inversely, don’t let what people think about gaming standards today guide your judgment of this classic. It might not age well, and might not live up to many people’s expectations of FPS, but this is one solid title to keep among your collection of old-school cartridges. GoldenEye has earned its place on the mantelpiece of classic gaming, and while it’s far from peerless, it will remain a shooter masterpiece for as long as people game.

5/5

Categories: Reviews