Game #6: GoldenEye 007

Game: GoldenEye 007

Developer: Rare

System: Nintendo 64

Year Released: 1997

Goldeneye 007 was released in 1997 after two and a half years of development and multiple game changing decisions. Originally planned to be released on the SNES as a 2d side scroller was then proposed as a 3d first person shooter. Not only that but went back and forth between being an “on the rails” game similar to arcade shooters where the path is set in stone and you progress section by section automatically such as the game it was heavily designed after Virtual Cop. 

Responsible for showing that first person shooter games would work on console games as well as PC games. It is credited as being the starting point for the realistic shooters we have today. Due to the violence and more realistic style a credits scene was ended at the end to introduce the characters and give it that film feel. One of the better lesser known facts is that the original cartridge was released with a fully functional ZX Spectrum emulator with ten Rare developed games. That feature was disabled in the final version but has since been unlocked by fan patches. 

Ultimately, this is considered one of the greatest games of all time by some. The third highest selling games in the N64 console even outselling The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. It came in below Super Mario 64 and Mario Kart 64. 

Graphics:

The graphics in this game provided the players with as close to realistic looking people as possible. Using stills and clips from the movie the designers were not only able to closely recreate the backgrounds but the people as well. Granted this came is a few years off for the hyper realistic looking people in today’s games but come on, hands and feet are hard! The details that they were able to put in to make as much of the game match the movie is impressive. 

The background graphics are as close to being the actual background from the movies as technology allowed and they should be considering that they were designed based off of the photos and blueprints from the movie, coming as close to realistic as the hardware of the time would allow. They were able to accomplish a lot of what they did by making a lot of the game in black,white and grey scale. Less colors doubled the processing speed. All of this for the time it was released is very impressive and is part of the reason why gamers still talk about this game today.  

 

 

Sound:

The soundtrack from the story mode is the perfect companion to the game. It is not a soundtrack that you will sit down and listen to while doing other things but if you are playing the game you don’t mind it. The sound effects are on point though including and but limited to 9 different gunshot effects depending on the circumstances of the shots happening. So the time and effort was put in. Although, to be fair, the majority of the hours spent playing this game were spent in multiplayer and no one was listening to the soundtrack during those hours. The volume was down, other music was up and both were drowned out by the trash talking of friends.

Difficulty:

Goldeneye 007 default difficulty teeters on almost being too difficult. The story mode requires a lot of looking around and strategy. The AI in this game however, is pretty great considering the time it was created. Gunshots and other sounds will bring the enemy out of the woodwork to find out what is going on and they seem to be non stop. I sat there for a good 10 minutes making more and more enemies show up just by firing. If you don’t read the mission description in the beginning you will miss mission details meaning that you’ll end up running around trying to find the goals.

Entertainment Value:

The story mode in this game is entertaining for a little bit but you grow bored after a while. The multiplayer with a group of friends is entertaining enough to keep you going for a while. Between the number of maps, characters, and modes your have plenty of options to help create a new game with every combination. Throw in the cheat codes for even more fun. Trash talk and slappers only. What more do you need? Drinks, Snacks, Slappers, Loud music and a group of friends. That is a great night to me.

Does it hold up:

The multiplayer will always hold up. Always. Again, this is one of those games where you can get some of your friends together with some beverages and make a night out of just plain fun, seeing who can conquer the rest. There are so many different combinations The single player though while fun does have a shelf life. You can get through a few levels before you grow tired of the missions and move on to something else.

 

Overall Score: 

Goldeneye 007 comes in with a final score of 4.5. 

The game is great don’t get me wrong but takes a hit in the sound and Does it hold up categories. One aspect of the game is a classic and will always be regarded as a great game, however other aspects fail to hit that same bar. So for that reason i had to dock the points a bit. Playing with friends? Perfect game. Playing alone? Not bad but not 100.

 

Final Thoughts:

This is a great game, and it lead to a whole new genre of games on console. Can you imagine Xbox or PS without Call of Duty, Medal of Honor or Battlefield? Of course you can’t. We will never know if those games would have made it to console without Goldeneye but we can point out that it definitely helped pave the way. Fighting over what weapons to use, what maps to play, whether or not someone is “Cheating” by looking at another players part of the screen to help locate them. The good ole days. I have spent a lot of time playing multiplayer FPS games and I can say that the majority of the time was spent between Goldeneye 007 and Unreal Tournament GOTY edition. While this game will not be listed in my top games, it is a favorite of mine to play with a group of friends. 

 

What are your thoughts? Agree/Disagree? Have something to add? Leave a comment down below!  

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