8 Years Later & Goldeneye 007 Is Still Shining

Since Goldeneye 007 has been out for almost 8 years now and has been reviewed some 1 billion times, why even bother posting a review? I recently got back into Nintendo 64 and am pulling out some old games I haven't played in years. It's shocking to see the quality of games back then compared to newer games of today. However, Goldeneye 007 has somehow managed to impress me once again, 8 years later.

Storyline

The storyline in the game is similar to the plot of the movie, Goldeneye. James Bond is a secret agent that is tracking an organization known as Janus. Bond must find out who is behind Janus and stop them from using the goldeneye to attack London. Along the way you'll visit all the popular stages of the movie; including St. Petersburg & Cuba. All the popular characters are involved; including James Bond, Alec Trevelyan, Boris & Natalyia.

Graphics

The graphics are rather standard, there are some good points and bad points. Each stage is well built and looks almost realistic. There are little things that most first person shooter games leave out. For example; shoot a wall and it leaves a bullet hole, shoot an oil drum and it explodes, shoot a pane of glass and it shatters, shoot someone in the leg and they hobble around for a few seconds. Almost everything in the game can be interacted with, whether it's a computer, door, gate, person, or object. The character builds are rather blocky and rough, but there are plenty of skins to go around. Each stage boasts a different type of soldier with multiple skins and character types. While some skins may look the same, you'll still be able to differentiate friend from foe. There is also no emotion from the faces. When you shoot that guy in the leg, he'll hobble around, but you wouldn't know he was in pain by that blank stare on his face! Weaponry is almost limitless and their on screen appearances are easily detectable, as no two guns look alike. However, shown lying on the ground, it can be difficult to tell what gun you're picking up.

Sound

Sound effects are also rather standard. Everything you do produces a sound effect; shooting a gun, opening a door, driving a tank, accessing a computer, setting off an alarm, etc. The only drawback is voices. For the amount of talking that takes place, you'd think someone would have implemented even generic vocals into the game somewhere, but nope. Instead, all in game communications are done via text message, which can actually be a deadly distraction in heated situations. Aside from sound effects, each stage includes a generic James Bond soundtrack that directly relates to the situation at hand. For example; the surface stage is a wide open area, bleak and boring. Therefore, the music being played is soft and casual.

Gameplay

The gameplay itself is standard for any first person shooter. You simply walk around shooting anything that moves until everyone is dead. However, in addition to this you must also complete missions within each stage that require some thought. If any of these missions are not completed you will fail and have to start the stage over again. This makes for some realistic gameplay in 00 Agent where every decision is critical. For example: in St. Petersburg statue, you must first contact Valentin who will inform you that Janus is controlled by Trevelyan. Once you confront Trevelyan at the statue, you must put away your gun and engage in a conversation to learn more about his plans. Only then can you whip out your pistol and eliminate his body guards. Other stages require similar patients where gunplay is not required; whether you are talking to people, taking pictures with a camera, or hacking into computer systems with Natalyia. There are also several instances where surveillance cameras and fail safe securities are in place, which makes your mission that much harder. With so many little things to keep track of, it could easily take several tries to complete your missions, especially on the more difficult stages.

Learning Curve / Replay Value

Since the controls are fairly simple, it only takes a few minutes to get into the game and start kicking some behind. The stick moves your character, A switches weapons and Z fires the weapon. Once you get a feel for movements, you'll also use R for manual aiming and C-Left C-Right for strafe walking and peeking around corners. Once you finish the first stage you'll have learned all the movements and fully understood the concept of the entire game. Each stage is slightly different and more difficult so it may take awhile to figure out all the little tricks but for the most part it's an easy game to play. Since there are 20 stages and 3 difficulty settings for each stage, you'll find that this game can be played for a long time. Play the game on easy and then play it again on hard, and you'll find that you are playing a completely different game.

Conclusion

What would the Nintendo 64 be without Goldeneye 007? Just another lame excuse for Nintendo to make more games with Mario. Ask anyone that loves Goldeneye 007 and they'll all agree that this is single handedly the best Nintendo 64 game ever made, nothing else even comes close. Seriously, if you have a Nintendo 64 and never played this game, there is definitely something wrong with you. It may not seem like much nowadays what with Doom, Quake and Half-Life dominating the first person shooter genre, but for it's time, Goldeneye 007 was on everyone's wish list.