To celebrate the release of Skyfall today in the UK, NG’s Retro Classic game of choice is GoldenEye. Check out our Bond 50 moments to get in the mood. We looked at the top Bonds, films, characters, gadgets, songs and moments. If you want more Daniel Craig then head over to our Casino Royale article.
GoldenEye was a bit of a good and a bad thing. It happened to be the finest FPS of its time and is widely considered as one of the best games of al time. On the other hand Rareware released the game 2 years after the film came out and well consequently they lost the James Bond license.
2 years probably explains why this game version of a film worked where no other has worked before or after. This wasn’t a simple cash in for Rareware and Nintendo, this was a sign of quality, a reason to pick up a Nintendo 64. And what a reason it was, the moment you first see your blocky (almost mincecraft like) Pierce Brosnan and he whips out his pp7 as you make your way towards the famous bungee jump scene.
My favourite level both in the single player and multiplayer was Facility, from the very beginning you can sneak up on the guy in the toilet (not as weird as it sounds trust me), the great trick here was shooting his hat off before shooting him in the head. It was in this level where we fist bump into Alec Trevalyn (For England James) and get to play around with some mines. obviously Facility was only one level and there were other great levels in this game, Archives, Streets (tank anybody), Bunker, Control, actually don’t know why I am listing them I loved them all (except you cradle, I hated you). The game followed the film quite strictly but fleshed out the experience enough that the levels made sense. You could tell time, thought and love had been put into this game.
Ofcourse there wasn’t just the single player campaign, no in a day where multiplayer wasn’t in every game, GoldenEye was a bit of a pioneer. It gave N64 owners a reason to have 4 pads, they could get their friends around and blow the living crap out of each other. Whats more is that the great array of weapons that GoldenEye offered, coupled with the different modes and settings available made for easily the best multiplayer experience of its time. There was the usual deathmatches, but there was also capture the flag and golden gun. Limiting yourself to certain types of weapons also made for a very interesting spin on things. A rocket launcher only death match, or proximity mines. Laying out an elaborate trap with proximity mines and seeing your friends stumble fatally into it was sadistically satisfying. Not to mention the countless cheats, paintball mode, DK mode and extra characters (tea lady).
Whilst not the first game to ever offer multiplayer, it was the first that really mastered it and it has gone a long way in defining the conventions of an FPS in both the multiplayer segment and the single player. This game didn’t just make a successful game of a film, it revolutionised a whole genre and started its march into the dominant genre that we see today. When GoldenEye was released it was platform games that were still king of the gaming world. Games like Call of Duty, Battlefield and Halo all owe the heritage to this game which will always be remembered as the turning point.
NG- NEW GAMER 