GoldenEye 007 for the Nintendo 64, based on the 1995 James Bond film of the same name, is what I would call the first-person shooter console game that I've ever gave a crap about in my life. It was also the first FPS game I've played. To be honest, I've never really played another FPS game after GoldenEye (except perhaps playing a little of Perfect Dark for N64, the spiritual sequel to GoldenEye, but I'll get to that later). Mostly because I don't have the console for the FPS game that I'm interested in playing (speaking about Halo and Half-Life, iirc both for the Xbox brand, I hear those are awesome), and/or that the video game market is so flooded with the "me-too" FPS games that I'd stop caring about them entirely (Not quite sure if that last part made sense). But, at least to me, there's something about GoldenEye that stands out from many games. For some reason, at least for me, it actually made sense to put Bond into a first-person perspective of the player, run around blowing and shooting shit up and causing complete chaos and utter mayhem while completing your assigned objectives mostly based on sequences from the film. I had a blast in some of the levels, especially the ones where you have to save Natalya several times from the enemies, my most favorite of all is the Train level, where you inside one and you get to shoot the living fuck out of the soldiers while hiding behind the wooden crates and -- I swear I was/am intrigued at how much destruction you can cause in this particular level with explosive weapon cheats on -- raising hell from start to finish. At the end of the train level, you encounter Natalya taken hostage by Alec Trevelyan's henchman, and you are confronted with a deadly, yet easy decision: Stop for the mission, or Natalya dies. Some of you would probably just do both them and you a favor and shoot the bitch for all the stupid mission failures that resulted from her deaths of stupidity (and sometimes hilarity) just cause she got in you gun's way or for running into an explosion or crossfire. But in order to advance, you had to save her, and that was mandatory. So you shoot the henchman (Ourumov), and if you're good enough, shoot both that bitch in the black clothing (Xenia) and that stiff-ass Brit (Alec) for their faggotry against the British government. Once you free Natalya, the doors suddenly become sealed, trapping you inside the room and now that asshole has placed a bomb inside the train which will be set off in one minute (Three/six minutes in the film). At this point, I've felt a sense of pressure and anxiety, and my only hope to escape was though a square hole in the floor. With your handy laser watch, you cut though the hole and escape with Natalya, and watch the train go boom. Speaking of going boom, I think this game made me a BIG fan of explosions in media. I swear, with a Grenade Launcher, I'm a fucking terrorist (as in, I love blowing shit up). >0< But of course, don't take me the wrong way, I'm not psycho or anything. I just love dealing damage to enemies in games with flash and booms, and with GoldenEye, you can place explosives underneath unsuspecting (indifferent? o-O) soldiers and watch 'em go. This piece sums up my lust toward destruction in the game. Going back to what GoldenEye might have that many games even today don't. I think it's its style. One example of this is the death animation. When you get yo' ass capped enough and die, you see this "spilling blood" animation that covers the screen from the top, and a Bond-like theme plays during that animation. I really thought, "if Bond has to go, he shows it in style". Another is some of the character animation, whenever you coming out of a hole or a corridor, you sometimes see enemies jump out and twist their torso and point and aim their gun at you with there other arm moved out. This may be "meh" today, but back then it was both cool and amazing, especially when you consider how realistic the animation was at the time. EDIT: And last but definately not least, the music. OH GOD THE MUSIC. Timeless. Beautiful. The soundtrack is something I could actually dance to. My absolute favorite is the Surface theme (first visit). I swear that theme... that theme has this ambiance that makes it so sexy and epic. :V I'm actually considering mashing that beat with something, but I've got nothing yet. This soundtrack is god on the N64. It beat Zelda:Oot, yes you heard me right. :eng101: All in all, this isn't/wasn't some licensed piece of crap you find at bargain-bins at a goddamn North American Wal-Mart for $10 a pop. This is, and I'm sure many will agree, actually one of the best, or THE best, console FPS video game of the 1990's, and one that helped popularize the first-person shooter genre on the consoles. Truly one of the most remarkable games on the N64 and possibly the best licensed title of the fifth generation of video games, this is a game I enjoyed dearly back in the day. And after years of not officially owning an N64 until just recently, I've decided to take the time to create my seventh PEMNAS series around this game, which has brought me nostalgic joy and great memories. Hope you enjoy. =) Also, PEMNAS = PLEASE EXCUSE MY NOOB ASS SKILLS. I invented the term myself. Here's the playlist to see the series in 19 parts (23 videos): http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=410EDC341774011F Or just pick one: (Part 1) Opening Intro + First Stage: Mission 1: Dam (Part 2) Second Stage: Mission 1: Facility (Part 3) Third Stage: Mission 1: Runway (Part 4) Forth Stage: Mission 2: Surface Act 1 (Part 5) Fifth Stage: Mission 2: Bunker (Part 6) Sixth Stage: Mission 3: Silo (Part 7) Seventh Stage: Mission 4: Frigate (Part 8 ) Eighth Stage: Mission 5: Surface Act 2 (Part 9.0) Ninth Stage 1st Half: Mission 5: Bunker Act 2 (Part 9.5) Ninth Stage 2nd Half: Mission 5: Bunker Act 2 (Part 10) Tenth Stage: Mission 6: Statue Park (Part 11) Eleventh Stage: Mission 6: Military Archives (Part 12) Twelfth Stage: Mission 6: Streets of St. Petersburg (Part 13) Thirteenth Stage: Mission 6: Depot (Part 14) Fourteenth Stage: Mission 6: Train (Part 15.0) - Vs. Xenia - Fifteenth Stage: Mission 7: Jungle (Part 15.5) Sneaking In - Fifteenth Stage: Mission 7: Jungle (Part 16.0) Clearing Out - Sixteenth Stage: Mission 7: Control (Part 16.5) Hacking the GoldenEye - Sixteenth Stage: Mission 7: Control (Part 17.0) 1st Half - Seventeenth Stage: Mission 7: Caverns (Part 17.5) 2nd Half - Seventeenth Stage: Mission 7: Caverns (Part 18) Vs. Alec - Eighteenth Stage: Mission 7: Cradle (Part 19 / THE END?) Ending + Credits - Making Out: 64-Bit Style So would you all agree that GoldenEye is awesome and that it influenced video games in more ways then one? Note that you are not limited to this question. DISCUSS.
Would it be impolitic of me to suggest that it stands out because it's the only FPS you've ever played?
It is by far, to me, hands-down class of its own best game of all time. And it stands the test of time too. There also are some great resources online for making or playing custom levels. But yes the original is the real deal.
There's a similar discussion going on in some other thread, but - for me Goldeneye and PD are poster children for games that have aged badly. The framerate makes them simply unplayable in this day and age. Back in 1997 on a shitty little 15" TV over RF I'm sure it wasn't so noticeable, but play them on a decent sized CRT today over RGB or S-Video and tell me the slideshow framerate doesn't get on your nerves.
I play it on S-video. Grant it, I LOOOOOVE GE007 and PD, but I still enjoy playing around there. I like how my friend figured out the button code for invincibility BEFORE game magazines published them, this was before Internet, so it was a big deal for him lol. But yeah, all that time and people were having to beat the levels within a certain time limit to get the cheats. That's what made both of the games really fun for me. I love playing PD. Rare was really bad-ass back in the day...
Meh. Made a PD reply in the other thread about Nintendo stuff + I believe this thread also existed on THIA. Anyway, can't wait for the XBLA release of Perfect Dark.
I did play a bit GoldenEye back in the day, 4 player was excellent, remote mines in Facility ftw If you really want to see it taken to its limits, I'd advise visiting http://speeddemosarchive.com/GoldenEye.html
It was good in it's day. It evolved the genre. It does not live up to expectations to this day, it has aged badly. It has it's place in history and nothing more.
Too bad its not gonna happen. EDIT: And just to bring it out there: http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3176121 The chance has passed already. =(
I could never do the facility level. I got fed up of dying and starting the whole thing over, so I just gave up and never touched it again. The music does have a MIDI-funk charm.
Loved it back in the day, but it doesn't quite stand the test of time. My first FPS was Wolfenstein 3D. But I did Play Goldeneye a Ton with friends. Same with Duke Nukem 64 games and Perfect Dark. Hell even DK64 was fun to play with friends.
Perfect Dark was a disappointment after Goldeneye. PD got too goofy for me later on in the game. It was supposed to be comedy but meh. It also ran even choppier, and the high res mode was unbearable most of the time and a major tease as a result. The performane issues are the N64 hardware's fault though really. Rare had N64 tapped out right from the get go. If you go gaga for Goldeneye and Perfect Dark, don't forget to play Timesplitters. Same guys worked on those and the games are very similar in style, even down to the music.
