Goldeneye

Summary

Genre: Shooter
Number of players: 1-4
Rumble Pak: Yes
Controller Pak: No
Expansion Pak: Not used

Review

The first-person shooter genre of games has always been fairly popular, ever since the days of Doom. This tends to be quite surprising really, when you consider the numbers of overprotective parents and all these activist types, who seem hell-bent on blaming computer games for all their children's follies. Be that as it may, this genre has continued to flourish over the years, which is certainly a good thing. As Topper Harley once memorably said: "It satisfies my male cravings to kill and win." Too true...

Goldeneye is, of course, based on the James Bond movie of the same name. Well, I say based, when in fact it follows the story line almost exactly. The characters are instantly recognisable, as are the places Bond goes, from Severnaya in Russia (OK, so he didn't go there in the movie, but the Bunker is exactly the same!) right down to the Facility ("Beg your pardon....forgot to knock"), All Q's gadgets are there, in all their awesome glory, from the watch magnet and laser to the old Walther PPK. Sadly, there is no opportunity to drive the old James Bond cars, though.


Gameplay: The game plays very well indeed, with no slowdown, unless of course you're using the invincible cheat and you decide to run through a load of proximity mines. But you can't do that in the general course of the game. As mentioned above, since the game is based on a film, you'll recognise all the levels from the movie. Nice touch. What's more all the characters look disturbingly similar to the real deal. Gunning down Trevelyan is like gunning down Sean Bean in the flesh!

General play is very fluent. Single player always has something for you to do, and it doesn't have too much pointless trecking about as in Turok 2, thank goodness. Which is lucky, because Bond doesn't really move too quickly. The levels are mostly quite small, which does keep you interested in the game, because the level doesn't go on and on - again, step forward Turok 2 - until you couldn't stand doing it again.

During gameplay, you'll notice that with a silencer on your gun, you don't attract as much attention as you would if you were just firing without. A nice touch - but it doesn't stop there. Creeping around as opposed to running out with all guns blazing, a la Quake, is not advisable, because the guards will quickly fire back, and you won't last too long. It's far better to check out your options and avoid confrontation where possible. That said, if you really feel like a gunfight, then ,unlike Thief on the PC, you actually do stand a chance of winning against multiple opponents.

The guns themselves play a vital role in any shoot em up. Whilst the guns here are nowhere near as good as in Perfect Dark they are good all the same. Most of them are actually based on real weapons, although for some reason they don't actually use the right names. Weird, huh? But that doesn't stop the guns from being devilishly fun to use. Although there's nothing quite as fun to use as the Slayer in Perfect Dark, Bond does deliver in the weapons department in the form of the RC-P90. A terrific weapon, it has a huge magazine and cuts through your foes like a hot knife through butter.


Challenge: There is no doubt that Bond gets very, very challenging indeed. Try playing Temple on 00 Agent and you'll know exactly what I'm talking about. Agent, the skill level you should start on, is not overly challenging, plus you don't have to complete all the objectives that a 00 agent does. For instance, in the first level, Dam, an Agent just has to Bungee from the top to the Facility, where as a 00 agent has to destroy all the alarms, install a covert modem on a computer, begin a file download from another computer in another area, and then finally Bungee from the top. What's more, all the enemies become stronger and can aim a bit better. Bond is an extremely difficult game to complete, and will have you going for months and months.


Graphics: Pretty good, actually, when you consider the age of the game. The characters all bear a freakish similarity to those of the movie, and the levels are all well drawn up too. The explosions could be a bit better, I think, but for the most part, the graphics are well done, and you won't be disappointed.


Sounds: Could have been improved somewhat. Yes, there are grunts when a character is hit, but there are just two grunts in the game, a male and a female, which slightly detracts from the realism of the game. The guns all make different noises, which is always a good thing in my book, and the music is quite good. It has a lot of good variations on the Bond theme, as well as some new tunes which are all pretty good. They can start to grate after too long, though, especially if you keep dying in the same level, and are forced to listen to the intro over, and over, and over...


Multiplayer: The best multiplayer game on the N64, until its sequel of sorts in Perfect Dark. When you first buy the game you won't put it down until you first slot it into your N64 (I know, I know - crap joke)! Four-player Bondage will keep you entertained for ages. It's so addictive and you'll never tire of blasting Mishkin into oblivion. Other than PD, there is not a single game with a better multiplayer game. It's just a shame that you can't have simulants in this game too, really. There are so many different modes in it - one hit kills, capture the flag, 2 vs 2, 2 vs 1, etc etc etc. An exceedingly well thought-out, hideously addicitive multiplayer experience that you will play again and again!


Summing up: Not as good as Perfect Dark, but it is still one of the better N64 games to have come out, which is a credit to it given its age. You won't be disappointed by it even if you do have Perfect Dark already. Top Bond action - what more could you want?


Gamesmark: 90%


Reviewer: Tangycheese