Okay, let's admit it: Every single one of us has wanted to be James Bond...I mean, you got the gadgets, the guns, and the girls. That cannot be a bad thing whatsoever. Anyway, this game came out in 1997, and it still rocks. Anyway, enough banter. Time to get down to the nitty-gritty.

Control-style is kind of awkward at first, especially if you were new to the N64 like I was when I first played it (Goldeneye was the second N64 game I'd ever played...I'm pretty sure the first was Pilotwings 64). However, the controls are very simple, and thankfully the N64 control was designed with FPS gamers in mind.

Gameplay simply rocked, mainly because of that annoying stealth element. I say annoying simply because at first it WAS...I'm old-school FPS gamer, so stealth and patience were no part of my play style dictionary. Obviously my vocab has increased greatly since then. Anyway, it certainly is a refreshing element, considering the first 2 Quake games and Unreal were just all-out combat, and the only game with gameplay variation was Jedi Knight...but that was totally different. So, it was, at the time, totally new for the FPS realm.

The weapons, gadgets, and gear are very real-world and utilitarian, except for the grenade launcher, Moonraker, Golden Gun and watch laser...all three are pretty cool though. Effects are decent, although were amazing for the time, and weapon balance was pretty good, although in regards to weapon balance, Deathmatch left much to be desired. But, because of all of the modes and combinations and skins and such, it didn't matter. Multi's a blast.

Enemy AI was decent...or at least what you'd call decent in an FPS at that time. They don't call for help because help comes whether they want it or not, but they do roll out of the way of the odd bullet...which hits them in the balls instead of the head...Really smart guys...I thought Russian soldiers had to pass the i.q. test?

Another innovation that this game has is a very (bear with me here, we're talking about a 5 year old game after all) articulate locational damage system for its time. You hit 'em in the head, they drop like a sack o' potatoes, but you'll have to fire 2 or 3 into the torso to drop 'em the easy way.

With solid single and multi-player with a lot of cool stuff to boot, Goldeneye is on of this system's definitive games. The graphics may be dated and the engine may be simple, but man is it every fun. Altough I must ask, where are the girls? You never get laid once in that game...

NWC