Based on the movie GoldenEye, the game stays very true to the original movie plot-wise. Some liberties are taken for the sake of making an exciting game, but it gives you the real feel of being in the movie. However, a number of frustrations lessen the fun factor a bit. GoldenEye follows 007 as he uncovers the identity of Janus, a friend from the past who has become his enemy. Through Russia, Monte Carlo, Cuba and more, you'll visit the locations used in the movie, playing some missions from the film, with new environments added to flesh out the game. Think of them as deleted scenes put back into a director's cut. In true Bond fashion, you'll settle your score, save the world, and get the girl at the end. So why does it feel so unsatisfying? We'll start with the good: the controls are tight and responsive, with a great layout, though if this is your first usage of an N64 controller, you'll need a bit of time before your hands get the right "muscle memory" to avoid making costly errors at just the wrong time. The graphics are excellent, with many of the principal character's faces translating nicely to the game. Sound effects for the guns are well done, and the varying riffs on the classic Bond themes feel "movie-like". The game also rewards you for good aim, with head shots killing immediately, body shots generally in a few hits (though a few hardy souls may require a reload to finish off) and leg and arm shots doing little damage, providing a more true-to-life feel. Unfortunately, so many nagging issues put a damper on things. A handful of levels have a serious issue with you being able to exit without completing your objectives. This wouldn't be such an issue if the exits were always obvious, or if you were warned in some way. Sadly, a few times you can go through a door and face a sudden "mission failed." That James Bond isn't smart enough to poke his head out the escape and go back to wrap things up is a little jarring. The darkness in some levels can be a chore to deal with, mostly when using the aiming crosshair, which actually hinders your view of faraway enemies in some cases. A major sticking point is contacts who give you information: you're not told you'll be meeting someone, when you see them they look like an enemy, yet if you kill them, it means a failed objective. There's little more frustrating than having to redo ten minutes of the game because you killed someone that all your previous experience tells you to kill. Overall, the actual mechanics of the core gameplay work very well, but the mentioned issues in the game really drag it down a bit: a bit like having a Porsche, but racing it on a speedway littered with potholes. Graphics are beautiful, with the only drawback being lots of elbows sticking through walls/closed doors and such. The sound is great, though a CD-based format would have allowed for some voice, and at least one "Bond... James Bond." The multiplayer adds a good bit of extra playtime, and the core mission itself provides a decent amount of play, even at just the middle difficulty. In the end, after all the hype I'd heard, I was left disappointed that so many people seem to have turned a blind eye to the game's deficiencies. A few tweaks and this good game could have been great.
This is by far the best FPS available on the Nintendo 64 platform, and also the best Bond game ever made. The gameplay is the best I have experianced in a FPS, both in the single player campain, as well as in the mult... Read Full Review
Goldeneye 007 delivers a breath-taking campaign, and a classic multiplayer. It is perfect in every field and no other game comes close to achieving this perfection. Halo: Combat Evolved and Halo 2 have managed to catch a... Read Full Review
