Wednesday, May 18, 2016

Video Game Review: Goldeneye 007

Goldeneye 007
Nintendo 64


Everyone knows that Goldeneye 007 is considered an all time classic, certainly one of the best games ever released for the Nintendo 64. But I can admit to not being too excited about this game when I first heard about it. This was back in the mid 90's. Some video game magazine ran a large 15 page preview on the game. They outlined the levels, the weapons, the gameplay, the controls, everything. The game looked like it might be okay, but I was not a big James Bond fan back then, nor did I know anyone else who was. I never thought in a million years the game would end up being as big a hit as it did.

When it came out, I rented a copy and played it over the weekend. I liked the game, but I wasn't able to finsh it as I couldn't make it past the damned jungle level. I think that the level is a walk in the park these days (especially on Agent mode, which I undoubtedly was playing back then), but I just couldn't finish it. I ended up renting the game one or two more times, finally finishing the level and completing the game both times.

I thought that was it, that I would never play the game again. Usually when I rent a game that many times and play the crap out of it like that, I don't bother to buy it. But with each renting of Goldeneye, I fell a little bit more in love with the game each and every time. Plus the multiplayer mode was a ton of fun, and I wanted to have a copy of the game handy if and when I had friends over.




So I bought it. The game was still relatively new and I paid full price for it. So it was kind of a waste of precious resources (especially for a 15 year old) renting the game three times and then paying full price for a new copy of it. But it was well worth it.

I played the hell out of the game, not only in single player mode but with friends as well. I became a multiplayer champion, the kid that everyone hated to play against. In fact, often times I would be ganged up on by people so they could take me out first when we'd play. Even going 3 against 1, sometimes they were still not successful enough to take me out of the game.

Multiplayer was a ton of fun. It offers pretty standard player vs player battle mode (up to 4 people could play at a time), but there were a ton of levels, a lot of different weapon modes to choose from, and a few variations of battles to pick from. I remember the man with the golden gun (one hit kills) being a fun mode to play. Finding secret hiding spots, ambushing players... walking around, having to constantly be on the lookout for proximity mines... keeping tabs on where weapon caches and bulletproof vests would respawn... the game was just an absolute blast to play with my friends.




I also became quite good at the game in single player. I beat the game on the three main difficulty settings, unlocking the secret levels and each and every hidden character in multiplayer. Man, it was an incredibly difficult task. To this day, I don't know how I did it. I struggle now to get through the game on Secret Agent difficulty, but I will get to that later. Still, it was quite an accomplishment. I don't know if I could do that today, even if I invested all of my time into playing this.

Over time, the Nintendo 64 gave way to a new generation of consoles. This game got shelved. Unlike a lot of other titles I put away when I am done playing them, I still would pick up Goldeneye every few years or so and give it a good play through.

I'd say it has been at least five years since the last time I played the game. I had wanted to play an N64 game for my next review, and it was a no brainer that I was going to pick this.

Right away, I was able to pick up the game and get into the swing of things as if I had just played it yesterday. The control scheme is very accessible, the game easy to handle and play. Although the game is 20 years old (damn, I am ancient) - it still holds up relatively well. The graphics are vibrant and colorful. Your weapons damage the environment, enemies react to where you shoot them. This was groundbreaking stuff for 1997. The characters look, for the most part, like their film counterparts. But what really stands out to me is the game's music. Goldeneye has a classic soundtrack that I found myself humming along to one more than one occasion.




The level design is classic, this isn't just a "shoot everyone" brainless first person shooter. Each stage has missions and objectives you must complete before you can move on. No two levels are alike (well, except for a couple later stages in the game where you revisit old haunts) and each stage seems to have its own life and personality. Every level of the game feels new and fresh, and that is something that can not be said for a lot of games. The variety in the stages and the various tasks and objectives you must complete in each one definitely keeps you interested and wanting to play more and more each time you finish a stage. Plus, when you play on higher difficulties, new objectives in each stage open up, giving the game even more replay value.

On my most recent play though, I set out to beat the game on Secret Agent difficulty, which is the second of two difficulty options presented to you at the beginning of the game. Apparently, on my last several play throughs I must have played the game on just plain old Agent difficulty, because holy crap I had a tough time beating this game. I was fine until the level with the bunker, when a nearly endless supply of enemies would gang up and slaughter me time and time again. I must have spent two or three hours trying to beat this one level, which I could never remember having problems with in the past. And it only got harder. The tank level (don't get me started on that), the level where you start in the elevator (I forget its name), and the god damned Aztec level. Ugh, please kill me now. And to think, I beat this game as a teenager on the difficulty ABOVE Secret Agent. How I did that, I have no fucking idea.




As classic as the game is, I was able to find a few flaws with it that people probably don't think of when they bring this game to mind. I'm sure a ton of people play the game on Agent difficulty, which is pretty easy. But the jump in difficulty from Agent to Secret Agent is soooo steep. The thing that irritated me the most: definitely the respawning enemies. So many levels send an endless flood of foes in your direction, to the point where it starts to become very tedious to finish a level. You can clear a room, check it, and advance to the next room only to have an enemy appear out of nowhere behind you and start shooting the living crap out of you, taking out half your health in the process. This irritated me immensely. As you progress in the game, the enemies do more damage and become sharpshooters as well. Sometimes you get blasted the second you step around a corner, without even a split second to react. It can get very frustrating at times.

Still, there is no denying that this game is amazing and is still a great classic. Playing it brings back so many memories to my mind. Great single player mode, great challenges. Kicking my friends' asses in multiplayer. Experiencing this game as a teen in the 90's definitely changed my opinion on first person shooters and what they were capable of. I had only played games like Wolfenstein and Doom at this point in my life. This was a total eye opener for me. Shooting people in the foot and seeing them hop around in pain, shooting them in the head and killing them instantly - these were things that you just didn't see in the mid 90's. You could shoot out windows, destroy items sitting on tables. Even shooting the differently textured walls and floors and hearing the different sound effects was a thing of beauty back then. Not even doing the missions, just walking around and firing at things to see what would happen was an amazing experience. Plus it transformed me from someone who couldn't care less about Bond to a big fan. I wouldn't say hardcore, but I do love the series.




It's just a really great game. If you had asked me what I would grade it coming into my most recent play through of the game, I would have said an A+. No question. Playing it again in 2016, nearly 20 years after its initial release, I was able to spot a few of the game's flaws. The respawning enemies and frustrating difficulty on the non Agent difficulty levels definitely brings it down a wee bit for me. I'm all for a challenge, as long as the challenge is fair. But this was just ridiculous in some spots. The point of playing games is to have fun, and there were definitely many spots in the game where I was just getting pissed off rather than having fun.

I won't let my chuck the controller through the wall moments ruin my memory of the game though. Goldeneye is a classic. Its impact not only on the genre but on my life as a young adult in general is something that can not be denied. Maybe I didn't have quite as much fun as I thought I would, plus I don't have anyone to play multiplayer with so that whole aspect of the game was skipped over for me, but it is still amazing.

Overall:
A

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