GoldenEye 007
Own a black box called N64? If the answer is yes, hopefully
GoldenEye is one of the games in your game rack. Just imagine how would it
feel like to sneak around in corridors swarming with guards, where just one
wrong move could be fatal. Corridors full of mysterious doors, surveillance
cameras and ones with a nice mini-gun attachment. How would it feel like to
be Bond, James Bond.
The game begins a moment before the movie itself does. That means a dam hidden
somewhere in the deepest, darkest Russia, Belomyore. Get your old (?) and
trusty PP7 out of the dust, turn around the corner and you'll notice you've
just sent another unsuspecting guard to meet his maker. A guard tower lies
aheas of you, you spot an over-enthusiastic guard walking around the tower,
he's probably totally unaware of your presence. You confirm the sight with
quick look through the sniper-rifle, confirmed, now just aim with R-button
for the head and tsupp. He collapses impressively, just like in real life.
(The aiming isn't quite that easy, if you've been running all the time, you
can predict you'll become quite winded and the aiming sight will sway a little.
The more you've ran, the more it will sway,
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This isn't the stealth
action I had hoped for, perhaps in Perfect Dark, then. -Janne
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The weapon factor works like a dream. There's a vast variety in guns to use, always from the puny hand of James' and the bottom of the sniper-rifle to a rocket launcher or something as powerful. The marks left by the bullets and explosives are nicely done, mind that explosions and smoke screens always causes some drop in framerate (A lot, I'd say. Far too much. -Janne). This problem is acceptable, because the framerate switches to normal fairly quickly after that. Still, I hope Rare can fix this problem in time for Perfect Dark.
The sounds department works just fine in GoldenEye. Sometimes I start shooting around with Dostovei (basic non-silenced pistol), just to hear its realistic bang; its own, genuine, sweet sound. When you throw a grenade on a hallway, your hear the sound you've wished to hear. And I don't mean the explosion, I'm talking about the sound of the grenade hitting the ground. Add to that the explosion sounds just like in the movies. Beginning to sound good? I haven't even gotten to the best...
And what might that be? A new, smashing ice cream brand or perhaps a coupon to a shopping mall? Neither one, I'm talking about the multiplayer in GoldenEye. In other words, if you haven't tested the multiplayer, you've lost a great deal of fun. That's because the
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This is taken from
an opening intro, they're too short and quite useless though. -Janne
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You're wandering in starting menus, you slowly drag the cursor on top of the MULTIPLAYER. You see the multiplayer option menu, where you can choose your mode of play, characters, health handicaps, weapons and so on. There are loads of characters to choose from: for example you can play as Oddjob, Jaws, Mayday, which are known for their guest appearences in earlier Bond movies. The characters don't have much of differences from each other, except for the size. For example Jaws is so tall, that it's much easier to hit him than, let's say, Oddjob. He happens to be the shortest character in the whole game.
After a little journey in menus, you'll get to play, at last. Every player starts with a bare hands, that means you can try to hit opponents with a fist. The chances are you'll find a suitable gun in less than a half minute. On the other hand, in a game mode called A Licence To Kill, you should hurry to get a gun for yourself, simply because you'll die instantly from a single shot. Other gaming modes are Normal, You Only Live Twice (the name explains it all: your ends after two deaths). Co-operative modes, where you pick two suitable teams who then fight against each other, the options are 2 vs. 2 and 1 vs. 2 or 3 (depends on how many players are there, the maximum number is four).
As a final phrase I could say that if you like playing with your friends, GoldenEye stands for a must buy. Excellent work.
Graphics:
9.0
Rare have done an excellent job with GoldenEye's visuals. They are candy to your eyes (Not for me, though. -Janne Mankila) and even four player games won't flatten them too much. Even those nice little special effects like guns changing color by the lighting, are still there.
Sounds:
9.5
Rare continues their brilliant work with the sounds. Movie-esque sounds improve the feeling to the game greatly.
Gameplay:
9.7
I bet Rare have worked on the controller handling until their fingers snapped. In GoldenEye, the gameplay is like a dream. Although the first few games can be a little confusing, you'll get a grip of the handling in quite short time. You can't name a game, of which gameplay would better GoldenEye, in a hurry. After this you can't do anything but to praise the handling.
Challenge:
9.9
When you start, you can play with easiest level (Agent), after that with Secret Agent. If you're good enough to get it through with 00 Agent, you'll get a special hardness level, 007 mode, where you can specify every detail, for example enemy AI skills, energy level of yours or enemies'. In practise this means you can create your own skill level. Add to everything there's of course the multiplayer with friends of different skills. What could you possibly ask for more?
Lastability:
9.8
Rare's dev team will certainly spend some time playing GoldenEye itself. As for myself, I've played the game "until my ears have popped" but the game still lasts and lasts.
Overall:
9.6
GoldenEye is a classic, and should not be passed, if you're even a bit interested. Checking it out is more than worthwile.
Reviewed by: Jani Tuominen
Translated to english by: Janne Mankila
