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| Nobody does it better. |
Few games are as revered as 1997's GoldenEye 007 for the Nintendo 64, which was developed by the esteemed Rare. Regarded as an early pioneer of console shooters, it was based on 1995's GoldenEye, which starred Pierce Brosnan as the legendary MI6 agent James Bond and closely followed the plot of the film. I've heard nothing but constant praise for GoldenEye 007 over the years (annoyingly so) and as a fan of James Bond, I've always wanted to play it. Recently, the game found its way to both Xbox and Nintendo Switch platforms, so my chance is finally here.
The game follows British spy James Bond who's tasked with tracking the movements of international crime syndicate, "Janus". His mission will take him across the world from Soviet-era Russia to Cuban Jungles as he gathers info while meeting some friends and foes. It mostly follows the plot of the film, with some deviations here and there, but your enjoyment is amplified if you've watched GoldenEye first (it's a classic). There isn't any voice-acting here so conversations are brief and mostly stuck during the pre-mission briefings.
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| The name's Bond, James Bond. |
GoldenEye 007 is an FPS where you play as Bond across the game's 18 levels that have you foiling Janus' plans. At the start of much of them, you're outfitted with a silenced 9mm but as you explore around, you'll quickly pick up weapons from enemies like AK-47s, pistols, sniper rifles, rocket and grenade launchers. Of course, this won't be a 007 game without cool gadgets as you're equipped with a watch that can act as a magnet, cut through metal, and doubles as the pause menu where you can view your mission objectives, items, and settings. The levels were mostly fun and surprisingly large with plenty of room to explore and fool around. My favorites were the surface, frigate, archives, and jungle to name a few.
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| Gameplay remains fun with the shooting and exploration being solid. |
Moreover, there's three difficulties to choose from: Agent, Secret Agent, and 00 Agent. Playing on the latter two difficulties will introduce bonus mission objectives to complete such as limiting casualties, obtaining documents, and destroying security alarms to add some challenge. Objectives were sometimes vague since there isn't a map to track your location in a level and points of interest aren't high-lighted, so they're often easy to miss. You can walk stealthily, go guns-blazing, or just dash through everything, as the levels offer a good deal of freedom.
There's multiple control schemes to choose from (as well as look sensitivity adjustments) to suit your playstyle, which was a welcome addition. The controls were still slightly cumbersome like when you're controlling the tank. Multiplayer was a focal point for GoldenEye 007 and it's partially present in the remaster. Oddly, there's no online multiplayer for Xbox as that's reserved for Nintendo Switch. Instead, the game offers split-screen multiplayer where you and another player can battle it out deathmatch-style on various maps with a bunch of weapons. It took roughly 10 hours to beat the game and levels are replayable if you're aiming to speed-run them and unlock cheats as well.
For an early 3D game, GoldenEye 007 has aged considerably. From warping textures, blocky character models, and flat backgrounds, it didn't stand the test of time. I don't t mind the visuals at all, though some might find it a deal-breaker. It ran well on Xbox Series X with no instances of crashes and little slowdowns. The soundtrack was catchy, complimenting the spy movie tone and I even found it better than the film's score. Standouts were the opening, pause menu, Severnaya Installation, Silo, Control Center, and Elevator themes.
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| By today's standards, the game looks shaken and stirred. |
Overall, I'm happy to have finally experienced GoldenEye 007. While it has aged in many regards, it remains a solid and engaging shooter that's fun to play. It nails the atmosphere of James Bond and it's no wonder that subsequent 007 games were constantly getting compared to it. Fans of classic shooters and 007 alike will surely have a blast with GoldenEye 007.
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