What is Old is New Again
After playing the Wii remake of the classic GoldenEye game, I remembered one of the first multiplayer games I have ever played. The original GoldenEye was probably one of my childhood favorites as it was one of the few multiplayer games that I owned. If anything, it is a timeless classic in my opinion, with mechanics and playability able to be enjoyed to this day and age.
Premise
GoldenEye is based on the story and movie of the same name of the James Bond franchise. It takes you into the shoes of 007, a suave British agent of MI6, taking on missions from the movie. Though it is based on the movie, the story is quite vague and to understand anything of it you probably do need to watch the movie to get an idea of chronological events.
Design
The map and set designs are probably what makes this stand out. Though overall the maps are quite small to today’s standards with invisible walls, it never feels small. An example is the open landscape in Severnaya, which is vast and bleak and gives it a massive feel. This is done spectacularly well in other open worded maps like the Street level. While they do this effectively, the exact opposite is true as well. The smaller more confined maps like Bunker and Silo are usually a series of tight hallways leading from room to room. It’s almost choking in a way to progress through the level in such a way. But I think it fits into the atmosphere well as it is a game about a spy, so it’s a bonus in my books.
The downsides of the designs, albeit very minimal, would really just be the fact that some maps are quite complex with no initiative or actual clue to progression. Unlike the Half-Life where the pathways taken are simplistic and common sense, GoldenEye doesn’t rely on that, instead, more on trial an error and remembering the map. It doesn’t necessarily take away from the game, but it can be frustrating occasionally.
Gameplay
Aim assists, crouching, many weapons and tools to use, this game was revolutionary when it first came out. Because of the vast amount of content, multiplayer is always a blast with a few friends. This is also transcribed into the actual campaign, where the gameplay is quite solid. It does require thinking to pass through all the levels without dying, but it’s easy enough for beginners to pick up with ease. Though I do have to critique, it’s more of a shoot them up rather than a spy game. There are some parts of the game where you do have to collect data or destroy systems, but it’s not very ambitious as a game about one of, if not, the greatest spy of all time.
It’s the same for multiplayer too, there’s no huge difference in skill that affects the game, just being smart and using common sense. The game is most balanced, except for a few tiny little problems. The RCP90 and Oddjob (the cowards choice). The RCP90 is by far the strongest gun in the game, yes even compared to the one-shot kill golden gun, or the golden PP7 that you can cheat in. Simply because it’s more reliable in taking on multiple enemies with it’s huge clip and fire rate, and you don’t need to cheat it in. Oddjob is the only character that is the same size as a crouching person, meaning half their height. And he can crouch so technically speaking he is about a quarter of the hitbox of a normal character. These two are the only unbalanced thing about the game, so make sure your friends do not pick these because it’s essentially feeding them the game on a silver platter.
Conclusion
As most games do have faults, GoldenEye is quite minimal, especially from a game from the 90s. Is it the greatest shooter of all time? Not really, but it is a classic that is still playable. I do recommend it to people that love shooters, just for nostalgia reasons and to enjoy a game that is simple with it’s mechanics and design. To twist the game about you can also add cheats for a bit of fun, like playing multiplayer with everyone invisible and seeing who can kill who with just their radar. So overall, it is a great game that I would keep playing for years to come.
Review Summary
Golden-eye is a timeless classic for any gamer. For simple gameplay, fun multiplayer, it is truly impressive that this game can still be played to modern standards. Though the graphics are old, the gameplay is still enjoyable. I truly recommend this to any gamer as it is a masterpiece.
