Before now, I had played GoldenEye 007 only once. It was in the ‘90s, at a sleepover at a friend’s, and exactly the kind of scenario that I often see spoken about when the game is referred to fondly. I don’t remember much about it besides me being hopeless at it, though, and have much better memories of getting everyone to play TOCA Touring Car Championship afterwards. Since there are a host of reasons why I can’t invite a group of friends over to play GoldenEye right now, I decided to try to get something of that essence for its post by getting a bunch of different writers to share their experiences. With thanks to everyone for taking part, here we go…
Ben Bulbeck (@Pixelated_Ben):
Although I enjoy the James Bond movies, I would not describe myself as an avid fan. But having experienced a mixed bag of first-person shooters on previous hardware generations, this new adventure in which I would take control of the legendary secret agent himself was an absolute eye-opener, flaunting what the N64 could achieve.
Those first steps on the opening Dam level were a delicate learning curve of the touch-sensitive thumb-stick. My attempts to shoot the first enemy trooper would have resulted in the nearby scenery feeling the wrath of my bullets rather than the intended target, but that opening level is cleverly designed to introduce the player tentatively to this new and exciting 3D world. Shooting barrels to cause an explosion, using a lorry as cover to sneak further into the base, finding the sniper rifle to target a distant soldier atop a tower, and that final dive from the dam and into the unknown… it all equates to a legendary release that set the precedent for future games in the genre.
Adam Frost (@_AdamFrost, Website):
GoldenEye joined my and my brother’s small collection of N64 games on Christmas morning, 1998. From the start, I had little interest in two of the game’s biggest selling points: the license (I wasn’t a particular fan of Bond films), and its multiplayer mode. In the years since, I’ve heard much admiration for GoldenEye‘s deathmatch but while my brother and I enjoyed an occasional shootout, for us it never rivalled competitive mainstays like Mario Kart and International Superstar Soccer.
Where GoldenEye dazzled me, like no game before it, was in the experience offered by its solo missions. The campaign perfectly evoked the sense of being a lone saboteur behind enemy lines, surviving (or not) on cunning, skill, and the odd gadget. Whether infiltrating a Soviet military base, a Cuban jungle outpost, or a missile-carrying train, the game gave me the autonomy to complete missions my own way, whether that was rushing headlong into combat with a machine gun in each hand (often a bad idea, but workable), methodically disabling alarms and guards with a silenced pistol, or clearing an area of enemy threats from long distance with precision marksmanship.
To this day, my gaming weapon of choice is the sniper rifle, something I attribute directly to GoldenEye. Another enduring legacy is that I remain in the minority of gamers whose first act on starting a new first-person game is to open the settings and invert y axis: the default setting for GoldenEye, and scarce few games I’ve encountered since.
Kate Willaert (@katewillaert, Newsletter):
GoldenEye was the most realistic-looking game I’d ever seen. Today that sounds absurd, looking at its blurry textures, blocky character models, and the Power Rangers-esque head-bobbing acting. But at the time there was nothing like it.
“Motion capture” wasn’t yet a common phrase, but when I played the game for the first time on a demo kiosk as Toys R Us, I knew something was different. And it wasn’t just how the enemies moved — it was how they reacted differently depending on where they were hit. Even if it didn’t look real, it felt real.
But the multiplayer mode is what really grabbed me. For kids whose families still didn’t own a computer, this was our introduction to “deathmatch” mode. I was immediately fascinated by the strategic possibilities of mines and sniper rifles, items that weren’t just new to me but had never previously appeared in an FPS outside of a mod for Quake.
Even better, the N64 had four controller ports — a major selling point when you had to share the console with multiple siblings, but also a big part of what made GoldenEye’s multiplayer so magical. One-on-one fights in PS1’s Medal Of Honor just weren’t the same.
Budget Nostalgia (@BudgetNostalgia, YouTube channel):
If you grew up in the ‘90s and someone asked for the best FPS game, there’s a good chance you’ll say GoldenEye on the N64.
The first time I knew anything about it was when my friend rented the game, controller and console, (yes you used to be able to rent consoles). I was absolutely blown away, I just needed to get this game!
As it turns out I wasn’t the only one of our friends who felt that way. All of us ended up getting a N64 just for GoldenEye, which was great as it meant we all had controllers. The single player campaign was amazing on its own, but it was multiplayer where we spent all of our time.
It had everything, with variety in characters, maps and weapons. For me proximity mines were deadly, it seemed that I had perfect placement, adding to the frustration of my friends.
Looking back it couldn’t work now with how things have progressed — dual analog sticks, online multiplayer and better graphics. But for me, without a shadow of a doubt, there will never be a multiplayer experience like it. Pure bliss, just don’t choose Oddjob!
Joshua Bird (@DrJoshuaBird):
My friend was the first of us to own a Nintendo 64. He had also been the first of us to own a Super Nintendo. Our long nights as a group spent playing Super Mario Bros. and Donkey Kong Country were quickly replaced by hours gazing at the split-screen deathmatch that GoldenEye 007 offered.
None of us had ever seen the movie GoldenEye, but the game’s appeal wasn’t in its tie-in to a movie franchise which seemed tired and old-fashioned. Rather it was in the ability to compete against your friends in a world which seemed much more real and kinetic than the previous generation’s games. While the blocky graphics and pasted-on faces of GoldenEye’s characters seem farcical by today’s standards, for us 90s gamers they were a new high-point of technology.
The deathmatch format also had an addictive quality. A win or a loss could be immediately followed by another round — and another. Youthful pride ensured that no one wanted to be the loser in the final game before the console was turned off for the night.
It is for this reason I think that the popularity of GoldenEye endures. For thousands it represents not just a game, but a shared experience from their youth — when weekends and friendships seemed like they would last forever. Sadly, with adulthood I find myself without the free time to watch Pierce Brosnan’s GoldenEye let alone dedicate the weekend to playing video games. I still haven’t seen the movie.
