Goldeneye 007 (N64)
How many games can you count that have been given a film license and then usually turn out to be disappointing? Most games get a simultaneous release date along with the film, but seeing as Golden Eye appeared nearly a year and a half ago, little or no hype was surrounding it's console adventure. Developers should know by now that a big name always sells a game (just look at the dreadful Fifa series, who keeps on buying that crap?) and Rare, previous makers of KI Gold and Blast Corps on the N64, would hope that the forthcoming Bond movie 'Tomorrow Never Dies' will sell this. Golden Eye has been in development since the release of the N64 way back last year. Quality games take a long time to produce and there's no doubt Rare have spent many sleepless nights on this.
Everything about this game resembles the Bond films instead of a film certificate at the beginning of the game there is a rating of 4 (which means the game is a four-player), plus it's even got an excellent rendition of the Bond theme while the cast is being introduced. So without even playing the game I was already expecting great things.
There is a total of 18 missions, all of which are scenes taken from the film. So expect to see bungee-jumping in Russia, infiltrating enemy bases, defusing bombs, taking blueprints of secret weapons, meeting up with other counterparts and of course like any Bond film, save loads of women. Each mission does have certain task to complete and they have to be done in order. The higher the difficulty setting the more there are. Though many different weapons are used, a lot of them are 007 ones only, in what other game would you get to use a very powerful miniature magnet or a watch that's fitted with a killer laser?......Golden Eye that's where!. Weapons are collected by either killing enemies or finding them hidden around each mission. One weapon called the Sniper Rifle, enables you to silently shoot your targets from well over 100 meter's away. Works well with soldiers patrolling guard towers. There are two different control systems available: 1) A Turok-style setting, those who aren't familiar with it, you use the stick for looking around and the yellow C buttons for movement. 2) Holding two joypad's.
This sound weird and is difficult to master but if you want to conquer the higher difficulty levels you should master it, it does have advantages over the one joypad setting. The main feature that stands out is the whole atmosphere of Golden Eye. The remarkably-animated characters (even better than those seen in Turok) and the interactive-ness of it all, is great. Virtually everything encountered can be destroyed. More destruction can be caused than in Duke Nukem 3D. It really gives you a sense of being there. Few video-games makes you feel like this. Lights can be shot out, smoke lingers about after massive explosions, windows can be broken, bullet holes appear in the walls and a funny touch (if your accurate at firing that is) shooting hats off the enemies. Other features are similar to Turok, such as characters which when shot react differently depending on where there shot.
I tried it on the easy setting and the game does offer a good enough challenge to most game players but I completed within a week. But after going back at the game and completing the game on the highest difficulty setting, two extra scenarios open up and lots of bonuses are at your hands (one of them is an amazing gun).If after all this, Rare have included a very addictive multiplayer option. There are five different scenarios, all representing the Bond movies. One of them is 'You only live twice' where each player has only two lives to be the last one left. Even though graphical detail has been cut down from the one-player mode, the playability is far higher. Each player can get to choose what there character looks like. Some of the designs are made up but you can be one of Bonds adversaries such as Jaws.
At the moment Rare are one of Nintendo's strongest independent developers and Golden Eye adds there, so far, excellent release of N64 games. There is so much variation it's impressive how Rare have fitted all of this onto a 96Mbit cart, seeing as there are so many restrictions with a cart. But it simply shows how large Rare's design skills are. Stepping into James Bond's leather shoes will never been so much fun. This is for once a good film licensed game.
Graphics: 4.5 out of 5.0
Sound: 4.0 out of 5.0
Control: 5.0 out of 5.0
Gameplay: 4.0 out of 5.0
Overall: 4.5 out of 5.0
