GoldenEye Multiplayer Stories, Reviews and Opinions

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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1. Why GoldenEye is the greatest video game ever made.

There is no simple answer to why GoldenEye is the greatest video game ever made. Finding the answer to this would be like finding the formula to produce a #1 hit song. It doesn’t happen like that. What exactly makes a video game great? To me it’s a game that you can play over and over without getting bored. Games like this don’t need to be replaced, which saves money since you don’t need to buy the latest version. Just think of all the other first person shooter games that were released for the Nintendo 64 since GoldenEye. In terms of replay, they just couldn’t measure up even though they were newer and flashier.

What’s most disappointing to me is we’ll likely never see the many of the features of GoldenEye in future first-person shooters. I believe this is due largely to the fear by game developers of being labeled “old school”. Considering the success of GoldenEye, isn’t that strange? Just think, by supporting this project, we can collectively send a message to the game developers about the “old school” features in GoldenEye that we want in future first person shooter games!

1. Strategy

Strategy is the one key reason why GoldenEye possesses an unlimited replay value. Think of the worlds greatest games like chess, checkers, or billiards. They have been around forever and also possess an unlimited replay value. These games all feature head-to-head game play where you can see what your opponent is doing. The key factor is the ability able to see and react to what your opponent is doing. I believe this is the basis of strategy, which makes these games so interesting to play over and over. The strategy or replay value is only limited to the opponent you face.

I’ve experimented by playing GoldenEye multiplayer with the single-screen perspective with two televisions. It does make for an intense gaming experience, but the game is totally different and the element of strategy is taken away. I would suggest the replay value would also be negatively affected.

The next question is, will we see split-screen online play in the games for the next generation systems? Doubtful. It comes back to the “old school” label, which is dreaded by game developers. If you ask the PC first-person shooter faithful, they will suggest single-screen is the only way to play. Well it may be more realistic, but it’s much less strategic. GoldenEye has nothing to do with being realistic. It is a game, not a simulation.

Which would I rather have on the next generation system? Based on the enjoyment I’ve had with GoldenEye multiplayer, I’d have to say at least give me the option to use split-screen online multiplayer.

2. Head Shots

What makes GoldenEye better than all other first-person shooters is the importance of a headshot. You must have to have the skill to make a headshot or you won’t win in GoldenEye. If you think about it, this is the way it should be. The skill required for making a headshot in GoldenEye could be compared to hitting the bulls-eye in the game of darts. In both cases, the greatest reward is for the most difficult shot. To me, the headshot makes GoldenEye the professionals choice.

3. Damage Display

It’s a shame that the damage display in GoldenEye will never be seen again because of the “old school” label. Yes it is highly visible, but that is the way it should be. I haven’t been complaining for the past three years, so what’s the big deal? Unlike the latest first-person shooters with the standard single damage display bar, the display in GoldenEye actually plays a large part in the knowledge that is required to be a top player.

With each weapon being assigned a specific number of damage on a scale from 0-16 depending on the area of the body, you can change your attack based on your opponents remaining “bar”. This is only possible because of the full screen multi-bar display of an opponents remaining health! You may decide to use a less powerful weapon with a greater rate of fire or change from a headshot to a body shot in a situation where one single body shot will be enough to kill your opponent. You are only able to make these types of strategic decisions during a battle if you are able to see your opponents remaining “bar” and know the specific damage ratings of weapons. There is more knowledge required to be a top player in GoldenEye because of the damage display.

Is there any strategy involved with the single bar damage display found in the more current first-person shooters? Sure you can make a run for the body armour or know when an opponent is close to being killed, but where is the strategy in that? Since you can’t accurately determine an opponents remaining health, you don’t have the same strategic decisions as with the GoldenEye display. Choosing a less powerful weapon with a higher rate of fire over a more powerful weapon or aiming for the body instead of the head during a battle isn’t a reliable tactic or strategy. Simply put, the single damage display bar makes battles a guessing game where winning requires less knowledge and more luck. Less professional if you prefer.

4. Movement

The movement in GoldenEye is what sets it apart from so many of the other first-person shooters. In other games, movement is easier because instead of running into or getting caught up on an object, the game allows a player to easily move around or over an object. Many players see this movement as being more realistic or better because you don’t get caught up on polygons. I don’t see easier as being better. In fact, making the movement more difficult forces players to acquire the skills to be better. In other words, a rookie can’t just pick up the game and make their way around a level like an experienced player. A game that required more skill by players is far more rewarding and professional.

5. Controllers

Let’s be honest, the Nintendo 64 controller is the best out there. I’ve been playing video games for over 17 years and there hasn’t been a better controller made in my opinion. We won’t know until the next system just how much of a difference a controller will make for first person shooter games.

6. Originality

Keeping current is a big part of the video game industry. For that reason you won’t see many features of GoldenEye in future games for the fear of being labeled “old school”. Therefore GoldenEye will forever remain an original.

I don’t feel inadequate playing GoldenEye because there aren’t reload animations or secondary functions. What do these have to do with improving game play? Sure GoldenEye doesn’t have sims, but with online gaming, who is going to play against simulants when you can play against humans?

You can’t jump in GoldenEye, but how does jumping make the game better? Jumping takes the focus away from headshots and is more suited to the PC style first-person shooter world where you have elevators and multi-floored levels. Maybe it’s more realistic, but we’re talking about a game here. I have enough to think about during a game without having to worry about pressing another button!

How about that wacky one-second invincibility delay? I do have a theory on that, but I’ll save it for later. The bottom line is you aren’t going to see that so called “glitch” in another game. It’s weird but it seems to work. If anything it means you have to play smarter because each time your bullet hits an opponent, they are bounced around-making them more difficult to line up. This happens regardless if you are registering damage, which means you have to time your shots to be more effective. There is more thought involved in the game play.

Since GoldenEye has been played continually for over three years, it must mean there isn’t a lot missing. Aside from that dreaded “old school” label, it’s hard to understand why other first-person shooters haven’t taken more from this original.

 

Did I leave something out? If you have any thoughts, contact me, GE MASTER HERE.

 

 

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2. How successful is GoldenEye 007 for the Nintendo 64?

Phenomenon is the only word to accurately describe GoldenEye. Just look!

Unlimited replay value
-If playing for three or more years doesn’t prove it, nothing ever will.

Most played video game of all time
- My opinion based on playing video games for 17+ years.

Best selling video game in Canadian history
- If you were from Canada like me, being the best would really be saying something!

Game that sold the most Nintendo 64 systems
- My opinion based on several N64 system owners I know.

1997 “Game of the Year”
- Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences

1998 “Game of the Year”
- Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences

#1 selling Nintendo game for 15 straight months
- Nintendo Power Magazine, Oct 97 – Jan 99.

#2 selling Nintendo game for 15 of 18 months
- Nintendo Power Magazine, Jan 99 – June 00.

#1 selling Nintendo game, September 2000
- Nintendo Power Magazine

#3 selling Nintendo game, December 2000
- Nintendo Power Magazine

 

 

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3. Am I the greatest GoldenEye multi-player on the planet?

Have you ever wondered how good you really were at GoldenEye? I’m not talking about how good you are against your friends; I’m talking about how you stack up against players that you have never met. I’ve been fortunate enough to experience the adrenaline of GoldenEye competition against unknown players. Try it out before it’s too late! Now imagine if there are 10 or 20 players where you live who also happen to think that they are the best. You all put down a couple bucks on a tournament and you play. If you are good, you can actually make money-playing GoldenEye like I have.

Over the past two years I’ve been attempting to establish myself as being the best GoldenEye multi-player by organizing local tournaments. I’ve been on local Vancouver radio and even gone to the extent of adding my own money to the tournaments to increase the interest. Even though I’ve won here in Vancouver, I only wish I had the opportunity to prove myself on a greater scale.

Okay, maybe you’re thinking it’s way too late for any kind of GoldenEye competition. Even though there are times I’ve thought this, I still believe in this project to this day. If you’ve had the opportunity to play against an unknown player, you know what I’m talking about. There is just something to this game that’s a little weird.

It’s unfortunate that the Nintendo 64 is being retired later this year and the best players likely won’t have the opportunity to prove themselves on a greater scale. How many hours have you personally invested in playing GoldenEye? Wouldn’t it be nice to receive global recognition as being one of the best after investing so much time in this game?

If enough players were interested in this project, then there might still be time to establish the top players in the world. I personally believe anything is possible with enough support from the gamers.

 

 

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4. GoldenEye Competition

"If only I could find some good players who want to play me. I’m so much better than my friends; they don’t want to play me anymore!"

This is the most common complaint that I heard from the players at tournaments. If you think about it, how are console gamers supposed to meet? It’s not like there are online tournaments or places to meet other players.

This is why I created the National GoldenEye Players Association. I started a NGPA contact list at the tournaments here in Vancouver, and now I have many good players that I can call for gaming anytime. These players have become some great new friends! Forming the association would also make it easier and faster to assemble future competitions on the next generation systems.

By joining the NGPA you will be able to meet other players where you live through the membership contact listings. Of course with the next generation system on the way, there is only a limited time frame for this GoldenEye project. Even with the limited time frame involved, the new friendships alone would make joining worthwhile.

Few video games are worthy of an organized competition. Having strong support from the gamers and using a game where winning is the result of a player’s skill, intelligence and strategy are both essential for a worthwhile and successful competition. With all the time and setup involved, the results better be worth the effort. What makes a game worthy you ask?

1. Teen Rating

Using a game with the greatest number of possible competitors makes sense. The Teen (13+) rating of GoldenEye makes it a perfect choice; since using a Mature (17+) rated game means many gamers will be ineligible to participate strictly based on their age. More importantly, a more socially accepted Teen (13+) rated game allows for greater media coverage and support.

2. Head-to-Head

Few first person shooters are suitable for head-to-head matches because the multiplayer levels are too large. Having more than two players increases the luck or chance in a game, which means the best player may not always win. The best player should win a competition, not the luckiest player.

3. Knowledge

The knowledge that players have of the GoldenEye multiplayer levels is unparalleled by any other video game. Has there ever been a video game in history that has been played over three years and explored to this extent?

Most of the top players know where an opponent is located at all times during a game along with all the weapon and regeneration positions. In terms of a competition, this means the difference between winning and losing is not so much based on a player knowing the game better than an opponent, it is more the result of a player’s skill, intelligence, and strategy. This is what sets GoldenEye apart from the rest.

4. Copies Sold

The more copies = the more competitors = the more impressive champion.

5. Weapons

The weaponry in GoldenEye is unique from most first person shooters in that it doesn’t have the cheap/one-hit kill weapons that allow the lesser skilled player to beat a more skilled player. These cheap/one-hit kill weapons may be fun to play, but for competition purposes, the less luck involved in winning the better. Cheap weapons play a major role in equalizing competitors, which defeats the purpose of having a competition to find the best player.

 

 

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5. Call me crazy, but I’ve been playing as much now as I was four years ago!

 

It’s true, and the new GameShark multiplayer codes that I’ve been playing lately have a lot to do with it.

“I bought my Gameshark just for Goldeneye.”
                   -Wave Man 9, The Terrorist’s Forums

How many of you are like Wave Man? I’m sure most of the Gamesharks and Action Replays that sold for the Nintendo 64 were because of GoldenEye. If you don’t own one, get on with it! If you don’t own a GameShark or Action Replay, take a look at what you’re missing.

• The entire Facility Back Zone as a new level complete with regeneration, ammo, weapons, body armour, doors and glass!
• Bunker, Archives, Caverns, and Egyptian with 3 or 4 players.
• Cradle and Statue Park in multiplayer. Try it out with Snipers, No Radar, and License to Kill.
• No music! Take out the lovable but frustrating repeating Bond theme music. For me, this code alone makes the Gameshark a worthy purchase. Just add Propellerheads to the mix and enjoy!
• Phantoms in multiplayer.
• Gold PP7 in multiplayer.
• No Body Armour in 2 Player: Archives, Caverns, Basement, Stack or Facility.
• New custom weapon codes that will replace the ones you don’t use. Like the originals, they’re fun on all the levels!
            Exotics: Timed Mines/Silver PP7/Shotgun/Hunting Knife
            Explosives: Remote Mines/Silver PP7/Golden Gun/RC-P90
            All Golden Guns: All weapons are Golden Gun
            Golden Gun Fun: Rockets/Golden Gun
            AR-33+Proxies: AR-33 Assault Rifle and Proximity Mines
  

You can check out the Gameshark codes HERE.

 

6. GoldenEye 007: A Eulogy - By Willmistretta

I feel it necessary to make some comments on Perfect Dark's prequel game, GoldenEye 007. GoldenEye was developed by Rare and released by Nintendo in 1997. In the game, players guided the cultural icon that is James Bond through a series of first-person shooting challenges based on the film of the same title. It was instantly hailed as one of the Nintendo 64's finest games and praised for its engrossing gameplay and highly-addictive multiplayer sub-game.

I caught the GoldenEye bug in a big way. I played it non-stop for months, even through some of the most frustrating challenges in video game history. Aztec level on 00 Agent, anyone? I earned every cheat, competed against myself for lower and lower mission times, played multiplayer compulsively, searched out every glitch and secret under the sun, even used my GameShark to probe the game's hidden depths and find things the game developers never intended to see the light of day.

And then came Perfect Dark.

Better weapons. Smarter enemies. Bigger and more complex levels. More varied and interesting objectives. Truly infinite multiplayer options. A very cool original storyline. The most beautiful audio and visual environment imaginable on Nintendo 64. GoldenEye was instantly and forcefully pushed from my mind.

I can never play GoldenEye for more than a few minutes now. It just seems so boring after Perfect Dark. Everything from the control to the graphics to the weapons to the levels just seems so plain, flat, and unpolished. I suppose Perfect Dark has spoiled me.

Don't even get me started on GoldenEye's once groundbreaking multiplayer mode. It seems so limited now. Non-customizable characters. No Sims. No challenges. You can't even customize the weapons. Invisible walls around ledges. That stupid glitch where you could shoot someone with an automatic all day and only every third or fourth shot would count, totally defeating the purpose of an automatic. Ugh. How did I ever make due with this shoddy setup?

Honestly, I had one of those "What did I ever see in this game?" moments. GoldenEye went from perhaps a 9.5 rating to a 6.0 or 6.5 in my mind in just a few minutes. Comparing the two is like comparing a flashlight with the afternoon sun. Perfect Dark just drowns it out and makes it obsolete.

Perfect Dark is just more, and more is better. I don't understand people who claim to prefer GoldenEye. How could you want less? That's like saying you'd rather have ten dollars than one hundred.

Perfect Dark is the game that GoldenEye's designers wished they had the time, technology, and experience to make, but just didn't in 1996-1997. GoldenEye plays like a very rough demo for Perfect Dark.

I used to love GoldenEye, now I can hardly stand it.

Of course, there's always the "But GoldenEye is a classic!" response, but face facts, it may have value as a "classic" now, but Perfect Dark has forevermore taken away all of its value as a game and condemed it to mediocrity. GoldenEye will always be good, but it will never be Perfect. Agent 007 has finally met his match, and her name is Dark. Joanna Dark.

Sorry, James. Survival of the fittest, you know...

GoldenEye 007
1997-2000
RIP

Please address any questions or comments to: greenyamo@hotmail.com

 

6. The Shadow's Great Golden Caper - By The Shadow

A Study of Goldeneye Deathmatch Mode

Intro

The purpose of this study, is to inspire the reader to remember, or at least long for the days of Goldeneye, when us ancients used to sit around on those long summer afternoons and play nothing but Goldeneye Multi-player all day long. Ah yes, I have sparked some remote memory, some long forgotten, almost dreams that you may remember. Well read on, and prepare for the re-awakening that has grabbed hold of me, and I hope will do the same for you.

The Start

At last! The long awaited day had come, the day when my brother and I and our friends could finally get together and play a little bit of Perfect Dark Multiplayer. Being unable to do so for many months had definitely created a strong urge to do the very thing that had made the game Goldeneye so popular.

Now, being a Solo man myself, I had not played too much multiplayer, especially when I got Goldeneye, having no one to play with. However, I had played some Goldeneye, but really started playing multi-player when I got PD. But this is not a biography of my life, so I'll keep quiet now.

The usual playing began, in Temple, Pop a Cap, K7 Avengers and all that. Play for 10 minutes, select a new scenario, play another 10 minutes, new scenario, rinse, repeat.

Now while I do not condemn this type of playing, it does get old if you do not have a lot of action, and when you have something other than standard combat, it does get old.

We played PD for quite some time, when suddenly, out of the blue, one of my friends says:
"Hey, can we play some 007?"
"Oh, I guess so" I rather reluctantly replied "but maybe for just a little bit."

So we dusted off the Goldeneye game pack, and settled back into our chairs for what I thought was going to be child's play. I mean, everybody knows that Perfect Dark is so much better, and is far more realistic.

I started to set up the game, asking my friend who suggested it what he wanted. We had the usual arguments, such as: "NO PROXIMITY MINES!" and "NO! you can NOT pick Oddjob!"

Finally we got the game going. We had picked Temple, just to see what it was like in Goldeneye, and Moonraker Lasers, which seemed to be a favorite. When I had played Goldeneye multi-player before, I always played in Stack, and sometimes in Complex, but never Temple. It was too big for me.

But now it was my favourite in Perfect Dark, and I knew where just about everything was.

And the game started. Almost instantly I got that funny feeling, the feeling that you get when you come back to something long forgotten, and a former love. Rushing down the stair way to get to the Moonraker I picked up a KF7 Soviet.

What's this? I've almost forgotten how to use it. I hit "A" and almost at the same moment the gun popped into view. Oh! what have I been missing out on all these months? A little Trevelyan comes into sight, bam, bam, bam, bam. Wow, I have like 24 bullets left in this gun and I held the trigger down for a whole two seconds. What power!

And then the Moonraker. Hold the trigger down baby! We're going after that Guard running around here somewhere! Zip! Zip! Zip! Zip! Zip! Oh, just listen to that sound! The music! Where has this been all of my life? I see another poor unfortunate that happens to wander into my path! Zip! Zip! Ha ha! He's gone! Two more kills, circling around mine enemies, getting shot to ribbons and loving every minute of it!

And then, it happens. I get killed. And The blood animation on my screen! Oh, why oh why did I not notice before? No more of this "flipping around with a completely red screen" for me, give me this dripping blood any day! And when it clears, I see a lovely green "Press Start" on my screen, Oh I love it! Is there anything that this game has wrong with it?

I begin, switch to the now beloved KF7 Soviet and go on another killing spree. Who wants shields? They only ruin your vision and get you killed. Give me Body Armor, yeah! I run upstairs and into the big room, just in time to take out two novices that are trying to kill each other. I am invincible! Over to the hole. What! I can't drop down? All the better! Now that little rascal coming up the ramp has no escape! Ha ha ha ha! A half crazed mind is in control of me now, I am the master, the destroyer, no one can stand before me now! I rush about, and then downstairs. Oh lookee here! Somebody trying to get the body armor before I can. Well I'll teach them a lesson. The KF7 speaks, and once again there is the remains of a offender who tried to stand against me. Too bad for him.

The game continues, more kills, a few deaths. This could go on forever, In fact, it seems like it has, because so much action is packed into so few minutes.

This is great! Superb! I can shoot and not run out of bullets the instant my finger touches the trigger! I can reload and not have any fear of the enemy coming up on me while still in the process! I thought K7 avengers were good, bah! They run out of ammunition so fast, they should not even be a choice. The game could have lasted for hours, but alas! All good things come to an end, and this one was because of the time. Still, even after ten minutes, I was hooked once more, and Perfect Dark was a thing of the past.

Final Score's?
"S" had 6 kills
"B" had 6 kills
"J" had 4 kills
and yours truly, Shadow had 17 kills. More than the rest combined.

Now through this short study, I have not hoped to "put down" Perfect Dark. Indeed, it does have a wide variety of options, and is much more fun when you have only 2 players, but my point is this: When you have 4 players, do yourself a favour and play Goldeneye, I guarantee that you will enjoy it. Perfect Dark is fun, but Goldeneye is outstanding, a classic, and a classic will never die. It will only continue to be even greater and greater.

The Shadow

If you have any comments, suggestions, hints or questions, please direct them to
shadown64@yahoo.com

 

6. GoldenEye - A Revolution By Jake M.

To me, Goldeneye is not a game to just play with friends or a game to just play alone. Although both aspects of the game are amazing and will get delved into later, I'd like to first state that Goldeneye to me is the "bar", the level at which I hold every FPS that has come out since Goldeneye. I say to myself and friends "With a marker in the history of gaming like this one, how could game developers of later First Person Shooters create games that they claim to be great and inrecidible experiences make something that utterly fails to even lick the boots of this monumental gaming experience?". Of course there's always the "not enough time to develop and debug" excuse and the infamous "not enough funds", but a lot of the best things about Goldeneye are the little things, aka the things that are easiest to put in a game. I never owned Perfect Dark and have played it once so I don't know the features it has. With this stated, I would like to say where the hell did paintball mode go? Halo doesnt have it. Even timesplitters 2 doesnt!(Although this game rocked so much ass in the area of goldeneye nostalgia. Award System. Range of Different Characters. Nuf said.). How bout liscense to kill? Halo missed that one too. You'd think developers would pay more attention to what went right in the stew of a good FPS along the lines of solid gameplay and options available. I have Goldeneye and I have Halo. Even my non-gamer roomies prefer the "older and outdated" GE. Doesn't this say somethiing? I know I'm hard to please along the lines of gaming, but because I've played so many great games and also have played the bejesus out of GE, this brings my personal standard of FPSs and other kinds of games way up and beyond what it should be. GE had so many good features that all compiled to make a very solid game for its time and many years to come. It's one player campaign was outstanding. The amount one could become involved with the envorinment and story was groundbreaking on the N64. The shear number of levels in the 1 player was pretty damn good. Level design was also exceptional. One player replay value shoots through the roof with the different amount of unlockables that tie the campaign in with the multiplayer. Yet another amazing point to make woould be the cameos. I'm a huge James Bond fan and to have Jaws, Oddjob , and Baron as playable characters was quite impressive. The game rewarded you from your tireless efforts to do well in levels with solid cheats(though a lil redundant). The multiplayer..oh dear me, the multiplayer...one of the greatest things ever made on the face of this planet for the gaming community to absorb, inherit, meld to, and become one with. This, my friend, is thy crown upon thy king's head enlaced with jewels of a value uncomprehensable. I still remember like it was actually last night. I was home, at the age of 10 or 11, when I got a phone call on Friday at around dinner time. It was an invitation to a friend's house for a sleep over. He mentioned he got a new game called "Goldeneye" and I got all antzy because I rarely got to play new stuff. I had no clue what this"Goldeneye" was like or how good it was. Long story short, Saturday morning roles around. This was the first time I had ever stayed up all night and got to see the sun rise for my own eyes. The grand combination of the Goldengun, the complex, and a sunrise on me and 3 of my friends' backs is forever sketched in my memory. We ended up eating 1 meal that day and played until we damn near passed out around 10 pm Saturday evening when we we're "prompted" by my friend's mom to ge to bed. There has yet to be a game that would force us to stay up all night playing well into the next day. Super Smash Brothers Melee came close, but not close enough to be recognized as well as GE. So many games that have come out between now and then have dissappointed me in many aspects. I hope someday, someone, somewhere gets it completely right and surpasses Goldeneye, but till then, my hat tip and bow goes to it. Rock on and play on GoldenEye players, of new and old.