GoldenEye 007 (1997)

GoldenEye 007
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Developer(s)	Rare Ltd.
Publisher(s)	Nintendo Co., Ltd.
Distributor(s)	Nintendo Co., Ltd.
Designer(s)	Martin Hollis David Doak Duncan Botwood
Release date(s)	Japan August 23, 1997 North America August 25, 1997 Europe August 25, 1997
Genre(s)	First-person shooter
Mode(s)	Single-player Multiplayer
Ratings	ESRB: T
Platform(s)	Nintendo 64
Media	320-megabit cartridge
Input methods	Nintendo 64 Controller

GoldenEye 007 is a first-person shooter game developed by Rare which was based on the 1995 James Bond film Golden Eye. The game was releases in all regions in August 1997 exclusively on the Nintendo 64.

Development

GoldenEye 007 was developed by primarily inexperienced and new developers to the field. The group of nine developers featured only one experienced worker, David Doak.

GoldenEye 007 was initially to be made as a 2D side-scrolling game due to Rare's success with their previous game, Donkey Kong Country for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. This game was to be also released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, but director of the game proposed that the game should be developed into a 3D shooting game for Nintendo's new console'

The game underwent several changes from being an on-rails shooter game to using light gun technology. Due to the game being released only for the Nintendo 64, the game had to make use of the quirky controller, using intricate controls schemes.

GoldenEye, the film, played an important role in the design and looks of the game. The development team used photographs and sets from the film to build the game's overworld and levels. Much like any movie tie-in game, the levels were extended versions of the scenes, having longer levels to feature more sequences not featured in the actual film.

Release

GoldenEye 007 was released on the Nintendo 64 system initially in Japan on August 23, 1997. The game was subsequently released on August 25, 1997 in other regions. The game was greeted with a warm reception, and has been praised greatly as one of the greatest games of the Nintendo 64's library.

Plot

Spoiler warning: significant plot details follow. Please read with caution.

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GoldenEye 007 features a plot that follows the storyline as the 1995 film. James Bond and his fellow agent Alec Trevelyan are sent to infiltrate and destroy a chemical weapons facility within the Byelomorye Dam in Arkhangelsk, Soviet Union in 1986. However, Trevelyan is apparently killed by Colonel Arkady Ourumov, and Bond subsequently escapes.

After five years, Bond investigates a satellite station and finds Natalya Simonova and Boris Grishenko. With their help, Bond and MI6 begin their investigations on what the Soviets are planning. Two years later, Bond begins following the project by the Soviets titled GoldenEye, a missile launch system designed to disable electrical current by using an electromagnetic pulse.

A couple of years later, Bond begins to investigate other areas in search of clues of the Janus crime syndicate, a group involved with Ourumov and the Soviets. In order to defeat the Janus crime syndicate, Bond seeks out help from Natalya Simonova and ex-KGB agent Valentin Zukovsky. Bond then finds out that Alec Trevelyan in-fact is the leader of Janus. Now knowing that Trevelyan is responsible for the treason, Bond hunts him down, traveling aboard a train leaving St. Petersburg, and then to Trevelyan's secret Cuban base.

Natalya and Bond travel through the Cuban jungle and meet up with Xenia. After a short confrontation ending Xenia's life, Bond and Natalya quickly proceed to the Cuban base where Natalya disrupts the transmissions to the GoldenEye satellite, destroying it in the atmosphere. Bond then follows Trevelyan to the control center for the satallite, and here, the two have a gunfight, with Bond killing Trevelyan.

Spoiler section ends here.

Gameplay

GoldenyEye 007 is a first-person shooter, featuring a first-person view with a HUD featuring James Bond's health and his armor's health on the left and right sides respectively. In the bottom-right corner of the screen is Bond's ammunition. James Bond also sports a watch on person which the player can view to see their mission stats, their weapons, and other information they may need on their mission.

Bond cannot restore his health while in a mission, however, he can collect armor to give him a second health bar. Bond also can find many different weapons during each of his missions, and different weapons feature different firing rates, ammunition, and sizes, among other features.

GoldenEye 007 also features a multiplayer battle mode in which up to four players can play against each other in different types of deathmatch games in which the players kill each other. The game features several special modes for the game, each of which are other titles of other James Bond films. The special modes include:

• License to Kill — each player dies from getting hit only once
• The Living Daylights — a flag is placed somewhere in the level and the player who holds onto the flag the longest wins
• The Man with the Golden Gun — a Golden Gun, an item when fired upon an opponent instantly kills them, is placed in the level
• You Only Live Twicce — each player only has two lives until the game is over

The regular mode to the multiplayer is a simple game in which each player travels throughout a level, defeating each other by using weapons they find in the level.

Reception

GoldenEye 007 received very positive reviews from critics after its release, despite all of its expectations as being a poor movie tie-in game. The game was the third-best selling Nintendo 64 game, behind Super Mario 64 and Mario Kart 64, selling more than eight million units. The game was primarily praised for its positive multiplayer mode, its above-par graphics for its time, and its storyline.

Scores from major publications

• Allgame — 5 stars
• Edge — 9/10
• GameRankings — 94.59%
• GameSpot — 9.8/10
• Gaming Target — 9.2/10
• Gaming Age — 9.1/10
• Game Revolution — A-
• IGN — 9.7/10
• Metacritic — 96/100
• N64 Magazine — 94%

See also

• GoldenEye: Rogue Agent
• GoldenEye 007 (2010)
• GoldenEye 007: Reloaded