Goldeneye 007
Reviewed by Seth Bokelma
I picked up Goldeneye at a local Wal-Mart for $59.96, and have
played it for a total of about 4 hours before writing this review.
Highs: Great graphics, good sound, awesome atmosphere.
Lows: Lack of automapping, vague mission goals.
Bottom Line: Don't dismiss this as "another dumb movie licensed
game. Buy this game, it's got a ton of replay value, and if you're even a
passing fan of James Bond movies, you'll go "Cool!" over and over.
This is a great game, I've played through the first 7 levels or so, and am
totally impressed, and totally stumped. This game has a lot of attention
to detail and atmosphere. For those familiar with the movie, the amount of
detail used in recreating the various settings, such as the Servnaya
facility is great, you recognize areas from the movie left and right.
I can't say enough about the graphics in this game. They're better than
Turok, with the distance to the fog being at least 2-3 times as great. I
don't have a single significant complaint about any of the graphic elements
of the game, except for the level I'm currently stuck on, which is the
second time you visit the Servnaya installation. The level is very dark,
with a burgundy sky, and it's very difficult and frustrating to find your
way around out in the open Siberian plain. This is where an automap would
have come in handy. Or even yet, if they didn't want to get too fancy,
how about a compass? I mean, James Bond can set off bombs and shoot lasers
with his watch, but they can't give him a darn compass to find his way
around in the dark?
The gameplay is excellent, very responsive, good use of the analog stick.
My only gripe here is that sometimes when coming down stairs or ladders,
you suddenly stop, and have to look down to find you're standing on a bad
guy. I know you're saying, "Well just walk while looking down" and I tried
that, but the game automatically bounces your view back up (or down) to the
horizon a few paces after you adjust it. This is handy sometimes, but
generally not for me, too many hours of playing Dark Forces or something.
I like the number of weapons in this game, there are like 30 listed in the
manual. The number of enemies throwing themselves at you is determined by
how stealthy you are. If you go around with the big machine gun, you'll be
swarmed by bad guys. Practice a little restraint with your silenced
pistol, and you can sneak around much easier. "Sniper mode" is activated
by holding the R button, and gives you a zoomed in, crosshaired view with
which to target the enemy from a distance, which is also very cool.
At the beginning of each scene, you get a briefing (text) telling you what
you're supposed to do, what your goals are, etc. I love the fact that you
get different goals based on difficulty settings, this adds a ton of replay
value, as does the manner in which you have to actually earn the cheat
codes. I just wish the goals were explained a little more clearly. This
brings me back to that second trip to Servnaya. One of my goals is "Cut
off communications to bunker" Okay, now this sounds simple enough, right?
Now remember, you're wandering around in the dark, there are about 10
different structures, two locked doors which I don't think can be opened,
and no place does it say "Communications: Cut Here" or anything even
remotely half obvious. I've tried destroying all the security cameras I
could find, as per M's instructions, and even emptied several hundred
rounds into that gigantic dish, to no avail. Which reminds me, another cool
thing is that you can leave bulletholes in EVERYTHING. Well, except the bad
guys, they fade away in a hurry after you kill them, a la Turok. I just
wish you could empty a few more rounds into them before they did, but Bond
has never been a bloodthirsty prehistoric tribal guy, I guess.
One thing that Turok had that I don't miss at all was jumping. Well, okay
I miss it a little, it'd be nice to hop off some platforms here and there,
but I got really tired of the endless jumping in Turok, as well as the
"miss and you're dead" leaps for your life. There is no jumping in
Goldeneye, but I doubt most people will notice and/or care.
The Rumble Pak effects are okay, and that's about it. I get the feeling
they were tacked on at the end of the game's development. They're nice,
but not spectacular, and they don't happen as often or as violently as in
Star Fox.
In conclusion, I'd like to state once more, this is a great game, so go
blow your summer savings on it, you'll be busy for hours. With the
addition of an automap or compass, this game would beat Turok by a mile,
but I'd have to say it compares fairly closely, with a few differences. If
you're even a moderate fan or Turok or first person shooters, don't even
bother to rent it, just go buy it. If you hate first person shooters, go
rent it, you'll like it too.