GoldenEye 007
Encyclopedia
GoldenEye 007 is a first-person shooter
video game developed by Rare and based on the 1995 James Bond
film GoldenEye
. It was published by Nintendo
and was exclusively released for the Nintendo 64
video game console
in August 1997. The game features a single player campaign in which players assume the role of British Secret Intelligence Service
agent James Bond as he fights to prevent a criminal syndicate from using a satellite weapon to cause a global financial meltdown, and a split-screen
multiplayer mode for up to four players.
GoldenEye 007 was developed over two and a half years by an inexperienced development team and was originally intended to be an on-rails shooter inspired by Sega
's Virtua Cop
, before being redesigned as a free-roaming
shooter. As one of the first console first-person shooters, GoldenEye 007 established a new archetype and introduced several innovations to the genre, including a zoomable
sniper rifle
, stealth elements, and a multiplayer deathmatch
mode on a console.
GoldenEye 007 was a critical and commercial success. It received overwhelmingly positive reviews from the gaming media and sold over eight million copies worldwide. Many of the industry's journalists have praised it as one of the most important first-person shooters of all time. The game's influence on newer games of the genre signalled a transition from the old Doom-like approach to a more realistic and atmospheric style. GoldenEye 007 was followed by a spiritual successor, Perfect Dark
, also developed by Rare for the Nintendo 64. In 2010, a reimagining of the game
was published by Activision
and released for the Wii
and Nintendo DS
, then later re-released as GoldenEye 007: Reloaded
for the Xbox 360
and PlayStation 3
the following year.
, Soviet Union
in 1986, where MI6
has uncovered a secret chemical weapons facility at the Byelomorye Dam. James Bond and fellow 00-agent Alec Trevelyan
are sent to infiltrate the facility and plant explosive charges. During the mission, Trevelyan is apparently killed by Colonel Arkady Ourumov, but Bond escapes by commandeering an airplane
. Five years later, Bond is sent to investigate a satellite control station in Severnaya, Russia
, where programmers Natalya Simonova
and Boris Grishenko work. Two years after the Severnaya mission, Bond investigates an unscheduled test firing of a missile in Kyrgyzstan
, believed to be a cover for the launch of a satellite known as GoldenEye. This space-based weapon works by firing a concentrated electromagnetic pulse
at any Earth target to disable any electrical circuit within range. As Bond leaves the silo, he is ambushed by Ourumov and a squad of Soviet troops. He defeats the troops, but Ourumov escapes.
The remainder of the game takes place in 1995. Bond visits Monte Carlo
to investigate the frigate
La Fayette, where he rescues several hostages and plants a tracker bug on the Eurocopter Tiger
helicopter before it is stolen by the Janus crime syndicate. Bond is then sent a second time to Severnaya, but during the mission he is captured and locked up in the bunker's cells along with Natalya Simonova
, who has been betrayed to Janus. The two escape the complex seconds before it is destroyed, on the orders of Ourumov, by the GoldenEye satellite's EMP. Bond next travels to Saint Petersburg
, where he arranges with ex-KGB
agent Valentin Zukovsky to meet the chief of the Janus organisation. This is revealed to be Alec Trevelyan — his execution by Ourumov in the Arkhangelsk facility was faked. Bond and Natalya escape from Trevelyan, but are arrested by the Russian police and taken to the military archive
s for interrogation. Bond eventually manages to escape the interrogation room, rescue Natalya and communicate with Defence Minister Dimitri Mishkin, who has verified Bond's claim of Ourumov's treachery. Natalya is recaptured by General Ourumov, and Bond gives chase through the streets of St. Petersburg, eventually reaching an arms depot used by Janus. There Bond destroys its weaponry stores and then hitches a ride on Trevelyan's Soviet missile train
, where he kills Ourumov and rescues Natalya. However, Alec Trevelyan and his ally Xenia Onatopp escape to their secret base in Cuba
.
Natalya accompanies Bond to the Caribbean. Surveying the Cuban jungle
aerially, their light aircraft is shot down. Unscathed, Bond and Natalya perform a ground search of the area's heavily guarded jungle terrain, but are ambushed by Xenia, who is quickly killed by Bond. Bond sneaks Natalya into the control centre to disrupt transmissions to the GoldenEye satellite and force it to burn up in the Earth's atmosphere. He then follows the fleeing Trevelyan through a series of flooded cave
rns, eventually arriving at the antenna
of the control centre's radio telescope
. Trevelyan attempts to re-align it in a final attempt to restore contact with the GoldenEye, but Bond ultimately destroys machinery vital to controlling the antenna and defeats Trevelyan in a gunfight on a platform above the dish.
GoldenEye 007 is a first-person shooter
that features both single and a multiplayer modes. In the single player mode, the player takes the role of Pierce Brosnan
as James Bond
through a series of free-roaming
3D levels
. Each level requires the player to complete a certain set of objectives – such as collecting or destroying specified items, rescuing hostages, or meeting with friendly NPCs
– and then exit the stage. Some gadgets from the James Bond film series are featured in the game and are often used to complete particular mission objectives; for example, in one level the electromagnetic watch from Live and Let Die
is used to acquire a jail cell key.
Stealth is a significant element of the gameplay: frequent gunfire can alert distant guards, and activated alarms can trigger infinitely-respawning enemies. Therefore, in order to avoid gunfights with numerous opponents, it is advantageous to eliminate soldiers and security cameras before they spot or hear the player. Certain weapons incorporate suppressor
or telescopic sight
attachments to aid the player in killing enemies discreetly.
The arsenal of weapons includes pistol
s, submachine gun
s, heavy weapons, grenade
s, and throwing knives
, among others. Guns have a finite magazine and must be reloaded after a certain number of shots, but the player may acquire and carry as many weapons as can be found in each mission. The player's initial weapon in most missions is James Bond's Walther PPK, called the PP7 in-game. Most of the game's firearms are modelled on real-life counterparts (although their names are altered), while others are based on fictitious devices featured in the Bond films, such as the Golden Gun and Moonraker
laser. The weapons vary in characteristics such as rate of fire, degree of penetration and type of ammunition used, and inflict different levels of damage depending on which body part they hit. There are no health-recovery items in the game, although armour vests can be acquired to provide a secondary health bar
.
Four save files
are available to track the player's progress through the game's twenty missions, each of which may be played on "Agent", "Secret Agent" or "00-Agent" difficulty settings. Higher difficulties increase the challenge by altering factors such as the damage enemies can withstand and inflict, the amount of ammunition available, and the number of objectives that must be completed. Once a mission is completed, the player may either continue progressing through the story or choose to replay a previously completed level. Completing certain missions within particular target times enables the player to unlock bonus cheat options which make various changes to the gameplay. Upon fully completing the game on the hardest difficulty setting, an additional "007" mode is unlocked that allows the player to customize the challenge of any mission by manually adjusting enemies' health, reaction times, aiming accuracy, and the damage they inflict.
The multiplayer mode allows two, three or four players to compete against each other in five different types of split screen
deathmatch
games: Normal, You Only Live Twice, The Living Daylights (Flag Tag), The Man With the Golden Gun, and License to Kill. Normal is a basic deathmatch mode in which the main objective is to kill opponents as many times as possible. It can be played as a free-for-all game or in teams. In You Only Live Twice, players only have two lives before they are eliminated from the game, and License to Kill is a mode in which players die from a single hit with any weapon. In The Man With the Golden Gun, a single Golden Gun, which is capable of killing opponents with only one shot, is placed in a fixed location on the map; once the Golden Gun is picked up, the only way to re-acquire it is to kill the player holding it. The player with the Golden Gun is unable to pick up body armour while opponents can. In The Living Daylights, a "flag" is placed in a fixed location on the map, and the player who holds it the longest wins. The flag-carrier cannot use weapons but can still collect them to keep opponents from stocking ammunition. Aspects of each gametype can be customised, including the chosen map, class of weapons, and winning condition. As players progress through the single player mode, new maps and characters are unlocked in the multiplayer mode.
commented in 2004, "Looking back, there are things I'd be wary of attempting now, but as none of the people working on the code, graphics, and game design had worked on a game before, there was this joyful naïveté." Due to the success of Donkey Kong Country
, GoldenEye 007 was originally suggested as a 2D side-scrolling
platformer
for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System
, but Martin Hollis
, the director and producer of the game, proposed "a 3D shooting game" for Nintendo's in-development "Ultra 64" console. Inspired by Sega
's Virtua Cop
, the intention for the first few months of development was for the game to be an on-rails shooter; the game's gas plant location was modelled by Karl Hilton with an on-rails path in mind.
The development team visited the studios of the GoldenEye film to collect photographs and blueprints of the sets
used in the movie. Silicon Graphics
Onyx workstations and Nintendo's NINGEN development software were used to create the geometry for virtual environments based on this reference material. However, many of the missions were extended or modified to allow the player to participate in sequences which the film's James Bond did not. Hilton explained, "We tried to stick to [the reference material] for authenticity but we weren't afraid of adding to it to help the game design. It was very organic." Initially, the designers' priority was purely on the creation of interesting spaces; level design and balance considerations such as the placement of start and exit points, characters and objectives did not begin until this process was complete. According to Martin Hollis, "The benefit of this sloppy unplanned approach was that many of the levels in the game have a realistic and non-linear feel. There are rooms with no direct relevance to the level. There are multiple routes across the level." Hollis also noted that the concept of several varied objectives within each mission was inspired by the multiple tasks in each stage of Super Mario 64
, a game whose 3D collision detection system was also influential for Hollis.
Final N64 specifications and development workstations were not initially available to Rare: a modified Sega Saturn
controller was used for some early playtesting, and the developers had to estimate what the finalised console's capabilities would be. The final Nintendo 64 hardware could render polygons faster than the SGI Onyx workstations they had been using, but the game's textures had to be cut down by half. Karl Hilton explained one method of improving the game's performance: "A lot of GoldenEye is in black and white. RGB colour
textures cost a lot more in terms of processing power. You could do double the resolution if you used greyscale, so a lot was done like that. If I needed a bit of colour, I'd add it in the vertex
." At one time, developers planned to implement the reloading of the weapons by the player unplugging and re-inserting the Rumble Pak
on the Nintendo 64 controller
, though this idea was discarded at Nintendo's behest.
GoldenEye 007 was one of the first games to feature stealth elements. David Doak
, one of the game's programmers, explained how this was implemented: "Whenever you fired a gun, it had a radius test and alerted the non-player characters within that radius. If you fired the same gun again within a certain amount of time, it did a larger radius test and I think there was a third even larger radius after that. It meant if you found one guy and shot him in the head and then didn’t fire again, the timer would reset."
Rather than trying to release the game in tandem with the movie, the Stamper brothers
made sure to give the team as much time as they needed. It was developed through two and a half years, the first year of which was spent developing the engine and producing art assets. The game's multiplayer mode was added late in the development process; Martin Hollis described it as "a complete afterthought". According to David Doak, the majority of the work on the multiplayer mode was done by Steve Ellis, who "sat in a room with all the code written for a single-player game and turned GoldenEye into a multiplayer game." The game was released in all territories on 25 August 1997, nearly two years after the film. The game's cartridge size was 96 Mb
(12 MB
). In addition to the Nintendo 64 game, a racing version was in development for the Virtual Boy
, but was eventually cancelled before release.
and Mario Kart 64
. The game has collected numerous awards, including the BAFTA Interactive Entertainment "Games Award" in 1998, and four awards from the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences
: "Console Action Game of the Year", "Console Game of the Year", "Interactive Title of the Year" and "Outstanding Achievement in Software Engineering". Rare was also recognized for its work on the game and won the BAFTA award for "Best UK Developer".
Graphically, the game was praised for its varied and detailed environments. The zoomable
sniper rifle
was seen as the most impressive feature of the graphical engine. Edge
magazine noted that it allowed to neutralize enemies quietly and efficiently from distant towers. Greg Sewart of Gaming Age also remarked that the fog effect
is "almost non-existent". Lighting, smoke, transparency, and bullet hole aspects were positively received. Character appearances were said to be realistic and detailed, with the exception of Natalya, who looked "a little too square". Generally, critics also noted that GoldenEye 007 maintains a solid frame rate
.
The game's audio was well-received. The music was described as addictive, and the various sound effects, such as the explosion, shattering glass, and the sounds of enemies grunting and fainting, were said to be detailed. Some later levels begin in lifts and feature transitions from elevator music
to full soundtracks, which Jeff Gerstmann
of GameSpot
cited as examples of the music's ability to add ambience to the game, and as an illustration of the game's attention to detail.
The gameplay was praised for its depth. IGN
's Doug Perry called GoldenEye 007 an "immersive" game, which "blends smart strategy gameplay with fast-action gunmanship". Similarly, Greg Sewart pointed out that players also have "a bit of freedom as to what they want to do in any given situation, and what order the directives are completed in". Reviewers also enjoyed the wide variety of weapons and the multi-objective-based missions, stating that they make the game stay "fresh by never having you do the same thing twice". Colin of Game Revolution
called the gameplay "realistic", setting Goldeneye "apart from the pack", but also criticized the campaign for being badly paced. He noted that GoldenEye 007 "takes it for granted that you have already seen the movie". He also added that players may get stuck due to the game's lack of orientation. Critics also praised the "tight" and "precise" controls, which were said to be more intuitive than Acclaim
's Turok: Dinosaur Hunter
.
The multiplayer mode was praised for its numerous options and at the time was considered the best multiplayer game on the system, "edging Mario Kart 64
by a hair" according to IGN. Edge described it as "the standard for multiplayer console combat" until it was surpassed by the release of Halo: Combat Evolved
in 2001.
gamers. Journalists noted that the game "opened the genre to a completely new market" and that it was "the first big console FPS that truly got it right". The analog stick also allowed for precise control, and the game used this in a way that was unique for its time. On the other hand, the game's use of realistic gameplay, which contrasted with the approaches taken by Doom-clones, and introduction of multiplayer deathmatch on a console
is often credited for revolutionizing the FPS genre. Along with Shiny Entertainment
's MDK
, GoldenEye 007 pioneered and popularized the now-standard scoped sniper rifle, and its use of context-sensitive
hit locations on the enemies added a realism that was previously unseen in video games.
IGN described the game as the "definitive first-person shooter for consoles" and said that it took video games in general in a new direction. Nintendo Power
listed GoldenEye 007 as one of the greatest multiplayer experiences in Nintendo history, stating that it is remembered as one of the finest examples of a first-person shooter. Rowan Kaiser of 1UP.com
, who placed the game 53rd on "The 60 Most Influential Games of All Time", pointed out that the game "paved the way for the later popularity of Halo
, Call of Duty
, and more". Similarly, GamePro
, placing it 9th in "The 52 Most Important Video Games of All Time", called it the console killer-app
of the 90's and the best game ever licensed from a film. With its eight million copies sold, GoldenEye 007 was also one of the most significant titles that helped the Nintendo 64 to remain competitive with rival Sony
's PlayStation, though it eventually lost much of its market share.
GoldenEye 007 is frequently included in gaming publications' "greatest game" lists: In a January 2000 poll
, readers of the long-running British
magazine Computer and Video Games
voted GoldenEye 007 into first place in a list of "the hundred greatest video games", and it was ranked 5th in a poll the following year. Also that year, the game ranked 16th in Game Informer
s list of the "Top 100 Games of All Time". In 2005, a "Best Games of All-Time" contest at GameFAQs
placed GoldenEye 007 at 7th, and in a list made by IGN in 2005, the game was ranked 29th, while the Reader's Choice placed it at 7th. Video game review site ScrewAttack
rated GoldenEye 007 number one in three separate top ten lists: a June 2008 list of the "Top 10 FPS Games Ever", a June 2009 list of the "Top 10 Movie-Based Games", and an October 2010 list of the "Top 10 Local-Multiplayer Console Games". Edge has featured GoldenEye 007 prominently in three "greatest game" lists: it placed third in a staff-voted poll in 2000; seventeenth in a staff, reader, and gaming industry-voted poll in 2007; and it was also included as one of the publication's "Top 10 shooters" in 2003.
, also for the Nintendo 64. Using a modified version of the GoldenEye 007 game engine, Perfect Dark made its debut at E3 1998, and was released in 2000 to critical acclaim. Although the game features a setting and storyline unrelated to James Bond, it shares many gameplay features with GoldenEye 007, including a similar control scheme, mission objectives that vary with the difficulty setting, and cheat options unlockable through quick level completions. The game led to the development of the Perfect Dark franchise
.
A number of the GoldenEye 007 team left Rare soon after development on Perfect Dark commenced, beginning with Martin Hollis in 1998, who after working on the GameCube
at Nintendo of America
formed his own company Zoonami
in 2000. Other members formed Free Radical Design
, and by 2004, four of the team of nine who originally worked on GoldenEye 007 were employed there. Free Radical Design developed the TimeSplitters series
of first-person shooters for the PlayStation 2
, Nintendo GameCube
and Xbox
. These games contain several references to GoldenEye 007, including the design of the health-HUD
, the nature of the aiming system, and the dam setting of the opening level of TimeSplitters 2
.
Meanwhile, the James Bond game license was acquired by Electronic Arts
in 1999, which published new games based upon the then-recent James Bond films, Tomorrow Never Dies
and The World Is Not Enough
, as well as entirely original ones, including James Bond 007: Nightfire
, James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing
and GoldenEye: Rogue Agent
. However, none of them reached the critical or commercial success of GoldenEye 007. In 2006, the James Bond game license was acquired by Activision
, which published additional games in the James Bond video game series, such as Quantum of Solace
, 007: Blood Stone, and a reimagining of the Nintendo 64 game, also titled GoldenEye 007
. The reimagining features Daniel Craig
as the playable character, modern FPS conventions, entirely new level-layouts, and an online component. It was exclusively released for the Wii
and Nintendo DS
in 2010 to generally positive reviews, and later re-released as GoldenEye 007: Reloaded
for the Xbox 360
and PlayStation 3
the following year.
An Xbox Live Arcade
port of GoldenEye 007 was in development at Rare for several months, and in 2006 Nintendo of America Reggie Fils-Aime commented that Nintendo was "exploring all the rights issues" involved in bringing GoldenEye 007 to the Wii
Virtual Console
. However, due to legal issues involving the numerous licence holders with rights to game and to the Bond IP
, the game was ultimately not released on either format. GoldenEye: Source
, a non-profit fangame
mod project aiming to recreate and update the Nintendo 64 game, is in development using Valve
's Source engine
.
First-person shooter
First-person shooter is a video game genre that centers the gameplay on gun and projectile weapon-based combat through first-person perspective; i.e., the player experiences the action through the eyes of a protagonist. Generally speaking, the first-person shooter shares common traits with other...
video game developed by Rare and based on the 1995 James Bond
James Bond
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
film GoldenEye
GoldenEye
GoldenEye is the seventeenth spy film in the James Bond series, and the first to star Pierce Brosnan as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. The film was directed by Martin Campbell and is the first film in the series not to take story elements from the works of novelist Ian Fleming...
. It was published by Nintendo
Nintendo
is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
and was exclusively released for the Nintendo 64
Nintendo 64
The , often referred to as N64, was Nintendo′s third home video game console for the international market. Named for its 64-bit CPU, it was released in June 1996 in Japan, September 1996 in North America, March 1997 in Europe and Australia, September 1997 in France and December 1997 in Brazil...
video game console
Video game console
A video game console is an interactive entertainment computer or customized computer system that produces a video display signal which can be used with a display device to display a video game...
in August 1997. The game features a single player campaign in which players assume the role of British Secret Intelligence Service
Secret Intelligence Service
The Secret Intelligence Service is responsible for supplying the British Government with foreign intelligence. Alongside the internal Security Service , the Government Communications Headquarters and the Defence Intelligence , it operates under the formal direction of the Joint Intelligence...
agent James Bond as he fights to prevent a criminal syndicate from using a satellite weapon to cause a global financial meltdown, and a split-screen
Split screen (computer graphics)
Split screen is a display technique in computer graphics that consists of dividing graphics and/or text into non-movable adjacent parts, typically two or four rectangular areas. This is done in order to allow the simultaneous presentation of related graphical and textual information on a computer...
multiplayer mode for up to four players.
GoldenEye 007 was developed over two and a half years by an inexperienced development team and was originally intended to be an on-rails shooter inspired by Sega
Sega
, usually styled as SEGA, is a multinational video game software developer and an arcade software and hardware development company headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan, with various offices around the world...
's Virtua Cop
Virtua Cop
Virtua Cop is a lightgun shooter arcade game created by Sega-AM2, and headed by Yu Suzuki. Its original incarnation was an arcade game in 1994 and it was later ported to the Sega Saturn in 1995, and Microsoft Windows in 1997...
, before being redesigned as a free-roaming
Open world
An open world is a type of video game level design where a player can roam freely through a virtual world and is given considerable freedom in choosing how to approach objectives...
shooter. As one of the first console first-person shooters, GoldenEye 007 established a new archetype and introduced several innovations to the genre, including a zoomable
Zoom lens
A zoom lens is a mechanical assembly of lens elements for which the focal length can be varied, as opposed to a fixed focal length lens...
sniper rifle
Sniper rifle
In military and law enforcement terminology, a sniper rifle is a precision-rifle used to ensure more accurate placement of bullets at longer ranges than other small arms. A typical sniper rifle is built for optimal levels of accuracy, fitted with a telescopic sight and chambered for a military...
, stealth elements, and a multiplayer deathmatch
Deathmatch (gaming)
Deathmatch or Player vs All is a widely-used gameplay mode integrated into many shooter and real-time strategy computer games...
mode on a console.
GoldenEye 007 was a critical and commercial success. It received overwhelmingly positive reviews from the gaming media and sold over eight million copies worldwide. Many of the industry's journalists have praised it as one of the most important first-person shooters of all time. The game's influence on newer games of the genre signalled a transition from the old Doom-like approach to a more realistic and atmospheric style. GoldenEye 007 was followed by a spiritual successor, Perfect Dark
Perfect Dark
Perfect Dark is a first-person shooter video game developed by Rare for the Nintendo 64 video game console. It is considered the spiritual successor to Rare's earlier first-person shooter GoldenEye 007, with which it shares many gameplay features...
, also developed by Rare for the Nintendo 64. In 2010, a reimagining of the game
GoldenEye 007 (2010 video game)
GoldenEye 007 is a 2010 first-person shooter video game developed by Eurocom and published by Activision for the Wii video game console, and the Nintendo DS handheld game console. It is a reimagining of the 1995 James Bond film GoldenEye, and the 1997 Nintendo 64 video game GoldenEye 007...
was published by Activision
Activision
Activision is an American publisher, majority owned by French conglomerate Vivendi SA. Its current CEO is Robert Kotick. It was founded on October 1, 1979 and was the world's first independent developer and distributor of video games for gaming consoles...
and released for the Wii
Wii
The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...
and Nintendo DS
Nintendo DS
The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP...
, then later re-released as GoldenEye 007: Reloaded
GoldenEye 007 (2010 video game)
GoldenEye 007 is a 2010 first-person shooter video game developed by Eurocom and published by Activision for the Wii video game console, and the Nintendo DS handheld game console. It is a reimagining of the 1995 James Bond film GoldenEye, and the 1997 Nintendo 64 video game GoldenEye 007...
for the Xbox 360
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
and PlayStation 3
PlayStation 3
The is the third home video game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment and the successor to the PlayStation 2 as part of the PlayStation series. The PlayStation 3 competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
the following year.
Plot
GoldenEye 007 closely follows the plot of the movie, though with some minor alterations. The game starts in ArkhangelskArkhangelsk
Arkhangelsk , formerly known as Archangel in English, is a city and the administrative center of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. It lies on both banks of the Northern Dvina River near its exit into the White Sea in the north of European Russia. The city spreads for over along the banks of the river...
, Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
in 1986, where MI6
Secret Intelligence Service
The Secret Intelligence Service is responsible for supplying the British Government with foreign intelligence. Alongside the internal Security Service , the Government Communications Headquarters and the Defence Intelligence , it operates under the formal direction of the Joint Intelligence...
has uncovered a secret chemical weapons facility at the Byelomorye Dam. James Bond and fellow 00-agent Alec Trevelyan
Alec Trevelyan
Alexander "Alec" Trevelyan , also known as Janus, is a fictional character and the main antagonist in the 1995 James Bond film GoldenEye, portrayed by actor Sean Bean...
are sent to infiltrate the facility and plant explosive charges. During the mission, Trevelyan is apparently killed by Colonel Arkady Ourumov, but Bond escapes by commandeering an airplane
Fixed-wing aircraft
A fixed-wing aircraft is an aircraft capable of flight using wings that generate lift due to the vehicle's forward airspeed. Fixed-wing aircraft are distinct from rotary-wing aircraft in which wings rotate about a fixed mast and ornithopters in which lift is generated by flapping wings.A powered...
. Five years later, Bond is sent to investigate a satellite control station in Severnaya, Russia
Severnaya Zemlya
Severnaya Zemlya is an archipelago in the Russian high Arctic at around . It is located off mainland Siberia's Taymyr Peninsula across the Vilkitsky Strait...
, where programmers Natalya Simonova
Natalya Simonova
Natalya Fyodorovna Simonova is a fictional character and the main Bond girl in the James Bond film GoldenEye, played by actress Izabella Scorupco.-Biography:...
and Boris Grishenko work. Two years after the Severnaya mission, Bond investigates an unscheduled test firing of a missile in Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan , officially the Kyrgyz Republic is one of the world's six independent Turkic states . Located in Central Asia, landlocked and mountainous, Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the southwest and China to the east...
, believed to be a cover for the launch of a satellite known as GoldenEye. This space-based weapon works by firing a concentrated electromagnetic pulse
Electromagnetic pulse
An electromagnetic pulse is a burst of electromagnetic radiation. The abrupt pulse of electromagnetic radiation usually results from certain types of high energy explosions, especially a nuclear explosion, or from a suddenly fluctuating magnetic field...
at any Earth target to disable any electrical circuit within range. As Bond leaves the silo, he is ambushed by Ourumov and a squad of Soviet troops. He defeats the troops, but Ourumov escapes.
The remainder of the game takes place in 1995. Bond visits Monte Carlo
Monte Carlo
Monte Carlo is an administrative area of the Principality of Monaco....
to investigate the frigate
Frigate
A frigate is any of several types of warship, the term having been used for ships of various sizes and roles over the last few centuries.In the 17th century, the term was used for any warship built for speed and maneuverability, the description often used being "frigate-built"...
La Fayette, where he rescues several hostages and plants a tracker bug on the Eurocopter Tiger
Eurocopter Tiger
The Eurocopter Tiger is an attack helicopter manufactured by Eurocopter. In Germany it is known as the Tiger; in France and Spain it is called the Tigre.-Origins:...
helicopter before it is stolen by the Janus crime syndicate. Bond is then sent a second time to Severnaya, but during the mission he is captured and locked up in the bunker's cells along with Natalya Simonova
Natalya Simonova
Natalya Fyodorovna Simonova is a fictional character and the main Bond girl in the James Bond film GoldenEye, played by actress Izabella Scorupco.-Biography:...
, who has been betrayed to Janus. The two escape the complex seconds before it is destroyed, on the orders of Ourumov, by the GoldenEye satellite's EMP. Bond next travels to Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
, where he arranges with ex-KGB
KGB
The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
agent Valentin Zukovsky to meet the chief of the Janus organisation. This is revealed to be Alec Trevelyan — his execution by Ourumov in the Arkhangelsk facility was faked. Bond and Natalya escape from Trevelyan, but are arrested by the Russian police and taken to the military archive
Archive
An archive is a collection of historical records, or the physical place they are located. Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual or organization's lifetime, and are kept to show the function of an organization...
s for interrogation. Bond eventually manages to escape the interrogation room, rescue Natalya and communicate with Defence Minister Dimitri Mishkin, who has verified Bond's claim of Ourumov's treachery. Natalya is recaptured by General Ourumov, and Bond gives chase through the streets of St. Petersburg, eventually reaching an arms depot used by Janus. There Bond destroys its weaponry stores and then hitches a ride on Trevelyan's Soviet missile train
Armoured train
An armoured train is a train protected with armour. They are usually equipped with railroad cars armed with artillery and machine guns. They were mostly used during the late 19th and early 20th century, when they offered an innovative way to quickly move large amounts of firepower...
, where he kills Ourumov and rescues Natalya. However, Alec Trevelyan and his ally Xenia Onatopp escape to their secret base in Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
.
Natalya accompanies Bond to the Caribbean. Surveying the Cuban jungle
Cuban moist forests
The Cuban moist forests are a tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests ecoregion that occupies on Cuba and Isla de la Juventud. The ecoregion receives more than of rainfall annually, and does not have a dry season. Soils are usually derived from quartz, limestone, or serpentinites...
aerially, their light aircraft is shot down. Unscathed, Bond and Natalya perform a ground search of the area's heavily guarded jungle terrain, but are ambushed by Xenia, who is quickly killed by Bond. Bond sneaks Natalya into the control centre to disrupt transmissions to the GoldenEye satellite and force it to burn up in the Earth's atmosphere. He then follows the fleeing Trevelyan through a series of flooded cave
Cave
A cave or cavern is a natural underground space large enough for a human to enter. The term applies to natural cavities some part of which is in total darkness. The word cave also includes smaller spaces like rock shelters, sea caves, and grottos.Speleology is the science of exploration and study...
rns, eventually arriving at the antenna
Antenna (radio)
An antenna is an electrical device which converts electric currents into radio waves, and vice versa. It is usually used with a radio transmitter or radio receiver...
of the control centre's radio telescope
Radio telescope
A radio telescope is a form of directional radio antenna used in radio astronomy. The same types of antennas are also used in tracking and collecting data from satellites and space probes...
. Trevelyan attempts to re-align it in a final attempt to restore contact with the GoldenEye, but Bond ultimately destroys machinery vital to controlling the antenna and defeats Trevelyan in a gunfight on a platform above the dish.
Gameplay
First-person shooter
First-person shooter is a video game genre that centers the gameplay on gun and projectile weapon-based combat through first-person perspective; i.e., the player experiences the action through the eyes of a protagonist. Generally speaking, the first-person shooter shares common traits with other...
that features both single and a multiplayer modes. In the single player mode, the player takes the role of Pierce Brosnan
Pierce Brosnan
Pierce Brendan Brosnan, OBE is an Irish actor, film producer and environmentalist. After leaving school at 16, Brosnan began training in commercial illustration, but trained at the Drama Centre in London for three years...
as James Bond
James Bond
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
through a series of free-roaming
Open world
An open world is a type of video game level design where a player can roam freely through a virtual world and is given considerable freedom in choosing how to approach objectives...
3D levels
Level (video gaming)
A level, map, area, or world in a video game is the total space available to the player during the course of completing a discrete objective...
. Each level requires the player to complete a certain set of objectives – such as collecting or destroying specified items, rescuing hostages, or meeting with friendly NPCs
Non-player character
A non-player character , sometimes known as a non-person character or non-playable character, in a game is any fictional character not controlled by a player. In electronic games, this usually means a character controlled by the computer through artificial intelligence...
– and then exit the stage. Some gadgets from the James Bond film series are featured in the game and are often used to complete particular mission objectives; for example, in one level the electromagnetic watch from Live and Let Die
Live and Let Die (film)
Live and Let Die is the eighth spy film in the James Bond series, and the first to star Roger Moore as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. The film was produced by Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman...
is used to acquire a jail cell key.
Stealth is a significant element of the gameplay: frequent gunfire can alert distant guards, and activated alarms can trigger infinitely-respawning enemies. Therefore, in order to avoid gunfights with numerous opponents, it is advantageous to eliminate soldiers and security cameras before they spot or hear the player. Certain weapons incorporate suppressor
Suppressor
A suppressor, sound suppressor, sound moderator, or silencer, is a device attached to or part of the barrel of a firearm which reduces the amount of noise and flash generated by firing the weapon....
or telescopic sight
Telescopic sight
A telescopic sight, commonly called a scope, is a sighting device that is based on an optical refracting telescope. They are equipped with some form of graphic image pattern mounted in an optically appropriate position in their optical system to give an accurate aiming point...
attachments to aid the player in killing enemies discreetly.
The arsenal of weapons includes pistol
Pistol
When distinguished as a subset of handguns, a pistol is a handgun with a chamber that is integral with the barrel, as opposed to a revolver, wherein the chamber is separate from the barrel as a revolving cylinder. Typically, pistols have an effective range of about 100 feet.-History:The pistol...
s, submachine gun
Submachine gun
A submachine gun is an automatic carbine, designed to fire pistol cartridges. It combines the automatic fire of a machine gun with the cartridge of a pistol. The submachine gun was invented during World War I , but the apex of its use was during World War II when millions of the weapon type were...
s, heavy weapons, grenade
Grenade
A grenade is a small explosive device that is projected a safe distance away by its user. Soldiers called grenadiers specialize in the use of grenades. The term hand grenade refers any grenade designed to be hand thrown. Grenade Launchers are firearms designed to fire explosive projectile grenades...
s, and throwing knives
Throwing knife
Throwing knives are knives that are specially designed and weighted so that they can be thrown effectively. They are a distinct category from ordinary knives....
, among others. Guns have a finite magazine and must be reloaded after a certain number of shots, but the player may acquire and carry as many weapons as can be found in each mission. The player's initial weapon in most missions is James Bond's Walther PPK, called the PP7 in-game. Most of the game's firearms are modelled on real-life counterparts (although their names are altered), while others are based on fictitious devices featured in the Bond films, such as the Golden Gun and Moonraker
Moonraker (film)
Moonraker is the eleventh spy film in the James Bond series, and the fourth to star Roger Moore as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. The third and final film in the series to be directed by Lewis Gilbert, it co-stars Lois Chiles, Michael Lonsdale, Corinne Clery, and Richard Kiel...
laser. The weapons vary in characteristics such as rate of fire, degree of penetration and type of ammunition used, and inflict different levels of damage depending on which body part they hit. There are no health-recovery items in the game, although armour vests can be acquired to provide a secondary health bar
Health (gaming)
Health is a game mechanic used in role-playing, computer and video games to give value to characters, enemies, NPCs, and related objects. This value can either be numerical, semi-numerical as in hit/health points, or arbitrary as in a life bar....
.
Four save files
Saved game
A saved game is a piece of digitally stored information about the progress of a player in a video game. This saved game can be reloaded later, so the player can continue where he or she had stopped...
are available to track the player's progress through the game's twenty missions, each of which may be played on "Agent", "Secret Agent" or "00-Agent" difficulty settings. Higher difficulties increase the challenge by altering factors such as the damage enemies can withstand and inflict, the amount of ammunition available, and the number of objectives that must be completed. Once a mission is completed, the player may either continue progressing through the story or choose to replay a previously completed level. Completing certain missions within particular target times enables the player to unlock bonus cheat options which make various changes to the gameplay. Upon fully completing the game on the hardest difficulty setting, an additional "007" mode is unlocked that allows the player to customize the challenge of any mission by manually adjusting enemies' health, reaction times, aiming accuracy, and the damage they inflict.
The multiplayer mode allows two, three or four players to compete against each other in five different types of split screen
Split screen (computer graphics)
Split screen is a display technique in computer graphics that consists of dividing graphics and/or text into non-movable adjacent parts, typically two or four rectangular areas. This is done in order to allow the simultaneous presentation of related graphical and textual information on a computer...
deathmatch
Deathmatch (gaming)
Deathmatch or Player vs All is a widely-used gameplay mode integrated into many shooter and real-time strategy computer games...
games: Normal, You Only Live Twice, The Living Daylights (Flag Tag), The Man With the Golden Gun, and License to Kill. Normal is a basic deathmatch mode in which the main objective is to kill opponents as many times as possible. It can be played as a free-for-all game or in teams. In You Only Live Twice, players only have two lives before they are eliminated from the game, and License to Kill is a mode in which players die from a single hit with any weapon. In The Man With the Golden Gun, a single Golden Gun, which is capable of killing opponents with only one shot, is placed in a fixed location on the map; once the Golden Gun is picked up, the only way to re-acquire it is to kill the player holding it. The player with the Golden Gun is unable to pick up body armour while opponents can. In The Living Daylights, a "flag" is placed in a fixed location on the map, and the player who holds it the longest wins. The flag-carrier cannot use weapons but can still collect them to keep opponents from stocking ammunition. Aspects of each gametype can be customised, including the chosen map, class of weapons, and winning condition. As players progress through the single player mode, new maps and characters are unlocked in the multiplayer mode.
Development
GoldenEye 007 was developed by an inexperienced team, eight of whom had never previously worked on video games. David DoakDavid Doak
David Doak is a Northern Irish video game designer. Originally from Belfast, he later moved to England, where he studied at Oxford University on biochemistry specialty and worked as a research scientist...
commented in 2004, "Looking back, there are things I'd be wary of attempting now, but as none of the people working on the code, graphics, and game design had worked on a game before, there was this joyful naïveté." Due to the success of Donkey Kong Country
Donkey Kong Country
Donkey Kong Country is a side-scrolling platformer video game developed by Rare, featuring the character Donkey Kong. It was released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1994. Following an intense marketing campaign, the original SNES version sold over 8 million copies worldwide, making...
, GoldenEye 007 was originally suggested as a 2D side-scrolling
Side-scrolling video game
A side-scrolling game or side-scroller is a video game in which the gameplay action is viewed from a side-view camera angle, and the onscreen characters generally move from the left side of the screen to the right. These games make use of scrolling computer display technology...
platformer
Platform game
A platform game is a video game characterized by requiring the player to jump to and from suspended platforms or over obstacles . It must be possible to control these jumps and to fall from platforms or miss jumps...
for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System
Super Nintendo Entertainment System
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System is a 16-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America, Europe, Australasia , and South America between 1990 and 1993. In Japan and Southeast Asia, the system is called the , or SFC for short...
, but Martin Hollis
Martin Hollis
Martin Hollis is a computer and video game designer and the founder and CEO of Zoonami. He has worked in the computer and video game industry for over 19 years and was Head of Software at Rare...
, the director and producer of the game, proposed "a 3D shooting game" for Nintendo's in-development "Ultra 64" console. Inspired by Sega
Sega
, usually styled as SEGA, is a multinational video game software developer and an arcade software and hardware development company headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan, with various offices around the world...
's Virtua Cop
Virtua Cop
Virtua Cop is a lightgun shooter arcade game created by Sega-AM2, and headed by Yu Suzuki. Its original incarnation was an arcade game in 1994 and it was later ported to the Sega Saturn in 1995, and Microsoft Windows in 1997...
, the intention for the first few months of development was for the game to be an on-rails shooter; the game's gas plant location was modelled by Karl Hilton with an on-rails path in mind.
The development team visited the studios of the GoldenEye film to collect photographs and blueprints of the sets
Set construction
Set construction is the process by which a set designer works in collaboration with the director of a production to create the set for a theatrical, film or television production...
used in the movie. Silicon Graphics
Silicon Graphics
Silicon Graphics, Inc. was a manufacturer of high-performance computing solutions, including computer hardware and software, founded in 1981 by Jim Clark...
Onyx workstations and Nintendo's NINGEN development software were used to create the geometry for virtual environments based on this reference material. However, many of the missions were extended or modified to allow the player to participate in sequences which the film's James Bond did not. Hilton explained, "We tried to stick to [the reference material] for authenticity but we weren't afraid of adding to it to help the game design. It was very organic." Initially, the designers' priority was purely on the creation of interesting spaces; level design and balance considerations such as the placement of start and exit points, characters and objectives did not begin until this process was complete. According to Martin Hollis, "The benefit of this sloppy unplanned approach was that many of the levels in the game have a realistic and non-linear feel. There are rooms with no direct relevance to the level. There are multiple routes across the level." Hollis also noted that the concept of several varied objectives within each mission was inspired by the multiple tasks in each stage of Super Mario 64
Super Mario 64
is a platform game, published by Nintendo and developed by its EAD division, for the Nintendo 64. Along with Pilotwings 64, it was one of the launch titles for the console. It was released in Japan on June 23, 1996, and later in North America, Europe, and Australia. Super Mario 64 has sold over...
, a game whose 3D collision detection system was also influential for Hollis.
Final N64 specifications and development workstations were not initially available to Rare: a modified Sega Saturn
Sega Saturn
The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console that was first released by Sega on November 22, 1994 in Japan, May 11, 1995 in North America, and July 8, 1995 in Europe...
controller was used for some early playtesting, and the developers had to estimate what the finalised console's capabilities would be. The final Nintendo 64 hardware could render polygons faster than the SGI Onyx workstations they had been using, but the game's textures had to be cut down by half. Karl Hilton explained one method of improving the game's performance: "A lot of GoldenEye is in black and white. RGB colour
RGB color model
The RGB color model is an additive color model in which red, green, and blue light is added together in various ways to reproduce a broad array of colors...
textures cost a lot more in terms of processing power. You could do double the resolution if you used greyscale, so a lot was done like that. If I needed a bit of colour, I'd add it in the vertex
Vertex (computer graphics)
A vertex in computer graphics is a data structure that describes a point in 2D or 3D space. Display objects are composed of arrays of flat surfaces and vertices define the location and other attributes of the corners of the surfaces.-Application to object models:In computer graphics, objects are...
." At one time, developers planned to implement the reloading of the weapons by the player unplugging and re-inserting the Rumble Pak
Rumble Pak
The is a removable device from Nintendo which provides force feedback while playing video games. Games that support the Rumble Pak cause it to vibrate in select situations, such as when firing a weapon or receiving damage, to immerse the player in the game. Versions of the Rumble Pak are available...
on the Nintendo 64 controller
Nintendo 64 controller
The Nintendo 64 controller is the standard game controller included with the Nintendo 64. Released by Nintendo in late 1996 in Japan and North America, and 1997 in Europe, it features ten buttons, one digital "Control Stick" and a directional pad, all laid out in a "M" shape.-Design:The controller...
, though this idea was discarded at Nintendo's behest.
GoldenEye 007 was one of the first games to feature stealth elements. David Doak
David Doak
David Doak is a Northern Irish video game designer. Originally from Belfast, he later moved to England, where he studied at Oxford University on biochemistry specialty and worked as a research scientist...
, one of the game's programmers, explained how this was implemented: "Whenever you fired a gun, it had a radius test and alerted the non-player characters within that radius. If you fired the same gun again within a certain amount of time, it did a larger radius test and I think there was a third even larger radius after that. It meant if you found one guy and shot him in the head and then didn’t fire again, the timer would reset."
Rather than trying to release the game in tandem with the movie, the Stamper brothers
Tim and Chris Stamper
Tim and Chris Stamper are the co-founders of Ashby Computers & Graphics and later Rare...
made sure to give the team as much time as they needed. It was developed through two and a half years, the first year of which was spent developing the engine and producing art assets. The game's multiplayer mode was added late in the development process; Martin Hollis described it as "a complete afterthought". According to David Doak, the majority of the work on the multiplayer mode was done by Steve Ellis, who "sat in a room with all the code written for a single-player game and turned GoldenEye into a multiplayer game." The game was released in all territories on 25 August 1997, nearly two years after the film. The game's cartridge size was 96 Mb
Megabit
The megabit is a multiple of the unit bit for digital information or computer storage. The prefix mega is defined in the International System of Units as a multiplier of 106 , and therefore...
(12 MB
Megabyte
The megabyte is a multiple of the unit byte for digital information storage or transmission with two different values depending on context: bytes generally for computer memory; and one million bytes generally for computer storage. The IEEE Standards Board has decided that "Mega will mean 1 000...
). In addition to the Nintendo 64 game, a racing version was in development for the Virtual Boy
Virtual Boy
The was a video game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was the first video game console that was supposed to be capable of displaying "true 3D graphics" out of the box. Whereas most video games use monocular cues to achieve the illusion of three dimensions on a two-dimensional...
, but was eventually cancelled before release.
Reception and legacy
Despite an unsuccessful showing at E3 1997 and low expectations among the gaming media, GoldenEye 007 turned out to be both a critical and a commercial success. It received overwhelming critical praise and sold more than eight million units worldwide, making it the third best selling Nintendo 64 game, behind Super Mario 64Super Mario 64
is a platform game, published by Nintendo and developed by its EAD division, for the Nintendo 64. Along with Pilotwings 64, it was one of the launch titles for the console. It was released in Japan on June 23, 1996, and later in North America, Europe, and Australia. Super Mario 64 has sold over...
and Mario Kart 64
Mario Kart 64
is a racing game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 64. It is the second installment in the Mario Kart series. It was released in 1996 in Japan and in 1997 in North America and Europe. In January 2007, Mario Kart 64 was released on Nintendo's Virtual Console service for the Wii...
. The game has collected numerous awards, including the BAFTA Interactive Entertainment "Games Award" in 1998, and four awards from the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences
Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences
The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences , founded in 1996, is a non-profit organization that promotes computer and video game entertainment with the annual D.I.C.E. Summit event, where its Interactive Achievement Awards ceremony has been held annually since 1998...
: "Console Action Game of the Year", "Console Game of the Year", "Interactive Title of the Year" and "Outstanding Achievement in Software Engineering". Rare was also recognized for its work on the game and won the BAFTA award for "Best UK Developer".
Graphically, the game was praised for its varied and detailed environments. The zoomable
Zoom lens
A zoom lens is a mechanical assembly of lens elements for which the focal length can be varied, as opposed to a fixed focal length lens...
sniper rifle
Sniper rifle
In military and law enforcement terminology, a sniper rifle is a precision-rifle used to ensure more accurate placement of bullets at longer ranges than other small arms. A typical sniper rifle is built for optimal levels of accuracy, fitted with a telescopic sight and chambered for a military...
was seen as the most impressive feature of the graphical engine. Edge
Edge (magazine)
Edge is a multi-format computer and video game magazine published by Future Publishing in the United Kingdom. It is known for its industry contacts, editorial stance, distinctive anonymous third-person writing style, yearly awards and longevity....
magazine noted that it allowed to neutralize enemies quietly and efficiently from distant towers. Greg Sewart of Gaming Age also remarked that the fog effect
Distance fog
Distance fog is a technique used in 3D computer graphics to enhance the perception of distance by simulating fog.Because many of the shapes in graphical environments are relatively simple, and complex shadows are difficult to render, many graphics engines employ a "fog" gradient so objects further...
is "almost non-existent". Lighting, smoke, transparency, and bullet hole aspects were positively received. Character appearances were said to be realistic and detailed, with the exception of Natalya, who looked "a little too square". Generally, critics also noted that GoldenEye 007 maintains a solid frame rate
Frame rate
Frame rate is the frequency at which an imaging device produces unique consecutive images called frames. The term applies equally well to computer graphics, video cameras, film cameras, and motion capture systems...
.
The game's audio was well-received. The music was described as addictive, and the various sound effects, such as the explosion, shattering glass, and the sounds of enemies grunting and fainting, were said to be detailed. Some later levels begin in lifts and feature transitions from elevator music
Elevator music
Elevator music refers to instrumental arrangements of popular music designed for playing in shopping malls, grocery stores, department stores, telephone systems , cruise ships, airports, doctors' and dentists' offices, and elevators...
to full soundtracks, which Jeff Gerstmann
Jeff Gerstmann
Jeff Gerstmann is an American video game journalist and former editorial director of the gaming website GameSpot and the founder of the gaming website Giant Bomb. He began working at GameSpot in the fall of 1996, around the launch of VideoGameSpot when GameSpot separated PC and console games into...
of GameSpot
GameSpot
GameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...
cited as examples of the music's ability to add ambience to the game, and as an illustration of the game's attention to detail.
The gameplay was praised for its depth. IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
's Doug Perry called GoldenEye 007 an "immersive" game, which "blends smart strategy gameplay with fast-action gunmanship". Similarly, Greg Sewart pointed out that players also have "a bit of freedom as to what they want to do in any given situation, and what order the directives are completed in". Reviewers also enjoyed the wide variety of weapons and the multi-objective-based missions, stating that they make the game stay "fresh by never having you do the same thing twice". Colin of Game Revolution
Game Revolution
Game Revolution or GR is a gaming website created in 1996. Based in Berkeley, California, the site includes reviews, previews, a gaming download area, cheats, and a merchandise store, as well as webcomics, screenshots, and videos...
called the gameplay "realistic", setting Goldeneye "apart from the pack", but also criticized the campaign for being badly paced. He noted that GoldenEye 007 "takes it for granted that you have already seen the movie". He also added that players may get stuck due to the game's lack of orientation. Critics also praised the "tight" and "precise" controls, which were said to be more intuitive than Acclaim
Acclaim Entertainment
Acclaim Entertainment was an American video game developer and publisher. It developed, published, marketed and distributed interactive entertainment software for a variety of hardware platforms, including Sega's Mega Drive/Genesis, Saturn, Dreamcast, and Game Gear, Nintendo's NES, SNES, Nintendo...
's Turok: Dinosaur Hunter
Turok: Dinosaur Hunter
Turok: Dinosaur Hunter is a first-person shooter video game developed by Iguana Entertainment and published by Acclaim for the Nintendo 64 console and personal computer platforms. It was released in 1997 in North America and Europe. Turok is an adaptation of the Acclaim Comics comic book series of...
.
The multiplayer mode was praised for its numerous options and at the time was considered the best multiplayer game on the system, "edging Mario Kart 64
Mario Kart 64
is a racing game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 64. It is the second installment in the Mario Kart series. It was released in 1996 in Japan and in 1997 in North America and Europe. In January 2007, Mario Kart 64 was released on Nintendo's Virtual Console service for the Wii...
by a hair" according to IGN. Edge described it as "the standard for multiplayer console combat" until it was surpassed by the release of Halo: Combat Evolved
Halo: Combat Evolved
Halo: Combat Evolved, frequently referred to as Halo: CE, or Halo 1, is a first-person shooter video game developed by Bungie and published by Microsoft Game Studios. The first game of the Halo franchise, it was released on November 15, 2001 as a launch title for the Xbox gaming system, and is...
in 2001.
Impact
Video game journalists have praised GoldenEye 007 for proving that it is possible to create a "fun" FPS experience on a console in both single-player and multiplayer modes. When the game was released, the FPS was primarily a genre for PCPersonal computer
A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...
gamers. Journalists noted that the game "opened the genre to a completely new market" and that it was "the first big console FPS that truly got it right". The analog stick also allowed for precise control, and the game used this in a way that was unique for its time. On the other hand, the game's use of realistic gameplay, which contrasted with the approaches taken by Doom-clones, and introduction of multiplayer deathmatch on a console
Video game console
A video game console is an interactive entertainment computer or customized computer system that produces a video display signal which can be used with a display device to display a video game...
is often credited for revolutionizing the FPS genre. Along with Shiny Entertainment
Shiny Entertainment
Shiny Entertainment was an American video game developer based in Laguna Beach, Southern California, and the creator of several popular titles such as Earthworm Jim, MDK, Sacrifice and The Matrix: Path of Neo. Shiny was founded by David Perry in October 1993...
's MDK
MDK (video game)
MDK is a third-person shooter game developed by Shiny Entertainment and released in 1997 by Playmates Interactive Entertainment in North America and Interplay Entertainment in Europe for the PC, Macintosh, and subsequently PlayStation. It was one of the first PC games to require a Pentium or...
, GoldenEye 007 pioneered and popularized the now-standard scoped sniper rifle, and its use of context-sensitive
Context sensitive user interface
A context sensitive user interface is one which can automatically choose from a multiplicity of options based on the current or previous state of the program operation.Context sensitivity is almost ubiquitous in current graphical user interfaces, and should, when operating correctly, be practically...
hit locations on the enemies added a realism that was previously unseen in video games.
IGN described the game as the "definitive first-person shooter for consoles" and said that it took video games in general in a new direction. Nintendo Power
Nintendo Power
Nintendo Power magazine is a monthly news and strategy magazine formerly published in-house by Nintendo of America, but now run independently. As of issue #222 , Nintendo contracted publishing duties to Future US, the U.S. subsidiary of British publisher Future.The first issue published was...
listed GoldenEye 007 as one of the greatest multiplayer experiences in Nintendo history, stating that it is remembered as one of the finest examples of a first-person shooter. Rowan Kaiser of 1UP.com
1UP.com
1UP.com is a video game website owned by IGN Entertainment, a division of News Corporation. Previously, the site was owned by Ziff Davis before being sold to UGO Entertainment in 2009....
, who placed the game 53rd on "The 60 Most Influential Games of All Time", pointed out that the game "paved the way for the later popularity of Halo
Halo (series)
Halo is a multi-million dollar science fiction video game franchise created by Bungie and now managed by 343 Industries and owned by Microsoft Studios. The series centers on an interstellar war between humanity and a theocratic alliance of aliens known as the Covenant...
, Call of Duty
Call of Duty
Call of Duty is a first-person shooter video game developed by Infinity Ward and published by Activision in 2003. It is the first game in a series with the same name. The game simulates the infantry and combined arms warfare of World War II. The game is based on the Quake III: Team Arena engine...
, and more". Similarly, GamePro
GamePro
GamePro Media was a United States gaming media company publishing online and print content on the video game industry, video game hardware, and video game software developed for a video game console , a computer, and/or a mobile device . GamePro Media properties include GamePro magazine and...
, placing it 9th in "The 52 Most Important Video Games of All Time", called it the console killer-app
Killer application
A killer application , in the jargon of marketing teams, has been used to refer to any computer program that is so necessary or desirable that it proves the core value of some larger technology, such as computer hardware, gaming console, software, or an operating system...
of the 90's and the best game ever licensed from a film. With its eight million copies sold, GoldenEye 007 was also one of the most significant titles that helped the Nintendo 64 to remain competitive with rival Sony
Sony
, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....
's PlayStation, though it eventually lost much of its market share.
GoldenEye 007 is frequently included in gaming publications' "greatest game" lists: In a January 2000 poll
Opinion poll
An opinion poll, sometimes simply referred to as a poll is a survey of public opinion from a particular sample. Opinion polls are usually designed to represent the opinions of a population by conducting a series of questions and then extrapolating generalities in ratio or within confidence...
, readers of the long-running British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
magazine Computer and Video Games
Computer and video games
A video game is an electronic game that involves human interaction with a user interface to generate visual feedback on a video device. The word video in video game traditionally referred to a raster display device, but following popularization of the term "video game", it now implies any type of...
voted GoldenEye 007 into first place in a list of "the hundred greatest video games", and it was ranked 5th in a poll the following year. Also that year, the game ranked 16th in Game Informer
Game Informer
Game Informer is an American-based monthly magazine featuring articles, news, strategy, and reviews of popular video games and associated consoles. It was formed in August 1991, when FuncoLand started publishing a six-page magazine, free in all its retail locations...
s list of the "Top 100 Games of All Time". In 2005, a "Best Games of All-Time" contest at GameFAQs
GameFAQs
GameFAQs is a website that hosts FAQs and walkthroughs for video games. It was created in November 1995 by Jeff "CJayC" Veasey and was bought by CNET Networks in May 2003. It is currently owned by CBS Interactive. The site has a database of video game information, cheat codes, reviews, game saves,...
placed GoldenEye 007 at 7th, and in a list made by IGN in 2005, the game was ranked 29th, while the Reader's Choice placed it at 7th. Video game review site ScrewAttack
ScrewAttack
ScrewAttack . is a video game-related website that showcases original entertainment for an audience of video game enthusiasts. Its content is also shown on GameTrailers and IGN...
rated GoldenEye 007 number one in three separate top ten lists: a June 2008 list of the "Top 10 FPS Games Ever", a June 2009 list of the "Top 10 Movie-Based Games", and an October 2010 list of the "Top 10 Local-Multiplayer Console Games". Edge has featured GoldenEye 007 prominently in three "greatest game" lists: it placed third in a staff-voted poll in 2000; seventeenth in a staff, reader, and gaming industry-voted poll in 2007; and it was also included as one of the publication's "Top 10 shooters" in 2003.
Successors
GoldenEye 007 led Rare to begin development of a spiritual successor titled Perfect DarkPerfect Dark
Perfect Dark is a first-person shooter video game developed by Rare for the Nintendo 64 video game console. It is considered the spiritual successor to Rare's earlier first-person shooter GoldenEye 007, with which it shares many gameplay features...
, also for the Nintendo 64. Using a modified version of the GoldenEye 007 game engine, Perfect Dark made its debut at E3 1998, and was released in 2000 to critical acclaim. Although the game features a setting and storyline unrelated to James Bond, it shares many gameplay features with GoldenEye 007, including a similar control scheme, mission objectives that vary with the difficulty setting, and cheat options unlockable through quick level completions. The game led to the development of the Perfect Dark franchise
Perfect Dark (series)
Perfect Dark is a science fiction video game franchise created and developed by Rare. The series debuted with the Nintendo 64 video game Perfect Dark in 2000, which received strong acclaim from critics and players, leading to the franchise's expansion. In 2002, Rare was acquired by Microsoft Game...
.
A number of the GoldenEye 007 team left Rare soon after development on Perfect Dark commenced, beginning with Martin Hollis in 1998, who after working on the GameCube
Nintendo GameCube
The , officially abbreviated to NGC in Japan and GCN in other regions, is a sixth generation video game console released by Nintendo on September 15, 2001 in Japan, November 18, 2001 in North America, May 3, 2002 in Europe, and May 17, 2002 in Australia...
at Nintendo of America
Nintendo
is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
formed his own company Zoonami
Zoonami
Zoonami is a video game development company, founded in 2000 by Martin Hollis, the director and producer of GoldenEye 007. He left Rare shortly before Perfect Dark was released while other members of the GoldenEye 007 team formed Free Radical Design....
in 2000. Other members formed Free Radical Design
Free Radical Design
Crytek UK, formerly known as Free Radical Design, is a video game developer based in Nottingham, United Kingdom, probably best known for Second Sight and the TimeSplitters series. After going into financial administration, it was announced on February 4 2009 that the studio had been acquired by...
, and by 2004, four of the team of nine who originally worked on GoldenEye 007 were employed there. Free Radical Design developed the TimeSplitters series
TimeSplitters (series)
TimeSplitters is a series of first-person shooter video games created by Free Radical Design. The games are often compared to Rare's shooters GoldenEye 007 and Perfect Dark since Free Radical Design was founded by a group of ex-Rare employees who developed these games...
of first-person shooters for the PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
, Nintendo GameCube
Nintendo GameCube
The , officially abbreviated to NGC in Japan and GCN in other regions, is a sixth generation video game console released by Nintendo on September 15, 2001 in Japan, November 18, 2001 in North America, May 3, 2002 in Europe, and May 17, 2002 in Australia...
and Xbox
Xbox
The Xbox is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Microsoft. It was released on November 15, 2001 in North America, February 22, 2002 in Japan, and March 14, 2002 in Australia and Europe and is the predecessor to the Xbox 360. It was Microsoft's first foray into the gaming console...
. These games contain several references to GoldenEye 007, including the design of the health-HUD
HUD (video gaming)
In video gaming, the HUD is the method by which information is visually relayed to the player as part of a game's user interface...
, the nature of the aiming system, and the dam setting of the opening level of TimeSplitters 2
TimeSplitters 2
TimeSplitters 2 is a first-person shooter video game available for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, and Nintendo GameCube game consoles. The game was published by Eidos and developed by Free Radical Design. The game was first released in October 2002 in North America and Europe, and later in Japan...
.
Meanwhile, the James Bond game license was acquired by Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts, Inc. is a major American developer, marketer, publisher and distributor of video games. Founded and incorporated on May 28, 1982 by Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer games industry and was notable for promoting the designers and programmers...
in 1999, which published new games based upon the then-recent James Bond films, Tomorrow Never Dies
Tomorrow Never Dies (video game)
Tomorrow Never Dies is a third-person shooter based on the James Bond film of the same name. Developed by Black Ops and published by Electronic Arts, it was released on November 16, 1999 exclusively for the Sony PlayStation. It is the first 007 game of many that was published by Electronic Arts...
and The World Is Not Enough
The World Is Not Enough (video game)
The World Is Not Enough is a 2000 first-person shooter video game based on the James Bond film of the same name. The game was published by Electronic Arts and released for the Nintendo 64 and PlayStation console systems in 2000. The Nintendo 64 version was developed by Eurocom and the PlayStation...
, as well as entirely original ones, including James Bond 007: Nightfire
James Bond 007: Nightfire
007: NightFire is a first-person shooter video game featuring the character of the British secret agent James Bond and a sequel to Agent Under Fire, published by Electronic Arts in ....
, James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing
James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing
007: Everything or Nothing is a third-person shooter video game, where the player controls James Bond. Bond is modeled after and voiced by the former James Bond actor Pierce Brosnan, making it his final performance for the character in game and film...
and GoldenEye: Rogue Agent
GoldenEye: Rogue Agent
GoldenEye: Rogue Agent is a 2004 action-adventure Science-Fiction First-Person Shooter video game, developed and published by Electronic Arts. Despite it is set in an alternate timeline of James Bond universe, the player takes the role of an ex-MI6 agent who is recruited by Auric Goldfinger, a...
. However, none of them reached the critical or commercial success of GoldenEye 007. In 2006, the James Bond game license was acquired by Activision
Activision
Activision is an American publisher, majority owned by French conglomerate Vivendi SA. Its current CEO is Robert Kotick. It was founded on October 1, 1979 and was the world's first independent developer and distributor of video games for gaming consoles...
, which published additional games in the James Bond video game series, such as Quantum of Solace
Quantum of Solace (video game)
007: Quantum of Solace is a first-person shooter video game based on the films Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace. The game was released for Microsoft Windows, Nintendo DS, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Wii and Xbox 360...
, 007: Blood Stone, and a reimagining of the Nintendo 64 game, also titled GoldenEye 007
GoldenEye 007 (2010 video game)
GoldenEye 007 is a 2010 first-person shooter video game developed by Eurocom and published by Activision for the Wii video game console, and the Nintendo DS handheld game console. It is a reimagining of the 1995 James Bond film GoldenEye, and the 1997 Nintendo 64 video game GoldenEye 007...
. The reimagining features Daniel Craig
Daniel Craig
Daniel Wroughton Craig is an English actor. His early film roles include Elizabeth, The Power of One, A Kid in King Arthur's Court and the television episodes Sharpe's Eagle, Zorro and The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles: Daredevils of the Desert...
as the playable character, modern FPS conventions, entirely new level-layouts, and an online component. It was exclusively released for the Wii
Wii
The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...
and Nintendo DS
Nintendo DS
The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP...
in 2010 to generally positive reviews, and later re-released as GoldenEye 007: Reloaded
GoldenEye 007 (2010 video game)
GoldenEye 007 is a 2010 first-person shooter video game developed by Eurocom and published by Activision for the Wii video game console, and the Nintendo DS handheld game console. It is a reimagining of the 1995 James Bond film GoldenEye, and the 1997 Nintendo 64 video game GoldenEye 007...
for the Xbox 360
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
and PlayStation 3
PlayStation 3
The is the third home video game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment and the successor to the PlayStation 2 as part of the PlayStation series. The PlayStation 3 competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
the following year.
An Xbox Live Arcade
Xbox Live Arcade
Xbox Live Arcade is a type of video game download distribution available primarily in a section of the Xbox Live Marketplace, Microsoft's digital distribution network for the Xbox 360, that focuses on smaller downloadable games from both major publishers and independent game developers...
port of GoldenEye 007 was in development at Rare for several months, and in 2006 Nintendo of America Reggie Fils-Aime commented that Nintendo was "exploring all the rights issues" involved in bringing GoldenEye 007 to the Wii
Wii
The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...
Virtual Console
Virtual console
A virtual console – also known as a virtual terminal – is a conceptual combination of the keyboard and display for a computer user interface. It is a feature of some operating systems such as UnixWare, Linux, and BSD, in which the system console of the computer can be used to switch between...
. However, due to legal issues involving the numerous licence holders with rights to game and to the Bond IP
Intellectual property
Intellectual property is a term referring to a number of distinct types of creations of the mind for which a set of exclusive rights are recognized—and the corresponding fields of law...
, the game was ultimately not released on either format. GoldenEye: Source
GoldenEye: Source
GoldenEye: Source is a total conversion mod in development using Valve's Source engine. GoldenEye: Source is an online multi-player-only remake of the award winning 1997 Nintendo 64 video game, GoldenEye 007, itself based on the James Bond film of the same name.The first Alpha release was...
, a non-profit fangame
Fangame
Fangames are video games made by fans based on one or more established video games. Many fangames attempt to clone the original game's design, gameplay and characters, but it is equally common for fans to develop a unique game using another only as a template...
mod project aiming to recreate and update the Nintendo 64 game, is in development using Valve
Valve Corporation
Valve Corporation is an American video game development and digital distribution company based in Bellevue, Washington, United States...
's Source engine
Source engine
Source is a 3D game engine developed by Valve Corporation. It debuted in June 2004 with Counter-Strike: Source and shortly thereafter Half-Life 2, and has been in active development ever since...
.