GoldenEye 007

1001 Video Games

GoldenEye 007 appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.

Cheats

Was one of the first games to feature unlockable cheats. In other words players were required to work for cheats in this game.

Cut Content

• The gun that you see in some of the screen shots on the back cover of GoldenEye 007 (the one that looks like a Soviet, except it's mostly black and brown at the tip) was called a Spyder --- it was scrapped at the last moment and replaced by the Klobb.
• In the beta version of the game, Bond was required to cross the Dam level on a boat to reach the mysterious island. At the far reaches of the level sits a protruding dock, where a boat waited for Bond. On the island he had to defeat a drone gun and a guard to acquire the pontoon gun to rappel down the side of the dam. However in the release version the idea was scrapped due to complications. Now the dock sits idly and no boat awaits. The island now sits with no guard, only an inactive drone gun. However by using the gameshark you can play the beta version and play this part of the mission.
• Originally the runway level there was a motorbike which was intended to be in the game however was scrapped before the release probably due to the difficulty of controlling the bike in a first person shooter.
• The truck in the dam level apparently has no purpose. Though there is speculation that in the beta version you were intended to destroy it, it was either scrapped or never taken into account. Rare responded to this and simply said it was to guide the player through the first level. However this only leads to more questions and most doubt this was the original true meaning.
• The back cover for the American release for the game includes multiple false screen shots and false information. In the description it says that you can navigate 12 interactive 3-D environment. However there were way more levels actually in the game. The screenshots show the original Spyder gun, a gun which was included in the beta version of the game, however scrapped before the release for the Klobb. The screen shots also show Bond shooting a man and blood shooting out of his body, which was not included in the release. Finally, the screenshot of Bond in the silo shows him holding an AR33 assault rifle, a weapon you cannot acquire in that level without cheats.
• It was intended that there would be a cheat that allowed you to play as all Bonds (Moore, Connery, Lazenby, and Dalton) in multiplayer mode. However because the rights of their names belong to MGM and the respective actors, the idea could not be pulled through.
• The statue and cradle levels of the game were included in multiplayer in the beta version of the game but strangely scrapped before its release. Some speculate that cradle was too slow and too big to be included, and statue park in multiplayer when played on the gameshark has multiple glitches which were possibly not fixable. Both can be played in beta version using a gameshark.
• There is an inaccessible trapdoor in a guardhouse in the dam level, where you install the covert modem on the back of it. It was speculated that this is where Bond got explosives for the rumored mission where you had to blow up the truck. However, no one is certain. There are also rumors that it once led down to the data backup room, as it is almost directly over it.
• In the dam level, there are three guard towers on the main dam, and one is across the lake on the mysterious island. The ones on the dam are marked 2, 3, 4 in order, and the one on the island doesn't have one. So what happened to tower #1. It is speculation that it was immediately to your right once you shot the lock to the dam, and was probably removed and the programmers forgot to change the other numbers.
• At the very beginning of the Silo, you can look down and see this vent, and have an even closer look with a Sniper Rifle. It was originally believed that it was somehow connected with the level's lost elevator (that can be seen in an early promo video), but I now suspect that the area below was the original starting point for the level. They just placed a grate over it instead of deleting it. Notice how at the end of the walkway, the railing ends... Why would it do that?

Development

GoldenEye 007 was originally going to the Super Nintendo as a side-scrolling game but with the *new* Nintendo 64 Rare decided to scrap their original idea and make a totally 3D First Person shooter instead.

German Index

On March 31, 1998, GoldenEye 007 was put on the infamous German index by the BPjS. For more information about what this means and to see a list of games sharing the same fate, take a look here: BPjS/BPjM indexed games.

GoldenIsland

On the first level, the Dam mission, it is possible to see what has been dubbed the "GoldenIsland", a distant platform with a tower and a gun turret. Go to the very edge of the level's end, to an outcropping pier at the base of the dam. Use the fullest zoom of a sniper rifle to see it.

Inaccuracies

In the dam level, the climate appears mild, however in the runway level, which is a few hundred feet below it, it appears absolutely freezing. Normally the higher locations are colder.

Multiplayer

Despite the fact that Oddjob and Mayday were both selectable characters in multiplayer mode, neither of them were included in a singleplayer mission.

Player's Guide

A screenshot in the players guide for GoldeEye 007 depicts a Russian Guard at the ending cutscene of Surface 2 with two (maybe three) faces.

References

• David Doak, as of 2001 the Managing Director of Free Radical Design, was part of the Rare team when GoldenEye 007 was developed. He was rendered into the game as Dr. Doak in the 2nd mission.
• The Klobb is named after Nintendos Ken Lobb. His head is in the game as well, it has black hair and a mustache.
• One of the items in this game, the CCVV tape, has the GoldenEye movie poster on it.
• A reference to every Bond movie (except, of course, those made after GoldenEye's release) is made in some form throughout the game.
• Many of Rare's games have their logo throughout the levels. In GoldenEye 007, there is the Rare logo in the Depot, in front of the Train building.
• The clever people at Rare included a no Bond sign in the Facility. It's the famous James Bond silhouette, of course with the line across it. Those soldiers must really have something against Bond, huh?
• The faces of all of the guards in the game are the faces of people who developed the game.
• Joseph Stalin and Karl Marx both make an appearance in GoldenEye 007. Stalin's face appears in the Statue Park level. It is a bit hard to find it, but it is inscribed into the side of a block of stone, and it is a bit hard to make out his face. Marx is much easier to see. In the archives, near the windows where you have to jump out on the second floor, Marx's face appears on a poster near the door.
• The "D.K. Mode" cheat appears to be a reference to Donkey Kong, due to the similar build of the character used on the cheat. It should be noted that the developer Rare was involved with Nintendo's Donkey Kong franchise at that time.

Sales

One of the best selling video games for the Nintendo 64 with over a million copies sold, allowing it to become a Player's Choice title.

Scientists

The scientists are normally passive, putting their hands up and running away when the shooting starts. But on the harder difficulty levels, Secret Agent and 00 Agent, if you shoot the scientists they get out their guns (DD44 Dostovei) and attack you.

Secrets

In the second Bunker level, a few interesting things pop up on some of the computer screens. One is a man on a skateboard. The other, a man moving his mouth as if he's talking.

Truck

Some rumors went around that a soldier was actually driving the truck in the dam level. It makes sense for Rare not to let us see it, the doors are locked and the windows are blacked out. By using tiny bond mode you can wait for the truck to run you over by crouching. When you see under it you can clearly see that no one is driving the truck, unfortunately.

Unused Room

There is a strange last room in the Train where Xenia and Alec disappear to after you shoot Ourumov. If you have cheats to move fast enough or have a Gameshark, then it is accessible. In the room there is another locked door, and if you use a Gameshark to go through doors, there is only an empty space. The room was only added for completeness.

User Created Content

GoldenEye 007's popularity as a game has cemented it as a classic and has made it the subject of mods for other FPS games. Two notable mods are: GoldenEye: DOOM II - this is a complete total conversion (meaning it does not need the original DOOM II). Due to the restrictions of the engine, the mod lacks many aspects from the original game, most notably the lack of 3D graphics, multi-player and targeting. * GoldenEye: Source*: the entire game recreated using the Source engine, with many enhancements.

Awards

• Electronic Gaming Monthly
  • November 1997 (Issue 100) - ranked #25 (Best 100 Games of All Time)

• February 2006 (Issue #200) - #16 on the "Greatest Games of Their Time" list

• Game Informer Magazine

• August 2001 (Issue 100) - #16 on the "Top 100 Games of All Time" Poll

• GameSpy

  • 2001 – #38 Top Game of All Time
• Retro Gamer
  • October 2004 (Issue #9) – #26 Best Game Of All Time (Readers' Vote)

Information also contributed by Ben Fahy, Big John WV, Chris Chidester, DOS Boot, Evil-Jim, J. Michael Bottorff, Matt Neueboorn, MegaMegaMan, NeoMoose, Paul Graves, Silverfish, Tiago Jacques and Xoleras