The Great Playthrough: Game 15 - Goldeneye

Let me just start with a quick apology. I'm sorry that it's been two months since I last updated, and I am aware that this loss of momentum may well have cost me readers... but life sometimes gets in the way of these things! Hopefully, things will be a bit more regular from now onwards...

Yes, once again, I'm showing a picture of the logo, rather than me with the game. Mostly because my camera/phone are too far away for me to reach out and get them right now...

Goldeneye 007
Released on: N64 (And later remade for Wii, Xbox 360 and PS3, but we won't be discussing that right now)
Played on: N64
Release date: 1997

I'm not a big fan of FPS's - being of the opinion that Doom 2 is the pinnacle of the genre, and that everything went downhill from there. However, I do own a couple of the genre-defining games from later years, most notably Goldeneye and Halo 3.

As readers of this blog will no doubt be aware, (because I assume that you are as knowledgeable about games as me), Goldeneye is one of the most famous and most revered retro games of all time. It is also a game I remember being really awful at. So I was strangely ambivalent about re-playing it, as it meant I may well have to admit to you, my wonderful blog readers, that I am actually rubbish at this game.

Well, it's time for the truth. I am absolutely awful at Goldeneye 007. In my one hour playtime, I died 6 or 7 times, and I only completed one level (and very nearly completed the second). But do you know what? I had a lot of fun playing it.

Yes, it suffers from some slightly erratically sensitive controls. Yes, the 3D is as sophisticated as you would expect from a 1997 game, where each enemy gets at least 5 WHOLE polygons each!! (This is sarcasm, in case you hadn't noticed). But all, in all, it's still ridiculous fun.

As I've said previously on this blog, I find it very hard to find things to say about games that I have thoroughly enjoyed, because - well - what can you say?

It has it's flaws, as any game does - I've already mentioned the controls and the graphics, and the repetitive environments and marginally irritating "puzzles" (if you can call pushing a button and then running to the door it opens before it closes a puzzle) ought to combine to create an unsatisfying game. But it doesn't. Even the lack of a map, which is nowadays a staple of the FPS genre, doesn't irritate as much as you might think,(although, I seem to remember that on later levels, which I didn't get to on this playthrough, this oversight does become much more irritating.)

Whatever that magical ingredient is that goes into a playable game , Goldeneye has it in spades. And, although I didn't test it on this playthrough - the multiplayer is as good now as you remember. (Or at least, it was as good about a month or so ago, which was the last time I played it.)

Will I return to Goldeneye again?

You bet I will.

Rating: 8/10
Time played: 1 hour (and a bit)
Will I return to it? Definitely.


Next time on Brawny's Great Playthrough - according to my list it will be Speedball 2 on the Megadrive! However, I'm currently having a few technical issues with the RF port on the TV, so until I get that fixed the early consoles (Megadrive, SNES etc.) might have to be delayed. So if that's the case, then the next game will be Wrecking Crew on the 3DS. Why not come back in a few days and see what it turned out to be?

Games - Too hard then, too easy now?

Last night, after re-discovering Zak and Wiki on the Wii (and solving three more levels), I decided to indulge in a good bit of retro gaming, and turned on my N64, ready to play the game that was lurking within the 90s black plastic console...

Which game was it? Why none other than the perennial N64 Favourite Goldeneye!

Now, either I've got a lot worse at the game (which is possible, I was never particularly good at it before), or I've been spoiled by other FPS that have existed more recently. I'm not a massive FPS player, being of the opinion that Doom II on the PC is the best FPS of all time, and not owning a PS3 or XBOX360 (the platforms of choice for Nazi/Zombie/Other general bad guy shooting fun), but I do know what I like, and I have played various modern FPS's, usually in 2 player mode round other peoples houses.

But what spoils me? The map. The fact that you can, at a glance, see where you are in relation to other things. Even Doom had an in-game map (accessed by pressing TAB I seem to remember), but Goldeneye doesn't have one (certainly not one that I can find - feel free to correct me if I'm being an idiot).

On early levels this is fine (and, incidentally, I have played the early levels so often I know exactly where I'm going and what I'm doing), but last night I dropped into my saved game, onto a level I have absolutely no memory of (The Statue level). And boy, was I rubbish. I got lost, I shot my contact, I shot the guy I was meant to be unmasking, I blew up the helicopter and the girl I was supposed to be saving died....

So, whoops there :P

But are things easier now? I don't know. In regards to a completely different type of game, New Super Mario Bros Wii is coming out on November 20th (YAY) and apparently has "Super Guide" - which means "players will be able to pause the game, let the game complete the level for them, and resume play at any time by unpausing. This is only available in single player when a player has failed to complete a level eight times."

Now, when I heard about this, I despaired slightly, because frankly, that sounds like another step towards making games easier. However, it may have had the opposite effect as, according to Russ Frushtick from MTV Multiplayer ""New Super Mario Bros." on the Wii is going to teach you a lesson in humility. It's really hard. ... Nintendo was showing off some of the new levels from the game. The first they dropped me in was level 8-7 and very near the end of the game .... I went in expecting instant success, I left with zero lives and a lower sense of self worth... It's because of the Super Guide that the developers were able to crank up the difficulty, knowing that they no longer needed to make the game for the lowest-skilled player. So you're left with what's arguably the most hardcore Mario game you've ever played."

So, is the Super Guide a new way of allowing casual gamers and hardcore games to both play the game without complaining? Is it the new version of a difficulty level?

I hope so. I could do with a Mario game that's hard... :)

I'll let you all know once I get it!