GoldenEye 007 (1997)

GoldenEye 007 (1997)

Genre: FPS | Players: 1 – 4 | Developer: Rare

It’s hard to believe in the current gaming climate that a title based on a movie licence could be so good, but Rare's game was and still is. I acknowledge the debt the FPS genre owes to Wolfenstein 3D (1992) and Doom (1993), etc, but for me GoldenEye is the pinnacle and the epitome of the FPS. I don’t even like FPS games in general, but it has something special. And no, the magic ingredient wasn't James Bond. I don’t even like Bond very much, either.

The single player campaign puts you in Bond's shoes, reliving events of the 1995 film of the same name, with objectives to fulfil and access to level-specific gadgets to help achieve them. Some objectives are optional, but you're rewarded for doing them and for the time taken.

Unlock the hardest setting (007 Mode) and you can even tinker with enemy attributes, increasing or lessening health, accuracy, damage and reaction time.

It finds a balance between linearity and player freedom that lets you do certain objectives in the order that best suits your playing style. You can go stealthy, choose to go all out with guns blazing, or more sensibly mix the two in an adaptive style that gives you the best of both worlds.

The quality of the game, the calibre of the developer and the sheer enjoyment attained from having four players onscreen at the same time, all present in the same room, with one-shot-kill turned on remains unsurpassed.

The Facility is the most perfectly designed level in a FPS that I've ever seen. The tight corridors and dangerous corners make every gaming session a tense, pants-shitting joy to play. It was so good they recreated it for Perfect Dark (2000), albeit with a slight name change.

It helps that I consider the N64 controller the best one Nintendo ever made, despite not having a second analogue stick. It fits in the hand beautifully, it has that satisfyingly responsive Z trigger and the additional, optional Rumble Pak gives it extra weight that makes it feel even more solid. If you're a real pro (or even an adventurous amateur) the game allowed for a player to have a controller in each hand and fire dual wielded pistols independently!

Watching for indicative barrel twitches made my eyes water, but I loved every minute of it.