GoldenEye

[Cepp]

Since it came up in the retro GOTY threads and it's now on Switch and Xbox, I figured I'd play through it again on both. I did previously try the 360 leak last year and its a shame that wasn't included.

Playing it on the Xbox was a lot of fun. The controls have been remapped perfectly. I was able to breeze through the Dam level on 00 difficulty no problem. There are some minor emulation issues but it's only the frame pacing that bothers me. Hopefully that can be sorted soon.

Playing it on the Switch with the N64 controller was hard, I'm not sure how I managed it back in the day. I died several times playing on 00 difficulty and had to play it much more slowly and deliberately, more as was originally intended I suppose. That did unlock some memories of me taking the exact same routes 20+ years ago which was neat but the controls are clunky. The game doesn't look right in widescreen on Switch to me so I'm playing it in 4:3.

I'm going to play through both on 00 difficulty, although I expect the Xbox version will be a lot easier (maybe too easy) thanks to the modern controls.

It's still fun, I'm looking forward to making my way through it again

[teddymeow]

It's, erm, GoldenEye. I'm enjoying it because of the nostalgia factor but it's a disappointment that it's not the XBLA version that all that time and money was spent on a couple of years back.

[Asura]

I haven't tried the Switch version yet, but people are saying the stick controls are overly sensitive.

[Super Monkey Balls]

It's, erm, GoldenEye. I'm enjoying it because of the nostalgia factor but it's a disappointment that it's not the XBLA version that all that time and money was spent on a couple of years back.

This. After all that they give us a ROM that runs like dog****. Goldeneye deserves better. At least it's free-ish.

[wheelaa]

Enjoying the nostalgia. A lot actually, even though I can fire up an N64 any time.

It doesn't feel quite right though. Diagonal movement seems off. Aiming is not quite as I remember. Is there a way to lean on Xbox? (I don't think so.)

[dataDave]

It doesn't feel quite right though. Diagonal movement seems off. Aiming is not quite as I remember. Is there a way to lean on Xbox? (I don't think so.)

You can, but you have to attack the precise angle on the stick. It’s not as immediate or easy as with an N64 controller and digital C-buttons.

Some of the cheat unlocks would be impossible without the sprint.

[kingmonkey]

You can, but you have to attack the precise angle on the stick. It’s not as immediate or easy as with an N64 controller and digital C-buttons.

Some of the cheat unlocks would be impossible without the sprint.

Beating the facility in under 2:05 on 00 agent is one of my life’s greatest achievements

[ItsThere]

I'm going to open up the Switch N64 controller for this. My brain cannot get the switch controls working at all. Possibly a sign of age...

[Junko]

Same as a few here , really struggling with the switch controls

[hudson]

Playing it a little on Game Pass. Never played it before. Enjoying it. I'm only on mission 4 like, but had to do mission 2 a few times as I kept ending it by choking myself in gas

[QualityChimp]

I'm on Xbox and it's been fun to revisit.

It's Goldeneye, with sharper visuals and better controls.
FPS games play so much better with two analogue sticks, sorry N64 and Dreamcast.

Literally, the first guard - BOOM, headshot!
Second guard saw me and it all went pear-shaped, but it was great to revisit that damn dam!

It's not a remake, it's not a hacked ROM, it's a smartened-up version of the original game.
Now, the game has aged and the genre has moved on, but it's moved on thanks to Goldeneye as the launch point.

I likened it to revisiting a seaside town you used to go to as a kid.
Yes, you've been to better places since, but you've got a soft spot for it.

Side note: I also watched "Goldenera" on Sky/NowTV about the making of the game and although they're trumpeting how important Goldeneye is to gaming, they're not wrong.

It's like the Black Sabbath of Heavy Metal. There were elements dotted around, but this pulled it all together and made it into a thing that is now commonplace.

Spielberg saw his son playing it and wanted to make a WW2 game like Saving Private Ryan showing the Normandy landings and Medal of Honour was born. The guys at Valve kept referring to Goldeneye when comparing their NPC AI in Half-Life.


Oh, and dat pause music tho!

[Asura]

Side note: I also watched "Goldenera" on Sky/NowTV about the making of the game and although they're trumpeting how important Goldeneye is to gaming, they're not wrong.

Totally. It's easy to forget that Goldeneye pre-dates games like Jedi Knight on PC.

It may seem like an over-simplification but while there had been first-person RPGs over on PC for years, first-person-shooters nearly always cast you as a gun-toting marine who would blow away every enemy NPC they came across, with no real thought about who you were or what was going on. Little touches like shooting the padlock on that first level might just have been that - little touches - but they add up to something; the idea that when playing the game, you're encouraged to pretend that you're James Bond. In a very limited way, you get into the mindset of a super-spy carrying out these missions.

People could debate the merits of Quake/Duke3D versus Goldeneye until anyone with a life got bored and walked off but no-one could suggest that those earlier games, which the current "boomer shooter" trend imitates, reached much higher than their (extremely fun) mechanics for something a bit more intangible. Goldeneye did.

[teddymeow]

Oh, and dat pause music tho!

It isn't quite right. There's an emulation issue meaning some sounds don't play.

[Cepp]

I’m struggling with the Switch version, I don’t remember having this much of a problem with the controls when replaying it on real hardware a decade ago. Might be the emulation, TV lag or both, or maybe faulty memory in my part. Xbox version is a lot of fun though.

It's a shame more games didn't do the mission objectives/difficulty level thing, it's really fun. Some stages are quite challenging on 00 mode and going through them on Agent with less objectives is a nice way to learn the levels.

[dataDave]

Can I buy the Xbox remaster for my 360?