Keep your friends close, and your Tyrants closer - let's play GoldenEye 007!

GoldenEye 007 was a groundbreaking first-person shooter for the Nintendo 64. Released in 1997, players assumed the role of Pierce Brosnan as James Bond as Agent 007, following the events of the 1995 film of the same name, in a tale of espionage and betrayal set against the backdrop of a post-Soviet Union Russia. More importantly, players assumed the role of Jaws, Oddjob, Dr. Doak, and Siberian Special Forces, in four-player split-screen deathmatch, an experience brought to consoles for the first time, and one that set the standard for the console first-person shooter experience up until the release of Halo.

But that's not why we're here today.

Following a slew of Bond-franchise titles released since GoldenEye, and one unfortunate attempt to capitalize on its legacy directly, Bond is back once again in GoldenEye 007 for Nintendo Wii. GoldenEye 007 combines the gameplay of the N64 title with the story beats of the original film, and re-imagines it all with the gritty action of the Daniel Craig Bond movies -- Q and Boris are out, gadget-phones and neck-snaps are in. GoldenEye 007 also provides a competent Wii first-person-shooter multiplayer experience, with both split-screen and online play, tons of modifiers, and lots of controller options to help everyone feel at home.

I am Phenwah, joined as always by Lobst and DemoWeasel, inviting you to remember one thing: welcome to GoldenEye 007.

The only common thread linking this level to the GoldenEye movie is both contain a dam.

Ahem. WHY?

Also, regenerating health, no?

As someone who never played the N64 Goldeneye, the little tidbits and parallels being drawn during the first video are really appreciated. I'll be following this one closely.

Oh! This is one of those video LPs and it's all up and stuff... and I see the regenerating health is optional but... seriously, first level or not, how the hell much damage do you need to take to actually die here? A full red circle?

Heh, I was actually kind of tempted to LP this but with it splitscreen between both this version and the classic (until the classic level ended, since they're all clearly shorter), to highlight the differences.

And then I never got around to beating it, and my recorder doesn't work with my N64. Bleh.

I forget the exact amount, but you can absorb a lot of hits. This is probably because the game uses the Call of Duty engine and, just like in Call of Duty game, enemies and flying bullets are abundant. What that means is classic health + body armor gameplay is really, really hard.

I have a deeper opinion on this, but I'd rather not derail the thread by arguing minutia.

I-
Right.

[cryptic] Are there pitons in this game?
[lesscryptic] Can you raft across the reservoir?

[slightderail] What was that slang term for making every stat the worst possible in 007 mode in the N64 version?

To put the regenerating-health argument to bed, I chose 007 over 007 Classic because I'd rather soak up bullets like a sponge than spend half the LP either dying or in the red and backtracking for some missed health pack. Don't worry -- we'll find out soon enough just how much damage Bond can take.

Thanks! Hopefully my interjected fun-facts won't put anyone to bed.

I blew up the boats! As for the lack of piton guns... how did 006 even get to the bottom of the dam? Even if the wind currents didn't slam him back against the wall of the dam, any guard could've filled him or his parachute with bullet-holes. Movie-Bond only had a free ride with the bungee cord because there weren't any guards on the dam to begin with.

My preferred 007 Mode set Enemy Health and Accuracy to the minimum, but Enemy Damage and Reaction Speed to the maximum. Man, I forgot how broken that game could get.

Oddly enough, I played the N64 version to death, but never played the Wii version. One of these days I need to get my Wii back from my in-laws house and catch up on the games I've missed over the past couple of years. (She really liked Wii Sports and asked me to leave it over, see.)

If you don't mind a few later level spoilers after about the halfway mark, take a gander at this video for a nice comparison of both the N64 and Wii versions. Or if you'd rather have a different flavor of nostalgia, look at this video instead.

The Facility level in GoldenEye 007 makes me genuinely appreciate the increased fidelity of this remake over the N64 game -- but I can't get over how closely Ourumov resembles the Leader Enemy Boss from Duty Calls.

Seriously, legitimate question this. The entire game's existence, as evidenced by the back of the box even, is playing up Goldeneye nostalgia. They're clearly targeting this at people who fondly remember that game, and by extension, Pierce Brosnan era Bond. So... why completely overhaul it, both visually and tonally, to resemble newfangled Daniel Craig stuff? The movies which are specifically aimed at people who consider all prior things James Bond stupid and corny, and generally hate them?

I mean, OK yeah, this is just a variation of my general standing question of why the Daniel Craig movies exist, because it seems to me, if you don't like double entendres, wacky gismos, and pseudo-supervillains, you have no business going to see a James Bond movie in the first place.

It's like making a new Indiana Jones movie and making it super gritty and realistic with no magical treasure or wacky setpiece action scenes.

Because Activision is good at exploiting existing licenses and franchises, and they're also good at cranking out cookie-cutter modern-military shooters.

Wilhelm scream, yesss.

Also, I whole-heartedly endorse the 'run up and melee' approach when stealth goes out the window. Especially in Halo.

I played the original on N64 to death in the day, either struggling to figure out where to go next on my file or playing through the save already there that was up to one of the very last levels with rocket launchers and unlimited health with substantial slow-down.

I don't know why I haven't gotten this yet, but I'll soon find out if I should get it or not! Same as Red Steel 1 as it looks like!

I'm guessing that they have the license for the current Bond, but not for any of the actors who were in Goldeneye, Pierce Brosnan included.

It's an interesting thing to do, anyway. It's a slightly different take on a well known film, just as the game itself is a different take on a well loved videogame.

Not only this, but the original Goldeneye game is still under license by Rare, so they doubly couldn't make use of it. This version subtly plays up the nostalgia factor, because it knows it can't legally be an ACTUAL remake of the original game; just a remake of the original movie.

And with all of those potential problems it still manages to be a pretty good game.

I like both styles of James Bond. The gadget-slinging, wisecracking Bond of old is just as exciting to me as the gritty, ruthless Bond of the present. This has caused me no end of arguments with friends of mine who think Daniel Craig should be tried in the Hague for Quantum of Solace.

That being said, the original, non-DJ Hero version of the track that plays in the nightclub in Barcelona is absolute bliss. I can't get enough of it.

Welcome back! In this video, we bid farewell to Arkhangelsk. With a bang.


Also, since it's not going to fit in anywhere else, here's some tutorial B-roll.

Hot on the heels of our last update, it's another update! This one takes Bond from Arkhangelsk, Russia, all the way to Barcelona, Spain.

While the movie separates current events from 006's death with a nine-year gap, events in the Wii game occur within a much more compact timeline. With no frame of reference, I'm left assuming this mission takes place the night of the Facility explosion. Bond did leave by plane.

Just wanted to say I've been enjoying this LP.

What a twist!

He should! But not because gritty Bond is any more heinous than endless innuendo Bond. Quantum of Solace is just a terrible movie, and I want someone strung by his thumbs for allowing it to exist.

Me too! I would buy this game if I still had a Wii.

Oh come on, it's not that bad. There have been worse Bond movies- Die Another Day, for example.

Yeah, I know. It's just that I watched it on a flight home from Europe, and this was right after watching Let the Right One In, Coraline, and Flavor of Happiness for absolutely free (Euro airlines are fawkin awesome), so watching The Bourne Supremacy with the Bond license and no context was aggravating to no end. (I dislike watching middle entries in a series that have no proper beginning, and the plot of Quantum irked me for various reasons I can't recall right now.)

I feel like the post-GoldenEye Pierce Brosnan movies were headed down the road that led to Casino Royale. GoldenEye still depicted Bond as suave and chauvinistic -- M even calls him out on it -- but it doesn't stop him from hitting on Moneypenny or Natalya. After GoldenEye, though, they toned down the misogyny and turned up the grit. Hell, Die Another Day basically starts with a montage of Bond being tortured by North Korean soldiers.

And speaking of torture, here's the latest video.

I'm feeling kinda conflicted over the replacement of Jack Wade. On the one hand, he's the source of much amusement due to his prior roles as Mitchell and Thomas Jefferson Geronimo III in Final Justice. On the other, in Goldeneye, he seems to exist to solely make things difficult for "Jimbo" at every opportunity. He trades a plane for Bond's cool car, shows up at the end just to prove that Bond wasn't needed thanks to the ghillie-suited special forces team with him, and finally, shows Bond the tattoo on his ass to confirm his identity. (Though to be fair, Bond started that one.)

So, here's a video! In lieu of trying to find anyone online who still owns and still regularly plays GoldenEye 007, I got some local comrades together for some 3-player split-screen multiplayer. Unfortunately, the entire commentary track had a high-pitched whine in the background, at a low enough frequency that I couldn't easily remove it with a low-pass filter or noise-removal. So I got Lobst and DemoWeasel to record a color-commentary track instead.

Player 3 has asked me to point out that he got three hat kills in a row during our final match. In our scrapped commentary, he called it a "hat trick" and we all hate him forever.

Bonus: if you take a swig every time I say "in the original GoldenEye" or "in the original GoldenEye game", you'll end up at about where I was when we started recording.

I just want to say that Duty Calls is the greatest thing ever.

Also, keep up the good work with your LP! I'm not really an FPS fan, but it's still interesting to watch you go through the game, and the unexpected humor of the game that sometimes seems unintentional (like the scientist who asks if Bond's going to kill him in the second video, and he responds with a quick "No" before knocking the guy out).