Nearly two decades ago, GoldenEye 007 was released for the Nintendo 64 and proved that first-person shooters were a commercially-viable genre in the console market. Along with the original Doom, GoldenEye 007 paved the way for the popular FPS games of the modern era. Receiving universally positive reviews, the game was the third best-selling title for the N64 console, just behind Super Mario 64 and Mario Kart 64, and cemented Rare as a juggernaut developer.
Though heavily lacking in graphics and enemy A.I. compared to the shooters of today, GoldenEye 007 still features brilliant controls and gameplay. It is hard to believe that it was created by an extremely inexperienced team, where only two out of the ten developers had experience working on video games. Luckily, the initial plans of making the game a 2D platformer or a Virtua Cop-style on-rail shooter fell through, and director/producer Martin Hollis decided to make a 3D shooting game for the Nintendo 64. All of these decisions coalesced to form one of the greatest games of all-time.
I remember playing GoldenEye 007 after school, intrigued by how the various in-game cheats created a terrific and dynamic experience with each playthrough. As a twenty-year-old game, it is filled with glitches, but also loaded with Easter eggs and hidden coding left by the developers at Rare. Thankfully, in the age of data mining and endless internet research, there are many awesome things you could do in GoldenEye 007 that you never knew about when you first played it in the ‘90s. Here are fifteen things you had no idea you could do.
15 Two Controllers Are Better Than One
Out of the eight available controller configurations, half of them require the usage of dual controllers, but very few gamers actually utilized them. Each setting features the names of previous Bond-girls, and the dual-controller settings are given the names of Plenty, Galore, Domino, and Goodhead. Dual controller styles function the same way dual analog sticks work in modern console gaming, where the controller 1 handles linear motions and controller 2 deals with rotational motions. Intentionally or unintentionally, the usage of dual controllers allowed players to fire the weapons during the end-of-level cutscenes, which would be impossible with single-controller play. If you never used the two-controller setup, it adds a totally new and modern spin on an otherwise great game. Also, it allows you to achieve the following…
14 Kill Baron Samedi For Good
Based on the Loa of the dead in Haitian Voodoo, Baron Samedi might be the only supernatural character in all of Bond fiction, as he cheated death on multiple occasions in “Live and Let Die.” In one of the optional, unlockable missions called Egyptian, Samedi appears as the final boss of the game. Bond must retrieve Francisco Scaramanga’s famed Golden Gun, which allows for a 1-shot kill, to defeat him, with the kicker being that he must be killed three separate times on the level. After the third kill, Bond walks off victorious in a cutscene, but Samedi reappears on camera and laughs at the player, meaning Bond didn’t finish the job. However, Samedi can be killed the fourth-and-final time during the cutscene. Proximity mines can be laid where Samedi walks through in the ending and will detonate, killing him in the process. If the dual controller setting Domino is used, the player can fire during the cutscene and kill Samedi.
13 Get The Paintbrush
The Paintbrush is a glitch that is activated when the player enters melee state, picks up a sniper rifle, and quickly cycles back to melee state. For some unknown reason, the resulting weapon is actually Bond’s forearm that is severed from his body and looks frighteningly similar to a giant paintbrush that can be used to paint the town red. It functions the same as the sniper rifle as a melee weapon. The only level this could be achieved in without any cheats in the mission campaign is on the first level, Dam. The glitch can be activated in multiplayer, at any time. As soon as Bond changes weapons, the glitch is deactivated and the paintbrush cannot be accessed again for the rest of the level.
12 Tank, James Tank
Have you ever wanted to be a human tank or possess the ability to fire tank shells at unsuspecting enemies? This is actually possible in GoldenEye. There are two levels where Bond drives a tank, Runway and Streets. If the “Infinite Ammo” cheat is activated in the cheats menu, the player can fire tank shells without being in the tank. By getting into a tank and cycling to the weapon before the tank shells, the player can press the A followed by the B+Z buttons. Essentially, this will trick the game into thinking that Bond is still driving the tank with the tank shells weapon activate. Bond can go around the level firing tank shells from an unknown location from his body. Some people will probably assume that he fires him from his buttocks, but this is unverified.
11 Go To The Island
One of the most well-known Easter eggs is located on the first mission of the game, Dam. As James Bond makes his way to exit of Byelomorye Dam by bungee-jumping off the platform, the docks located on the opposite side yields an interesting secret. With the use of the sniper scope, gamers can see there is an island located across the water that is only accessible by boat. Since there is an unusable boat located at the docks, it led people to speculate that it was part of his mission to travel to the island. By using a cheating software like Gameshark and activating “No Clipping,” you can visit the island, which consists of a non-functioning turret and one lookout tower. Likely, this was where Bond acquired an item to finish his objectives, like a piton gun or a bungee cord.
10 Play On The ZX Spectrum Emulator
Nearly twenty years of killing Soviet soldiers and mercenaries from a worldwide crime syndicate went by without any gamers realizing there was a ZX Emulator lying underneath GoldenEye’s fragging goodness. Indeed, Rare decided to leave their side project of testing the emulation capabilities of the N64 embedded within the coding and disabled it rather than deleting it, entirely. The simplest method of accessing the ZX Spectrum emulator and its pack of ten games is by utilizing a Nintendo 64 emulator and activating a fan-developed patch. All of the games were made during the ‘80s when Rare was developing under the Ultimate Play The Game banner. Other than just novelty value, it doesn’t add anything additional to the actual game, but does act as a nice glimpse into the company’s past.
9 Three-Handed Monster
The weapon-cycling glitch is one method to get Bond to hold two different weapons, much like Xenia Onatopp does as an enemy in the Jungle level with an RC-P30 and a Grenade Launcher. By activating the “All Guns” cheat in the menu, Bond can wield a Watch Laser and Moonraker Laser at the same time. Since using the Watch Laser always requires two hands, this essentially means that the Moonraker Laser is held by his third hand. By fooling the game once again with the weapon cycling trick, the correct sequence of button presses allows for this glitch to be used. Though the cycling trick works on any weapon in the game, this combination is probably the silliest incarnation, because Bond has three arms. Now, queue the jokes about Bond’s three legs.
8 Back Up We Go
In Facility, Bond makes his way to the restroom and into the weapons facility via the vent, but once he drops out of it, he cannot go back into it. Or so it would seem. As one of the oldest-known tricks in the game, this feat can be achieved by using the default controller setting. First, have Bond step on top of the toilet right below the vent opening, and kneel on top of it. Through a series of inputs requiring the holding of the R-button and C-right, as well as moving the analog stick to the right, Bond can, inexplicably, rotate himself back up inside the vents. Since so many savvy veterans of Goldeneye know of this trick, opponents who use this in multiplayer are easily snuffed out through the usage of various exploding weapons.
7 Hero Jump, Missed
At the Cradle level, achieving all mission objectives and killing Trevelyan plays a dramatic action cutscene of Bond jumping off the bottom platform of the antenna cradle onto an escaping helicopter. However, if any of the timing cheats are activated, such as “Turbo Mode,” “Fast Animation,” or “Slow Animation,” the moment when Bond makes his hero leap of escape doesn’t synch up to when the helicopter flies off. Variations include Bond flying off wildly into the sky, or the helicopter leaving before Bond jumps. Though this doesn’t add much to the overall gameplay, it stands as one of the more enjoyable moments in the games, and proves that the in-game cheats of the game add tremendous replay value and entertainment beyond other console games, at the time.
6 Depot Trouble
The ending cutscene in the Depot level is filled with glitches if “Slow Animation” is enabled in the cheat menu. As soon as Bond finishes the level by entering the Trevelyan’s train at the end of the depot without first killing the Janus guards, the cutscene will automatically show him shooting the enemies before the train door closes and ends the level. However, if “Slow Animation” is activated, Bond will end up doing several strange things during the cutscene, such as bizarrely shooting up into the ceiling of the train car. If “Tiny Bond” is also turned on, Bond ends up shooting down towards his shoes. Also, if a timed mine is thrown into the train before Bond stepped in, it will force him to go on one knee and shoot into the sky, like the “Transformers the Movie” poster.
5 The Final Train Car
In the Train level where Bond must save Natalya at gunpoint, just as he kills General Ourumov, Trevelyan lowers the metal barrier cutting the player from the rest of train. With “Turbo Mode” activated, it is possible to the other side of the barrier before the baddies close it. Unfortunately, there isn’t much to the rest of the train, as the developers never intended the player to reach it through normal gameplay. Yet, Rare had the wherewithal to fully complete the rest of the train car, just in case passionate gamers did make it through to the other side. Once on the other side of the barrier, the door to the next train car, or possibly the engine room, is locked; thus, leaving Bond trapped and unable to escape the train.
4 Stuck In The Toilet
Playing multiplayer in the Facility, you can trap another player in the stalls of the restroom. If the opponent happens to go into the stall, the door can be closed behind them, and if the player pushes against it, the person inside cannot escape. This is particularly helpful when an opposing player goes into the stall for ammunition or grenades, and gets locked inside for a comedic moment among friends or to force someone into a rage quit. Other than its humorous value, trapping someone in the toilet stall doesn’t add a lot to the gameplay, but it is fun to try once in a blue moon for some giggles and laughs.
3 Timed Mine Fun
Carefully-placed timed mines right before the level ends can alter the forthcoming cutscene. While Bond himself never dies in the cutscene, friendly characters like Natalya or enemies who capture him are not immune to death. Because it happens after the level is completed, it doesn’t alter the status of the objectives. When he is captured at the end Surface 2, Bond can litter the interior with mines before he enters and finishes the level. The resulting explosion kills half of the Soviet soldiers who have him at gunpoint. As he escapes with Natalya in the next level, Bunker 2, Bond can throw timed mines outside of bunker entrance, which will blow up on the helipad and kill her, leaving him unscathed. Trying to find the right method for an ending cutscenes remains a fun bonus objetive in GoldenEye.
2 Hidden Citadel
A level called Citadel was intended for use as a multiplayer map, and be accessed by using a cheating device. Using the PAL version is probably the easiest way to get to the level. It is unknown if Citadel was meant to be a test level or something the developers never got around to finishing. The player can freely move around the level as the basic structure is complete, but it was not properly programmed, and the graphics lack any finished textures. Also, Citadel does not look similar to any other multiplayer map available in the final release, as it filled with numerous ramps and floors like a map out of Unreal Tournament. Over the years, savvy fans have created renderings of Citadel on fansites like GoldenEye Forever.
1 Man On Fire
In the Silo level, it is possible to watch the whole place explode if the “Invincibility” cheat is activated in the menu. When Bond sets the plastique in the beginning of Silo, he has a set amount of time before it detonates and destroys everything and everyone in the level. Under normal conditions, if he fails to reach it to the escape elevators before the timer runs out or happens to trigger it with weapons, Bond will set off a huge explosion that engulfs him in flames and results in his death. With invincibility, 007 is able to trigger the plastique and the flames will follow him throughout the level, killing everyone in his path. It is almost like James Bond has superpowers, being able to walk through the fire without any harm done.