When it came out in 1997, GoldenEye 007 on the Nintendo 64 was an absolute revelation for console first-person shooters. The missions' complex objectives require thought and observation to complete, and the multiplayer produced countless sleepless nights among console owners.
Both of these were complimented by the impressive arsenal at your disposal. Of the dozens of weapons available to you in GoldenEye, there is a handful you will always go for first, regardless of whether you are playing single-player or multiplayer. The guns listed below aren't always easy to find, but you always feel great when you use them.
10 Silenced PP7
You start most missions with this gun and, honestly, you could complete most missions easily using only it. The Agent difficulty especially is easy to beat with this gun alone, at least the first two-thirds of the game.
There's something immersive about only using the silenced PP7. You just feel cool using a pistol, even if it is not technically as effective as other guns. Since it is so signature to Bond as a character, having it on screen is a good reminder of who you are playing as, especially since the game is a first-person shooter. Though it is a basic gun, it gets the job done.
9 US AR33 Rifle
The first half of the campaign mostly gives you the K57 Soviet as the main automatic weapon. It's merely serviceable as a machine gun and nothing to write home about.
The Jungle level starts giving you the US AR33, which is a huge upgrade and simply looks more powerful to boot. It is an improvement over the K57 Soviet in every way. The accuracy and range will be a big help. Though not the strongest automatic weapon, it appears more frequently than other power weapons.
8 DD44 Dostovei
Power and other stats are not all that make a gun great. The way it feels is also important. While The DD44 Dostovei isn't statistically different from the PP7, its sleek look and loud gunshot noise make you feel like an action star while using it.
When you are dual wielding it, you might as well be in a John Woo movie. It is appropriate for this gun to make it on the list, then. The game is an adaptation of a movie, and you should feel like you are in one while playing.
7 Sniper Rifle
The sniper rifle looks kind of funny, but it is a good friend to have. Levels in GoldenEye 007 are larger than a lot of other first-person shooters of its era, so you will often see enemies out in the distance and not have anything with which to accurately shoot them.
If you have the Sniper Rifle, you can kill them without causing an alarm from far away. Depending on the mission, stealth is actually quite valuable, so a weapon like this is worth having.
6 Golden Gun
If you have seen the Bond film The Man With The Golden Gun, then you already understand the deal with this pistol. It only has one bullet in its magazine, but it also takes out any enemy with one shot.
As awesome as this sounds, it isn't always the trump card you might think it is. After all, a slow rate of fire even with a one-shot kill might not stand up to powerful weapons with a faster firing rate. All the same, it is an awesome addition to the arsenal as a reference to an older James Bond classic.
5 Automatic Shotgun
Of all the guns James Bond uses, it is hardest to imagine him with a shotgun. He does use one from time to time, but it does not have the same style as a pistol or a machine gun.
The Automatic Shotgun in this game is hard to find in single-player, only being found in the Statue level, but it is supremely powerful. Up close, it is just as strong as some of the most powerful guns in the game. While rare in single-player, it is more common in certain multiplayer loadouts.
4 Grenade Launcher
It's not a first-person shooter if you can't make things go boom. Where Grenades, Mines, and the Rocket Launcher are all well and good, but none of them are quite as useful or easy to wield as the Grenade Launcher.
The Rocket Launcher can miss and go way past the target, whereas the Grenade Launcher fires in an arc, which makes it easier to aim. After more than 20 years, the explosions in this game still look great, and it is satisfying to see the flames grow.
3 RCP-90
If you like to shoot fast, then you will get no better than the RCP-90. Just holding the trigger button for a moment unleashes a barrage of bullets. It is also just a powerful gun to boot.
The only drawback in the single-player is that you will not often find it. In multiplayer, it is the gun most people look out for and can easily turn the tide of any match. It can be kind of hard to tell what the gun is supposed to look like in gameplay, but pause the game to get a better look at it.
2 Moonraker Laser
GoldenEye is a spy thriller using the end of the Cold War as a backdrop. Because it uses Moonraker as one of its bonus levels, the Moonraker Laser is a weapon you can find in one level and use in multiplayer.
It has infinite ammo, shoots blue lasers, and looks like an awesome space pistol. It also happens to be very powerful. While this is good for you, it is also bad when enemies have it, since they do just as much damage.
1 Gold PP7
This gun can only be unlocked using a cheat unlocked by speed running the Cradle level. It makes sense, though, because it is by far the most powerful weapon in the game. It's basically as strong as the Golden Gun, but has as many bullets in its magazine as the regular PP7.
No need to reload if you miss the first shot. You won't have access to this weapon until beating the game's hardest challenges, but it is fun to run through hard levels taking out every enemy in one shot.