(Pardon the cheesy music)

When I first bought this game I didn't know what to expect - many had hyped this game up to be the best game ever, and I didn't know whether I should get it. When Quake came out first on the PC it was the hype was the same, yet in the end I hated quake.

Goldeneye is the best game I have ever played, in any category. It has beautiful graphics, and the skill of the game revolves around not just brawn, but brains also. The game also has plenty of longevity, there are three difficulty settings, (Agent, Secret Agent and 00 agent.) It may take you a shortish while to complete the game on agent, then on secret agent it'll take slightly longer, and 00 agent … well I doubt that I for one will ever finish it on 00 agent… The missions not only have harder, more intelligent bad guys on, but also there are more complex challenging objectives to achieve, which will force you to explore more of the levels.

But that's not all! The multiplayer is amazing as well! With up to 4 players on screen at once the game just goes from strength to strength, there are many options to choose from - from knives to the legendary Golden Gun itself!

Goldeneye is SO good that a friend of mine played it on another friends N64, and within a week, the guy had bought not only the Goldeneye game, but an N64 to go with it!

It is worth bearing in mind, that (especially with multiplayer) that if you tell your friends these cunning hints and tips your advantage will be lost… I speak through experience.

[I also just want to mention that there is a cheat that doesn't really exist… It may sound mysterious, but basically there is a cheat, that works only on some of the very first cartridges that were sold. The cheat revolved around completing the game on 00 agent, getting every cheat etc. (view it here) but unless you are god-like at goldeneye it will be nearly impossible anyway to achieve. The reason the cheat doesn’t work is because of copyright problems that prevented it being possible. (If you don't know what I mean click on the hyperlink and view it.)]

• If you complete certain levels in certain times, you will get some cheats that can be turned on and off on a special cheat menu, that appears when you get your first cheat.(n.b. You can only use them on levels that you have completed and multiplayer.) The summary screen that you get at the end of the level will tell you that a new cheat has been enabled. So here they are: -

• If you complete the game on secret agent you get the Aztec level as a bonus, where you face Jaws!
• If you complete the game on 00 agent then you get the Egyptian Temple level, where you face Baron Samedi!
• If, (and this is a big if) you complete all the levels on all three difficulty settings you get 007 mode, which lets you alter the characteristics of enemies within the game - enemy health, damage (that they do to you), accuracy, reactions (how dopey they are).
• The most basic things to remember when playing one player, is that you should try to work out when stealth is appropriate, and when rambo style kill everything in sight type playing is better. Making use of the sights on the sniper rifle and assault rifle is also a good idea. And leaning round corners is also a good idea.
• A useful trick for both single and multiplayer, when using remote mines (the ones you set off with your watch) you can set them off by pressing the A and B buttons together, when you have mines selected! (This makes remote mines one of the best weapons in the game, because you don’t have to cycle through to the watch in multiplayer frenzies!

I have only put down info that I believe is particularly important/ of interest. I haven't put in a guide to all the levels, mainly because there are plenty of them about, and also most objectives are fairly obvious etc… Any way if you get really desperate to know something then you could e-mail me with questions and I may reply…

• Facility: To get a key that opens all the doors, (except the door to the bottling room which is obtained from Dr Doak, one of the scientists) wait in the toilets for about five minutes, and a scientist will run in to use the toilet - (don't shoot him! - poor bloke!) you can then get a clearance A keycard from him, which opens all those annoying brown doors.
• On the water caverns level, in the room with the master control console in, once you have killed all the enemies, then seek out the two boxes that are by one of the windows, shoot the one on the right, and a smaller box will appear, shoot this one again and any resulting boxes. Finally you get two Assault Rifles, which you can use at the same time… Which is nice.

• Don’t forget to complete the game on agent level to get many more characters and levels for multiplayer.
• If you want all the characters (and yet more) then you have to enter in this lengthy but worthy cheat:

1. Hold L and R and press left C
2. Hold L and press up C
3. Hold L and R and press D-pad left
4. Hold L and press D-pad right
5. Hold R and press D-pad down
6. Hold L and R and press left C
7. Hold L and press up C
8. Hold L and R and press D-pad right
9. Hold L and R and press down C
10. Hold L and press D-pad down

With this cheat you get all the characters you would get if you completed the game on agent, plus a load more, which are basically (I guess) the Rare Team, who made the game. But the terrorist character is cool… Also you have to enter this code every time you turn on the N64.

• If you want to lose some friends, try choosing a short character such as Oddjob, or the female Moonraker Elite (one of the civilians is quite short too). These shorties are particularly nasty when they are at close range, because taller characters look straight over their heads, so if you get up close with one of these guys, then it is often bad news for the victim. Also these smaller players offer a smaller target, with obvious consequences.
• If you are playing with mines try to place them in discreet locations, so that people don't know they are there until too late. A classic place is where there is armour, or a nice gun. If mines are starting to bore you, then mine the mines.
• This next tip is incredibly sad and annoying, and should only be used if you are playing 'seriously' or have some kind of vendetta against another player. First you must find the player and kill him/her, then start to watch your radar screen, and you will see a dot appear when the guy you just killed is restarted, then head towards that guy, and often the victim will have no decent guns or nothing at all… This you just repeat until your satisfaction! (If you do not value your friends)

• Rare, the software house that made Goldeneye have another game of a similar ilk in progress. The title is shrouded in secrecy, and no-one knows anything about it. It should be coming sometime in 1999? It will probably feature an all new character, as the licence for the latest bond film, has already been bought by someone else.

If you have any queries, suggestions etc then mail me at: [email protected]

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