Goldeneye 007 Updated Multiplayer Hands-On

In our latest look at the reimagining of Goldeneye 007, which originally appeared on the Nintendo 64 and was developed by Rare, we join James Bond in the jungle level--about 75 percent or so through the game. Fans of the original should remember this particular area as the one with the turrets that were often very difficult to see due in large part to the fogged-in draw distance. We can happily confirm that it’s no longer an issue, but the jungle level on the whole seems to serve as a perfect example of Activision’s approach with this game and its goal to enhance and refine the Goldeneye experience that fans know and love.

How that translates into gameplay is pretty simple--this new Bond (played by Daniel Craig, who replaced Goldeneye’s original Bond played by Pierce Brosnan) is capable of performing more kinds of actions. For starters, he’s certainly more capable of stealth: he’s able to sneak up on enemies and perform special melee holds that enable him to take out enemies quickly and quietly. Even further adding to his stealth capabilities is Bond’s smartphone, which lets him hack the infamous enemy machine-gun turrets, which then causes them to track and fire upon enemy soldiers instead. It’s a far more elegant way to get through the level than by running and gunning, but if you happen to do just that, be warned--doing so causes even more enemies to spawn in via helicopter. But it’s worth noting that you’ll still have a very brief moment to take out enemies after they detect you but before they spawn any reinforcements.

Needless to say, the level also feels a bit more open. The original version of the jungle was a pretty confined space, forcing you to go down a very limited path. But this iteration of the jungle gives more freedom, granting more choices and more routes, which in turn opens up more opportunities for varying strategy. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to see the conclusion of this particular level with the appearance of its boss, Onatopp, but she’s there.

We closed out our demo with a little hands-on time with one of Goldeneye’s multiplayer modes--a simple round of deathmatch. While playing as Oddjob, we made every effort to connect with one of his special hats that he can throw from a distance, but we were ultimately unsuccessful due to a bit of a learning curve with that particular weapon. Otherwise, the controls feel pretty nice with the classic controller, and we had no trouble immediately racking up the kills by using Goldeneye’s weapons. Additionally, the new Goldeneye will have more than just the numerous multiplayer modes found in its predecessor. There will also be special objective-based multiplayer modes, such as the Goldeneye mode, where players have to race to get to the EMP weapon that blasts the opposing base.

Overall, there’s a surprising amount of new content on display in Goldeneye 007 for the Wii. The majority of the game has been rebuilt (and parts of the script have been rewritten with the aid of the original writer of the film) to incorporate new features and new tactics. But there are still plenty of throwbacks to the original, including the difficulty settings that feature different objectives for each map. One of these settings even lets you play in classic 007 mode with the old-style health and armor indicators. We’ll have more on Goldeneye 007 before its November release.