SNIPER RIFLE REVOLUTION

GoldenEye’s clear skies enabled a gaming weapon we all know and love today: the sniper rifle. It was unusual to be able to see far across a map at that time, let alone have a zoomed-in scope to take precise potshots. This stood out in a major way.

“The sniper mode alone makes this game.” McNamara, GI

“The game’s other novel twist is the ability to zoom in on potential targets when using the sniper rifle (one of the first weapons available), which allows the player to neutralise opponents quietly and efficiently from hundreds of metres away. This feature is particularly impressive when it is used to take out the soldiers patrolling the guard towers on the dam at the end of the first mission, their utter helplessness underlining the beauty of such a form of attack.” Edge staff

“Nothing’s more satisfying than capping a guard from 100 yards away before he can trip the alarms-—and this blood-soaked fun is from squeaky-clean Nintendo?” Boyer, EGM

“The way defeated enemies go down, the sound it makes, the bullet holes that show up in the walls, the scope, it’s all amazing. It’s a breeze to beat nearby foes, but you also get to enjoy the tense feeling of sniping distant enemies.” Watanabe, WF.

“But certainly the most impressive use of the graphical engine comes when you use the sniper rifle.” Ferris, GR

“The sheer joy experienced by putting a bullet in some Russian’s head with the sniper rifle, from 200 yards, never gets old…” Gerstmann, GS

“The coolest control element is zeroing in on an enemy’s face with the high-powered scope of a sniper rifle.” Robinson, GP

TRICKY CONTROLS

The N64’s single analog stick was a breakthrough at the time, but today we’re all used to having two to control movement and aiming in first-person games. Rare did the best it could when devising GoldenEye’s controls, including adding a mode where a player could use two controllers, but it took some practice to get accustomed to 007’s moves. 

“The game’s only problem is when you attempt to aim your gun using the cross hair. The slightest touch seems to shoot your sights out of whack, and it takes hours of game-play to learn how to accurately aim your weapon.” Robinson, GP

“It’s tough to get a solid handle on the controls, and you can’t configure them.” Reiner, GI

”I’d really like it if you could run in the game.” Watanabe, WF.