Looking at: Goldeneye and Perfect Dark

A Rare Treat

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Microsoft have recently teased that Rare Studios could be making a comeback in the new year. This is probably a good move for Microsoft, since the X1 has been selling like shit and they could use a win. What better way to do that then reviving a much beloved developer from our youth and having them take another crack at some of their old IP's? I'm skeptical, since reboots are always a gamble, but if the new Rare can muster some of the old Rare's magic, they might just have a chance.

Today I decided I was going to look back at my two favorite Rare games from their golden age, their N64 shooters. Rare created most of the best games on the N64, including the Banjo-Kazooie games (which I've unfortunately never played) Jet Force Gemini, Conker's Bad Fur Day, and of course Donkey Kong 64, but I've always loved their shooters the most.

Goldeneye 007

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Ignore Bond's elongated mouth.

Being born in the 90's meant that I grew up with Pierce Brosnan as my James Bond. Although his four movies are usually reviled as some of the worst, I still like them and how Brosnan portrayed Bond. He had this regal air of absolute cool, and never once wavered in the face of duty. Out of the four Brosnan movies, Goldeneye is probably best remembered, and that's not always because of the movie itself.

Goldeneye is the embodiment of what game development in the 90's was all about. reportedly, eight of the ten developers hadn't even worked on games before, and Rare's only previous experience was developing 2D side-scrollers for the SNES. Nintendo had landed the contract to make the tie-in game for Goldeneye and somehow the job went to Rare. Most of the game was just throwing things together to see if they worked, and when broken down it becomes apparent just how cobbled together the game really is.

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Sean Bean has never looked so good.

Levels have a tendency to be scatter-brained, with random useless rooms and doors thrown in at random. The AI is dumb as shit and has the aim of a stormtrooper, and there's significant slowdown when to much stuff is on screen. But Goldeneye is a game that only sort of works because of it's flaws. The random levels means there's more places to hide from enemies. The crappy AI means that the rudimentary stealth system does actually work. It's all scatterbrained, but there's an undeniable charm about the whole production, like a middle school play that's so funny because of how crappy it is.

Then there's the multiplayer. Goldeneye is probably solely responsible for the entire concept of a console FPS being successful. Years before COD was even an idea, Goldeneye was selling out based on it's multiplayer suit. People loved it, and for good reason. There were great, well designed maps, a slew of weapons, and enough modifiers to make sure that no two games were exactly alike. It's antiquated by today's standards, but most of modern multiplayer owes a lot to Goldeneye.

If nothing else, Goldeneye is a reminder that, when handled properly, you can make a great game out of a movie licence. It's still fairly enjoyable by today's standards, with multiple difficulty settings for each level and challenge modes too. Grab some friends, find a CRT TV, and get lost in the good ol' days.

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This never get's old. ever.

Perfect Dark

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Both words incredibly apt.

How fitting is it that "Perfect" is right there in the title of the game? Perfect Dark is just that, the perfect N64 game. Everything about it is great, and it stands out as one of the console's best games, impressive since this is the console that gave use Mario 64 and Zelda: Ocarina of Time among others.

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Image from the Xbox360 HD re-release. And my dreams.

From a gameplay standpoint, there's not a whole lot different between Perfect Dark and Goldeneye. Their both FPS games with rudimentary stealth, they both have expansive multiplayer suits, and they both prominently feature British people shooting guns. Where Perfect Dark set's itself apart is it's polish. This is a finely tuned game, refined to perfection and pushing the N64 to it's absolute limits.

Whereas Goldeneye was sort of cobbled together, Perfect Dark is a thoughtfully laid out and constructed game. The levels are seamless and have a flow to them that helps to push along the action. There's voice acting this time, and an actual story that moves you from level to level with actual purpose. Instead of just lowering your weapons off screen, each gun now has it's own unique reload animation, and most of them have multiple functions. Best of all it the ability to bring up an inventory menu, meaning you don't have to cycle through twenty items to get back to your assault rifle. It's so much better then Goldeneye in every way that playing Goldeneye after Perfect Dark proves difficult.

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Blocky as hell, but a blast to play.

Perfect Dark is a shining example of console games, an absolutely enjoyable and well made game that never ceased to impress. It may not have aged well but it still remains one of my favorite shooters, even today.

Rare Sighting

So that's my take on my two favorite Rare games. After the N64, Rare were bought by Microsoft and, like a trained bear, made to do some horrible things. Every year it seems less and less likely that Rare will ever make a comeback, and it begs the question: would it still be the same? Regardless, I hold out hope that one day we'll see games as good as Rare one made. Until then, I'll keep my N64 running, and my cartridges dust free.

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AGH! You get lost abomination!