MovieChat Forums > GoldenEye 007: Reloaded (2010) Discussion > Here's why I was somewhat disappointed

Here's why I was somewhat disappointed

posted 12 years ago by corrt106
11 replies | jump to latest

But first, let me say I do like this game. You can't deny its similarities to Call of Duty, and I don't necessarily think that's a bad thing. COD can get pretty repetitive but as a Bond game this is mixed up with stealth and whatnot so it's already one up on that. Gameplay is a-okay!

Anyway, I was disappointed because of the level design. GoldenEye 64's levels were brilliant! Looked just like the films but expanded, just fun to run around in and explore (especially the statue park. I still get lost in there if I don't follow the exact route that's burned into my brain).
This started off great, right off the bat we see the short bridge over the drain leading to the guard tower. It's the same layout, but expanded upon. I could deal with most of the Dam level speeding past while in a truck, because it looked like the N64 days with a modern action packed element to it.
Then we enter the Facility, look we're in the vents! We can take out the guard in the toilet just in the movie! Then we leave the restrooms and. . . ?
Nothing.

Nothing in the game ever looks even remotely like the original after this. It's like the designers said, "Hey look! Remember this? This is us just reminding you that this is a remake of GoldenEye. You get that? Good, because from here on out it's a completely different game."

One bit I'm particularly sore about is the tank mission. Here they give you a high-tech beautiful looking weapon with a lot of build up, it's getting exciting, I couldn't wait to get out there and chase Ourumov through the streets of St Petersburg! But what do we get?
BLOODY CONSTRUCTION SITES. Next to sewers, these have got to be one of the laziest and cliched locations in video games. This really pissed me off, to be frank.

They missed a huge opportunity here. They basically made it a level by level remake, so why not keep even a little bit of the original layout alive?

Lastly, this is more of a nitpick than anything, but they could have at least got the pronunciation of words right.

Janus= Ya-nus, not JA-nus.
Valentin= Valen-tinn, not valentine.
Ourumov= O-ru-mov, not Yoo-roo-mov
Simonova= Sim-yon-ova, not Simon-oh-va (THIS WAS THE POINT OF A JOKE IN THE MOVIE.)

And it goes on, but as I said, nitpicks. Anyway, this is why I thought what was a really promising prospect fell kinda flat. As I mentioned I still think it's a great game, but it didn't need to call itself GoldenEye if it was never going to even try to resemble it. It could have joined its predecessor in history, but instead it will simply be another "decent" shooter that will quickly be (and has been) forgotten among the vast ocean of lackluster Call of Duty clones.

-End rant-

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Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet, you are a plague... and we are the cure.

[–] chambersjad 12 years ago

I agree, but there is something funny about that point as well. They also copied the "cradle" but it was basically new. But the funny thing is, the best level design in Goldeneye 007, is in the levels that did not exist in the N64 days. The Nightclub and the Ship were far more enjoyable than any level they didn't copy paste from the OG.

"Who built this f#(%!^g police station." -- Leon Kennedy

[–] corrt106 12 years ago

Huh, you know I never thought about it but you're right. The nightclub was an awesome level, even if I hate what they did with Valentin. Somehow I prefer the lovable fat gangster look to the stuck up artist look.
But anyway, yeah you are completely right. And I think this is why I believe the development team were wasted on this game. They're obviously very good at what they do and they want to show their creativity in designing levels, but in their enthusiasm they deviated a little too far from the original I believe.
They should be out there designing their own original games.

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Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet, you are a plague... and we are the cure.

[–] chambersjad 12 years ago

I really think that is what is wrong with so many things in creative media these days... (be it videogames, tv, movies, whatever) no one has the stones to forge a new ip. The money folks (producers, developers, marketing) are so afraid of a money losing failure that everything needs to be a remake, reboot, adaptation, prequel, or sequel just to get green lit with an established audience.

Take Goldeneye 007 for an example. Replace Craig with some other mocap actor and voice over (oh and Judi too.) Have the pussycat doll do a different, but similar spy theme type song. And change up the story to not resemble the MGM movie in any way. Re-design a few of the levels to look a little less like the N64 version. Now title it "MiCO: Omega Protocol."

It might have been a better game that way, but you do have to ask yourself seriously... would you have bought it? It wouldn't have been promoted very well, promo money would go to another project with an already established IP. I might never have known it would have existed that way.

"Who built this f#(%!^g police station." -- Leon Kennedy

[–] corrt106 12 years ago

Honestly? No, I wouldn't have :P
You make excellent points. I've often resented that exact fact that nothing is original and everything is a remake etc. but failed to realise that it's people like me that make them do that, because I'll never buy something unless I already have an incentive to do so.
Dammit! I'm destroying entertainment!

I'm honestly not sure how the industry is going to get itself out of this little rut, because as much as I wish otherwise I'm probably not helping it. . .

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Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet, you are a plague... and we are the cure.

[–] chambersjad 12 years ago

It's not just you, it's most of us, I do it all the time too. We're all kind of wired that way I guess. All anyone can really do to combat this problem is to give anyone throwing a new ip out into the entertainment media a chance. Sink or swim, love or hate it, I'll give a creator credit if they truly created something original (even if it stinks.) And I don't bust chops for being able to spot someone's inspiration. That's does not make something too derivative and it's not plagiarism.

And every so often I happen across something truly special.

And then I want a sequel...

"Who built this f#(%!^g police station." -- Leon Kennedy

[–] chuckatomic 12 years ago

GoldenEye is my favorite Bond movie ever. Like everyone else, I played the hell out of that game back in the day. I throughly enjoy this game too but I agree with your points made. There was a lot of stuff I disliked too.

Like you said I didn't like the fact that after you left the Facility bathroom, it was a different game.

I didn't like how there was no gap in-between the death of Trevelyan to the stealing of the EMP chopper. In the movie/N64 game there was a nine year gap. I'm not saying it needs to be that long of a gap, but I think it would have made for a better story giving Bond some time to forget about the loss of Trevelyan, so when Trevelyan returns its more of a shock

I also didn't like how some of the missions where out of order from the story. Instead of getting arrested outside of the Statue park after meeting with Janus, they instead have Natalya and Bond get arrested outside of the Severnaya Bunker and go straight to the archives.

I think Bond meeting Trevelyan in the middle of the story is better instead of at the ending section like this game did. It was better for Bond to have more encounters with Trevelyan to see how far his friend has fallen. Instead of the Reveal of who Janus is and the next time you see him is when you're killing him scenario in this game. It felt like losing 006 and getting him back as the bad guy, then killing him was way too quick. There was no time for you to brood and get pissed off at this guy for the betrayal.

I didn't like Xenia AT ALL in this game. She's suppose to be super sexy, deadly and badass. Instead we got a purple suited woman that you had no idea why someone would want her by their side at all. She was useless.

I liked Natalya in this game, but I didn't like the fact that she was a damsel in distress the entire time. Natalya in the N64 game held her own with the magnum pistol in the Jungle.
You only see her twice in this game. No real connection with the character.

Seriously I know they needed to update the story to make it fit in modern time, but I really don't think they need to chop and screw as much of it as they did.

Last but not least, this game is super linear. There's only one set route to do things. One of the best parts of the old game was you can go your own route, backtrack and the levels where open enough for players to explore every facet and corner of it.
Not to mention there are no cool/fun cheats to use during replay of the missions. No easter eggs. No secrets to find.

For a game that was marketed as "trying to capture the essence" of what people loved about Goldeneye 007 and remake it for a new generation of gamers to enjoy, they sure left out a lot of what people loved about the original game.

Multiplayer is a joke. Half of the time I can't connect online and when I am playing online, it's pretty much cheap Call of Duty.

End of rant. I still enjoy this remake though, just nitpicking.

[–] Littlebitsofgaming 12 years ago

What would be the point of REMAKING this game, only to have it be the same as the N64 version, just in HD?
That would be a HD update, not a remake...which is what this game was sold as since day one, a remake.
It not "meant" to look like the original at all, it's not "meant" to look like the movie either. It's meant to be an all new Goldeneye...and yes, with a few nods to the original.

Think of a film remake. Do they use the same sets, actors, etc?
No they take the same story and "update" it, use new sets and locations and new actors.
That is exactly what this game is. A remake of the N64 Goldeneye...not a HD update. Like they did with Perfect Dark a while back.

Personally, I feel they did a great job of bringing back one of the best FPS ever. They kept the cores the same, but changed it up enough to entice older players that have played Goldeneye N64 to death.
We got the same basic gameplay style. Same basic story. But with new maps, weapons and characters to enjoy.

This is a great title, well worth the Goldeneye name.

My only nitpick is the horrible re-recording of the theme tune.
The Tina Turner version still sounds amazing today...and she can actually sing.
I've not looked into who did this version, but she can't sing. Screech yes but sing no.

Jesus died for our sins. As he's already dead...sin away.

[–] corrt106 12 years ago

Okay, fair enough. But as I said I was very happy with the game as a whole and I was moderately happy with the how the levels played out, but I would have liked some semblance to the original. As an example again, the first level, the dam, looked very similar to start with but then took us somewhere different which made most of the level.
I really liked that. I'm not asking for a texture by texture remake, but something that expanded upon the original, similar but different.
Though the levels are quite a bit longer, they're also unmistakably more linear, which I see as a massive step back. The fact is while it shares a story there really isn't enough linking it to the 64 game.

But even if you disagree with this argument, I maintain my others are correct ;)

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Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet, you are a plague... and we are the cure.

[–] chambersjad 12 years ago

The level design reflects the more popular (though I don't see why) cover-based shooters of today of very linear level design cluttered with chest high walls and quarter to half cover columns. Making the PC (in this case Bond) the outright favorite to win any shootout because of his ability to regenerate bullet holes and take aim on an enemy with his ability to aim while facing the wrong way in full cover.

Interestingly enough, I thought the N64 version actually had the better stealth elements. At least the rules were consistent; judo chop or silencer or alarms go off. In Goldeneye 2011 one guard will let you get away with soft-shoeing your way up to someone standing less than 10 ft from him, blasting him in the face with the loudest gun in your arsenal, and doing the Charleston back into cover without batting an eye. But 2 rooms over you can sneak up behind someone, use the "stealth kill" popup, and a guard 3 rooms over with the doors closed will yell "alert" and throw the alarm.

"Who built this f#(%!^g police station." -- Leon Kennedy

[–] MaxPaynefan187 11 years ago

The game blew. I played the Reloaded version and even though they tried to make a game originally made for the Wii onto other consoles, it doesnt work. The controls are clunky and the graphics are subpar. The level design is horrid. I still prefer the n64 Goldeneye anyday over this game. That game had a much more thorough and unique level design and presentation than this.

I didnt mind the story elements being fit to modern day Bond with Daniel Craig filling in as Bond, but they ommitted characters from the game and the performances werent that great in my opinion. Quantum of Solace the video game was a better game than this.

[–] Othy59 10 years ago

Also I wasn't that impressed with the actor playing Trevelyan. One does not simply replace Sean Bean as the villain. They should have gotten Sean to reprise the role.

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