One of the first things you notice about Goldeneye is how freakin cool it looks. The zooming cut scene at the start of level 1 looks like a render, and then you realize that they are real-time graphics. The graphical quality is kept up through the whole game, with later levels looking simply stunning for the N64.

But enough about the graphics. What's more important is the way 007Goldeneye plays. The levels are structured, with varied mission objectives that never seem out of context, and there are always plenty of goons to kill. Once you are used to the controller layout, controlling James Bond is a simple matter, and the sheer number of weapons makes for a varied blast. Just compare sneaking round with a silenced PP7 to bursting in with an PC-P90 hand-cannon blazing. It's hard to fault Goldeneye in any area except the difficulty. My main criticism is that the easiest setting is just that, but stick it on 00 Agent and you certainly have your work cut out for you.

The bottom line is that Goldeneye is simply one of the best first-person games I've ever seen. The mixture of strategy and action is spot on, and it looks better than rendered footage in some places. It was also one of the first great first person shooters.