MundoRare

Mission 7: Cuba

[Jungle]

• This is the first mono player stage on which we’re able to use such a brute weapon as the RCP90 (if you don’t consider the hidden RCP90 in train). As everybody knows, to get it you just have to take it from Xenia. However, not so many people may know that this weapon is just a reference to the graphic chip of N64 (it stands for ‘Reality Co-Processor’) and the clock frequency that the CPU is able to reach, about 90 Mhz (93.5 Mhz to be precise). Programmer’s joke, tsk.
• This level is partially contained on the multiplayer mode thanks to Caverns. Many places from the last section of Jungle were used to design the caves in multiplayer, and it’s clearly noticeable.

[Control]

• Once again, we’ll discover different dialogues depending on the circunstances. At the beginning, once we’ve left the lift that we use to get into the level with Natalya, we’ll have to face some enemies and automatic weapons that will set what our lovely partner will tell us. If we end up with every obstacle perfectly, Natalya will tell us "James, you were wonderful." On the other hand, her lines won’t be that kind.

[Caverns]

• Near the place where you can find the radio to contact Jack Wade, there are some wooden boxes that seem to be useless. However, one of those boxes isn’t just what it seems. It’s located near the windows above the underground lake and part of the suspended tunnel where we meet Alec Trevelyan at the end of the level. If we shoot that box, it will begin being smaller after every shot, until we get a double AR33.
• For many players, it’s not a big secret that on certain GoldenEye levels there are several wooden boxes that in fact hide ammunition that will allow us to escape from more than one trouble. It also won’t surprise them the existence of a small cave on this level that hides boxes full of ammo for our weapons. On this cave, we can find some cabinets that hide the entrance to a narrow tunnel that will allow us to get to another zone of the stage without getting any harm. We just have to blow the piece of furniture to get in there. It’s not the biggest secret in GoldenEye, but it’s worth noting it just in case we need it.

[Cradle]

• Depending on our accuracy shooting Alec Trevelyan during the final confrontation, he’ll get more or less hurt, and so the fight will get longer or shorter. Obviously, though. But it’s worthy to point out that as longer the combat get; Trevelyan’s lines will have more irony against us. And every single one is based on the original phrases said in the movie by Sean Bean (Alec Trevelyan) during different scenes of the film. A great example of the excellent adaptation made by the Rare staff.
• As it also happened with Statue, this level was also considered and dropped from the multiplayer mode at last hour, despite being part of it during the first testing stages.
• During the climax in our combat against Trevelyan, we’ll be able to choose between throwing him a nice bullet storm or doing it the fast and clean way by letting him drop at our feet. If we choose to throw him out of the platform, the ending sequence will include a brief scene where Trevelyan can be seen falling as in the GoldenEye movie. Not a significant detail, but very well introduced.
• Using ‘Fast Animation’ will allow enemies to shot Bond during the introduction sequence, just like in the Statue level.
• Funnier than that is ending the level using ‘Fast Animation’ or ‘Slow Animation’. At high speed, Bond will jump before the helicopter comes to get him. On the other hand, on slow motion, Bond takes so much time to jump that the helicopter leaves before he jumps. After those two little accidents, the ending credits may think twice about Bond coming back.
• Once we’ve completed the game, at the end of the ending credits we’ll be able to read the famous phrase “JAMES BOND WILL RETURN”. Every James Bond fan knows that it’s yet another reference to the 007 franchise that the Rare guys have included, as every film ends with that phrase. It doesn’t mean that Rare was planning to develop the next 007 game (which in fact they didn’t), although it’s perfectly possible that they could have been able to have the license in the future. Anyway, internal Rare sources stated that they were offered to develop Tomorrow Never Dies, the next Bond film after GoldenEye. However, the project was rejected as they were planning to develop a franchise on their own: Perfect Dark.

Mission 8: Teotihuaca'n

[Aztec]

• This level, alongside with the next (Egyptian) is undoubtly one of the main features of GoldenEye, as it’s also a great tribute to the Bond films. This mission, as many of you may have noticed, is based on the plot of Moonraker (1979), starring Roger Moore as James Bond. The stage shows some of the best moments of the film with great accuracy such as the battle against Jaws, the discovery of the control room hidden on Aztec ruins or that scene on which Bond gets trapped in a room underneath the engines of the rockets about to ignite. They’ve also included some enemies belonging to project Moonraker, men and women from the elite, very well disposed to re-populate Earth once ‘normal’ life forms have been erased by the villain. However, it’s weird that women, obviously necessary to accomplish that objective, were rejected from the final version of the game by the Rare guys. But, as usual, you’ll be able to find them between the other available characters for the multiplayer mode.

Mission 9: el-Shagira

[Egyptian]

• Another wink to the Bond franchise, being in this ocassion focused on The man with the Golden Gun (1974) and Live and let Die (1973), both starring Roger Moore. This level isn’t as thrilling as others, but the Rare guys include it trying to create the definitive James Bond game. In fact, many people know that the programmers wished to include an option that allowed the player to use every actor that has played James Bond on the multiplayer mode. Unfortunately, image rights of each of these actors supposed an insurmountable obstacle and the option was rejected. However, we can find proof that this extra existed on Perfect Dark, where we’re able to choose between five different Bond suits for our personalised character, including the white tuxedo used by Sean Connery on Goldfinger (1964).
• The level’s main objective is the famous Golden Gun owned by Francisco Scaramanga (Christopher Lee placed that role on the movie), but the villain is the mysterious Baron Samedi, who appears in Live and Let Die. It seems that Rare wanted to quote as many Bond films they could, and to do so they used more than just the story mode. Enemies such as May Day or Oddjob (A view to a Kill and Goldfinger respectively) also appear on the multiplayer mode. If you haven’t noticed, the different multiplayer modes are based on James Bond movie titles.
• Baron Samedi, as Jaws, was supposed to appear on two films. That’s why he doesn’t die on Live and Let Die. In fact, he was shot, but he reappears at the end laughing at the camera. He never came back, so finally it all ended as a reference to the voodoo magic Samedi used, that allowed him to be immortal. Rare also kept that little detail in the game, which ends with Samedi laughing at the camera. But maybe there was a way to kill him after all.