‘Goldeneye: 007’ Nearly Didn’t Have Multiplayer

Aside from the occasional dabbling through hell in Doom, Goldeneye for the N64 was essentially my first experience with a First Person Shooter, especially since I never had a kick ass PC like all the cool kids had. I remember losing hours upon hours with my friends fighting through science labs, forests and tight corridors fragging each other left and right. But to think these memories that I share with countless other gamers almost weren’t possible.

At GDC Europe, game director Marin Hollis spoke about how the feature was a last minute addition that was slipped in on the side. Stating that it was added in around “March or April,” a mere four months before release, he also went on to explain how the rush job led to some of the game’s infamous imbalance.

“We didn’t have time to balance all the characters. Really we just threw them in. But these little quirks and bits of sketchiness really bring personality to the game.”

We’re looking at you, Oddjob! But to think one of the most legendary multiplayer experiences of all time almost never was. I don’t care if it was an imbalanced mess in retrospect, (the laptop gun, proximity mines, the karate chop of DOOM!) It was damn fun.

What’s your favorite memory of Goldeneye?

SOURCE: shacknews.com gamespot.com