Ranking Every Single-Player Level in N64 Golden Eye

Ah, low poly Pierce. If only you knew how much joy you've given the world. It's amazing. It's classic. Its controls aren't really that bad, are they? I'm all golden eyed up from the film celebrating its 30th anniversary this year. So, it's inevitable perhaps that I've spent a load of time playing the N64 game recently, which is coincidentally not celebrating its 30th anniversary just yet. I did a big old video reviewing the game a few years ago, so for my indepth thoughts on it, head over there. But for this video, I'm going to be ranking each and every single-player level in the game. This ranking is going to be based on my own aggregated scores for each of the levels. Golden Eye can be quite a different experience to play, whether done on the easiest or hardest of difficulties. With O agent, often offering more objectives, whereas on the easiest agent difficulty, you might not even really experience 100% of what the levels have to offer. But rather than do three separate rankings for each difficulty mode, I'm just going to go with an overall score. Good evening, Mr. Bond fans, let's get started with the very first level of the game, which uh what's it called again? Damn. Damn. Damn is a completely like iconic opening level to any game. I think this is one of the few levels that when I think of N64 Golden Eye, this is one of the first things that pops into my mind. That iconic opening shot with the camera like swirling around the environment and into the back of Bon's head. It's so cool. This is one of the levels where I feel like the environment really comes to life on the higher difficulty objectives. Like if you do it on the easiest of setting, it's fairly, you know, you're just getting from point A to point B and jumping off the dam and everything. It's a really cool recreation of the stunt from the film, which I absolutely love. But then on the higher difficulties, you have these additional objectives that take you underneath, like actually into the dam itself and these corridors where you're mowing down guards and having to do other objectives and whatnot, I I think it's really cool how it expands in that way. I mean, this is a level where even if I am playing it through on the easiest of difficulty settings, if I'm just killing some time, having a bit of shoot them up action with Golden Eye, even if I don't need to go down there, I will do just because I love spending time in this environment. It's a really cool space, a fairly iconic Golden Eye N64 level, I feel. So, when it comes to ranking this particular one, I can really only like place it in S tier. It just absolutely has to be up there. Like I say, it is just an iconic level from this game and a whole lot of fun to play through no matter what the difficulty setting you choose. And the good times just keep rolling into the second level of the game facility. Which again, this is another one of those levels where if I'm thinking Golden Iron 64, chances are I'm thinking about starting the level in the vents, like crawling through, shooting the guy in the toilet cubicle in the head, getting that really satisfying head shot to start the level. It's just it it's awesome. This is another level that's just absolutely a blast. No matter what difficulty setting you pick, there's really only finding Dr. do. Uh, you know, that's the main difference between playing on the easiest or the hardest of settings. And finding where he is is just another thing that I just enjoy to do, even if I don't need to, if even if I'm just playing it on one of the easier modes, the attention to detail from the movie is just phenomenal as well. Obviously, when they were making when Rare were making Golden Eye for the N64, they did actually go to the film sets and the recreation is just phenomenal. Like I've always loved like the the set of stairs like immediately after the immediately when you get out of the bathroom and just how that was recreated from the film is just so cool. I really do love it. And I I just I still to this day love the sense of dread you get cuz there are so many doors to go through and so many rooms in this particular level that I do kind of love the sense of dread that you get when you hear a door like opening somewhere and you're like, "Oh god, is that a scientist escaping or is that a new wave of guards coming in to try to kill you?" It's so much fun. It builds to an incredibly satisfying climax with blowing up the the the gas tanks. It's just it's so much fun. And just little things like the these like little like glass vials and scientific equipment that's just up on these random vents for no good reason, but it's just always fun just to shoot them. And then things like the the the no bond allowed sign is just it's just so much fun. This one is going to rank especially highly for me. In fact, this is going to be the level to beat. This is the one that all others are going to be judged in relation to cuz it's going ahead of dam. It's going straight up into S tier. And then we come to the third level of the game, Runway, which is uh okay, after a super enthusiastic start, I'm going to be a little bit more tempered, I think, when it comes to this one. It's a very short level. Uh there are different objectives depending on if you do the easiest or the hardest of modes. And uh there's the tank, which is really cool. It's sort of hidden away around the corner. Or I guess on a first play through, you might not even notice that it's there. But it does it helps the level's replay value, I think, cuz you can just kind of go in on foot with your guns, or you can hop in the tank and have some fun shooting around and lots of explosions and what have you. But the shortness of it kind of just means that it's not going to be troubling the very upper rankings of my list. So, I am going to place it in B tier. As for whether it's high or low in B, I I guess we'll we'll find out. Okay, so on to surface one, which is a level that always terrified me as a kid for what I perceived at that time at least to be its sheer scale. I would get lost very easily in this environment. And bearing in mind when I'm playing this game when I'm a kid, I'm playing it through on like, you know what, an 18in 20in TV. It's in standard definition. It has that N64 fog so you can't see particularly far into the distance even though it is this giant expansive space. So yeah, I always found it a little bit daunting and I would get lost and not really have a good sense of my bearings. Now playing it like the footage that I recorded for uh for this particular video, this is playing it through on the uh the Nintendo Switch online N64 emulator. So it's, you know, it's in HD. It's obvious that you visibility isn't too much of an issue. And hey, I do really like how the level actually expands on the story of the film. There's this whole section of levels which place Bond in places that he never actually went in the film. And you're doing things that isn't necessarily in the film, but it's seeing Bond like in this location in 7 is really cool. I I think so. This for me is another Btier level. I I think I am going to put it ahead of runway all the same because I do I do just really like how it expands on details that we see in the film and you know the big satellite dish and being able to play through that environment is really cool. And next up we have bunker one which is another really cool environment that is like really nicely recreated from the film particularly in this main hall with the screen and and what have you. It's a really nice location to work your way around as well. like, you know, we'll get to bunker 2 in a little bit, but I do love how so much of this environment seems to be under construction here. And indeed, it is significantly expanded when we return to it later on in the film. I love this little aside with Boris as well where you take him to the main frame and then the alarm goes off. The knockers password is in there, which is really sweet and it is just a very fun level for some shoot them up action. Uh, so this one is actually going to go in my A tier. I have a lot of fun with this one. It's a level that I will go to uh far more than Bunker 2 certainly, but we'll get there. Okay, next up we have another of my absolute favorite levels in the game, Silo. Absolutely love this. So many guards, so much fun shoot them up action. It's a pretty linear level. You're essentially going from A to B, but the expanded objectives if you're playing on higher difficulty, I think are really cool. just all of the little things you need to collect and stuff that you scientists drop that you need to pick up key cards to access you further locations and whatnot. I love that the Golden Eye satellite is actually here. Like one of your objectives is to photograph that. Obviously Bond it's it's just up in space in the film. So Bond never actually gets anywhere near it, but just seeing it recreated here is really awesome. I think there's also the timer that you get on the higher difficulty settings which does give it an extra sense of urgency which I think is really cool. This is obviously a space created entirely for the game, but again, it's just another fun expansion uh to bring more to the game than what you see in the film. This one is going to be going into my S tier, and I think I'm going to place it in between facility and dam. Okay, we're up to a potentially controversial level now for me. frigot, which I do feel like a lot of people really like and I'm just ah I'm not that keen on it really. I get kind of frustrated with a couple of things. And maybe this is me nitpicking, but obviously you have to go around the environment and free a bunch of hostages, which is all well and good, but then they start just sort of running around the environment. They do have an end point to get to, but I just get so frustrated with their seeming sort of like aimless just like getting in the way of things. I've always find it really bothersome. And another thing that I find really annoying is again again this is very nitpicky, but uh the doors like when they open like towards you and you have to step back and there are so many damn doors in this level that I just constantly find myself getting slightly stuck on them and I'm like, "Okay, fine. I have to move back and stuff." It it's it's just I Yeah, it's it's something that I get a bit frustrated with once you're inside the frigot itself. I don't think the environment's all that interesting. I love the outside. Like I think it's really cool and going up and planting the bug on the helicopter is really nice. And I guess I just wish that there was more action on the outside cuz the bulk of the guards are like exclusively inside. So it's I I would have I would probably rank this level more if there was more fun to be had on the exterior. So this is actually going to be my first C tier ranking so far. I hope that's not too controversial. And I'm afraid to say that Surface 2 is another level that is not going to rank particularly highly for me. If Surface 1 was intimidating to me as a kid, then Surface 2 was a level I avoided like the plague. Like, it's obviously much the same environment as uh Surface One. There are some updates which I think are quite sweet, like the hatch from surface one that you have to get into the facility through. That's been welded shut in this level, which I think is a really nice detail. But like clearly in the time span in between the levels like the people working at that facility were like you know we really do need to seal that off. I do have some fondness for the atmosphere. I think that the reddish tint gives it such kind kind of like a hellscape kind of vibe and the guards appearing out of nowhere with these gas masks on is is quite striking. But it's not one of my most replayed levels. Like even now playing it through on, you know, the Nintendo Switch online, visibility is still not entirely great. And, you know, the guards are pretty relentless coming out at you. And I Yeah, it's just not one that I have all that much fun with. It's one that I only really play through if I'm doing a full-on replay of the entire game and not just one that I will pick up and play if I want to kill 20 minutes with Golden Eye like I would with a facility or a silo or a dam. So, Surface is going to be joining Frigot in the C tier. It's gonna go after Frigot. And next up is Bunker 2, which again, I do really like how this expands on the environment that you see earlier on. I love that they've been busy at work building this big facility. Uh, this is pretty much a stealth level basically. I mean, they have this mechanic where guards will start just respawning and be alerted to your gunfire if you're, you know, if you just kill a guard and pick up their machine gun and then start blasting, the guards like throughout the environment are going to be alerted and are going to come for you. So, they have this whole thing where you can use the watch to pick up a a throwing knife and you can use that to kill through some guards to get to the safe key to get to the safe where the silenced PP7s are. And then once you have them, it's kind of all good. But uh again, it just it takes quite a lot to actually get to that point. Like this is one that is absolutely brutal on harder difficulties. And especially because like you have Natalia to escape with as well and she's just her, you know, trademark annoying self in a lot of ways. You need to finish all of your objectives before you go and release her and make your way to the exit. And even then, she's just sort of getting in the way constantly, which is quite frustrating. Again, this is not one that I go to replay all that much. Even though, like I say, I do really enjoy being in this environment. It it is just one that I find myself getting more frustrated with than anything. Uh on some of the on the easiest of difficulty settings, you can just maybe have some fun shoot them up action. Um but again, it it it's not going to be troubling the upper tiers of my ranking. I'm also going to put bunker in C, but I am going to put it ahead of uh frigot. Next up, we have Statue, which is a level that has really quite grown on me over the years. Again, this was another one that as a kid like filled me with that same sense of dread as the surface levels. It's very dark and misty and and it's quite an expansive environment, but now I kind of love the the kind of horror vibes of it in all honesty. I really love this environment with all of these mismatched props scattered throughout creating a maze that you kind of have to work your way through. And I love how that guards are just running around some, you know, in the peripheral. So just out of the corner of your eye, you can catch like a guard just running around. They're not necessarily running towards you, but they're doing something. And I I think it's nice and unsettling in that way. As a kid, I would just kind of stagger around almost blindly until I eventually happened upon an objective. But I guess I just have a level of familiarity with the environment now that, you know, I know where to go to find Zakovski. I know where the linen statue is when I need to find Traallion. So, uh, I I do just have a lot of fun in this space. It's funny cuz it's not even like necessarily one of my favorite locations from the film, but I do think that in the game, it has a a real unique kind of vibe, which I actually really dig. That being said, it's not going to be going into the very top tiers of my ranking. It is going to be in B tier, but I am going to place it ahead of surface and runway, mainly because I do just love the atmosphere of the environment. Okay, we're on to some great stuff again though next with Archives, which is just one of the most fun like just shoot them up mayhem levels of the game, I think. And again, just I really enjoy this environment being recreated for the game. I really enjoy how you start with Bond in Captivity and then you just need to start shooting your way out. Like the guns right there on the table and it's kind of fun just sort of being like, "Okay, when am I going to pick that up and start the chaos?" cuz once the chaos begins, it's just it's non-stop for much of the level. And I really enjoy that. It's another level where you really need to do everything that you need to do before you go and free Natalia because she's being held at gunpoint. And then she there's a slightly annoying thing where she gets afraid like of the the gunfire and then she'll just go running off to another part of the level like here where she just runs up to the attic and then you need to go and collect her and it's like, "All right, come on, let's escape." kind of thing. But um and again, I do really like the detail that you know, you can exit the level by shooting the glass and then jumping out the window just like in the film. That's really nice. So yeah, it's a level that I have an awful lot of fun with. It's not quite up there in the STFME, but it is going in a tier and it is going ahead of bunker one. Next up, we have Streets, which as a kid, this was like a level that I would often go on. I would put the invincibility cheat on. I would put all guns, all infinite ammo, like a bunch of cheats on and just have a load of completely careless fun driving around the streets in the tank just blowing up everything, every car, every bad guy, every civilian. I'm perhaps a little less enamored with it these days. Um, I do really like actually the little tangent that you go on at the start where you have to find Zakovsky and then he'll go off and talk to his associates and buy you some extra time to make it to the end of the level. And don't get me wrong, the tank is really cool and I'm really glad that they went to the effort of including it because it's such an iconic bit from the film where Bond is driving the tank around the streets and stuff. So, it's wonderful that they could um recreate it in this fashion for the game. But yeah, it's just not one of the more exciting or impressive environments. Uh, so ultimately I think I'm going to put Streets in B tier and I'm going to put it uh ahead of runway but just behind surface. Okay, next we come up to Depo, which is potentially one of my more controversial rankings. I've never loved this one. I just find it it's one of those where the different difficulty settings make a pretty substantial difference. If you do play it through on the easiest of settings it is basically just go from point A to point B. You need to find Trailions Train just go you can actually get through it like super quickly as well. You can just blast through it like super super quickly. On higher difficulty settings you've got more objectives which require you to go into these various warehouses and stuff and I just find the environment a bit lacking. It's all of these warehouses kind of look the same from the outside and it's like I can never quite remember exactly where all the different stuff is and I just get sick of like going into things. It's like, "Oh, okay, fine. There's nothing in this one. Okay, nothing in this one. Okay, where's where where's the one that I need to get to again?" I also just find it lacking in atmosphere, I guess, or much of a sense of sort of personality. It's It's a little bit of a filler level, frankly, as far as I'm concerned. Yeah. You know what? I am going to put it in Dtier. Something needs to go in Dtier. And this is it it's going to be fighting for my being my worst uh sort of level of the game. But then we come to train and we're on the absolute flip side cuz this is one of my absolute favorite levels of the game. And it was my very favorite when I was a kid. Like I just loved this thing. It's super linear. It's like literally going from the back of the train to the front of the train. Uh but it's such a super fun time and I love just like the the laser watch gadget. You can create recreate the moment from the film where they escape through the floor with that which is really nice when Bond and Natalyia escape. I love Orumov holding Natalya at gunpoint and you shoot him and then you can also like try and shoot Zena at the same time and it buys you some uh precious extra time. I just really love the environment. Uh like it's super close and guards can just sort of like clog up corridors and you just have to sort of mow them down. But it's just I find it an absolute blast. This is one of my go-to. Like if I do just have a spare 15, 20 minutes or something and I just want to kill some time with Golden Eye, chances are I will go to Train. That being said, like I say, it was my favorite level when I was a kid. These days, I think I I think I do prefer facility. This is going into the S tier, but it is it's it's going after facility. I I I do think that facility just being a bit more expansive is a bit more of an interesting environment to spend time in. So, um so yeah, I feel I feel comfortable placing train in the second spot of the S tier. Next up is Jungle. And oh dear god, the sheer dread that this level would fill me with as a kid. Uh in a similar way to the surface levels, but these days I actually kind of dig it. It it's a very unique level in the sense you are in this jungle. There's all this foliage all these foliage uh assets and and whatnot. So, it has a super unique kind of uh identity within the game. You're not just going through corridors or whatnot. You are out in the jungle, which is really cool. Obviously, it's very dark and you have to sort of like peer into the distance to see, oh god, are those where the the auto guns are that I need to get? Is there a guard there? But I do think that the atmosphere of the level is where it really excels. I think this has a great vibe. There's minimal music throughout the level. Uh there's a bit when you know Zena, you have a boss battle with her and the music kicks in, but otherwise it's just sort of like jungle ambient noises and I think it creates such a such a cool and unique uh atmosphere within the game. But yeah, the Zenya boss battle is really cool and killing her gets you a pretty awesome combo of a grenade launcher plus the ACP90, which is my favorite gun in the whole game. Uh, and just blasting around the last bit of the level with those like just dual wielding is just so much fun. This one is actually going to go into the A tier for me. Uh, I think I'm going to place it Yeah, I'm going to place it after bunker. So, it's at the lower end of the A tier for now. Um, but yeah, this is a level again, like I say, like as a kid, I would probably have said this was my least favorite level. It was not one that I went to all that much. These days, actually quite dig it. And next we're on to control, which on on the double O agent difficulty setting, I think is actually one of, if not the like hardest levels of the game. This is another level where I just adore being in this environment. They've recreated elements of it so well from the film. And I think it's just an absolute blast to to be in this space and exploring the environment. It's just really cool. I love planting the mines on the main frame and they're just blowing it all up. It's it's so much fun. even after the bit where you know you protect Natalia and then she buggers off to safety and then the guards continue to spawn and you may or may not need to continue on with some other objectives. But I just love spending time in this place. Like seriously, I just love hanging out here, letting the guards spawn and just like shooting them, you know, as they approach you and whatever. I think it's just a a really cool and fun place to be. Love Boris's little bit as well, him doing his I'm invincible thing. And then I've always enjoyed I I can't play this level without chasing him up the stairs and following him to the corner where he vanishes where the body armor is as well. It's just h it's just so much fun. Absolutely adore this level. It's another one of those levels that when I think of N64 Golden Eye, I think of this level. So with that being said, this is quite clearly going into my S tier. I think I'm going to place it after silo and ahead of damn just because those other three levels ahead of it in S tier are levels that I gravitate towards more when I'm just like picking up and playing. So, I've played them a lot more. Um, but yeah, I'm very comfortable putting control in the S tier. Caverns next for some more RCP90 greatness. Uh, this is a really cool expansive environment. uh you need to go on the higher difficulty settings to really get any significant objectives. Uh on the easiest, it's a total just run and gun, which is fun in its own way, don't get me wrong, but um this is another one where on double o agent, it's really one of the hardest levels of the game. The bit where you need to take out the guards, but they're stood next to the equipment that you need to use to radio Jack Wade, but they're also stood in front of like these super explosive barrels. And then like scientists may or may not be running around the environment. You need to be cautious of how many of them you accidentally kill, otherwise you fail the mission completely. It's just it's a super killer bit. But I do completely love the environment. It's super big and expansive. I just love these doors that open. I was always fascinated with them as a kid. Like this one that opens up in a kind of spiral fashion I I think is really nice. It's just super satisfying. And I can't quite articulate why, but I could literally just like exist in this level and just open and close these doors for uh 20 minutes or so and not get bored. So, Caverns is going to be going into the A tier. I am going to put it in between archives and bunker. That feels right for me. And so, onto the final level of the Golden Eye uh story section of the game Cradle. Again, just another fantastic recreation of the climax from the film. lots of fun chasing trall around this space, shooting guards as you go. It can be quite short uh depending on how good your uh aim is on uh some of the uh higher difficulty settings at least. And I I do always find this platform bit at the end just a little bit too intimidating. Maybe I'm just scarred from having fallen off it far too many times. Like obviously it's super satisfying when you do shoot and he goes flying off and then the the cut scene at the end where Bon jumps on the helicopter and flies away is also very nice. But again, this is not a level that I come to all that much unless I'm doing a full-on like replay of the entire game. So, with that being said, I feel quite comfortable placing this one at the end of B tier. And now we get into the bonus levels, starting with Aztec, which is a Moonreaker level. So, obviously, I love this. Moonrakaker is one of my most beloved Bond films of them all. And dual wielding Moon Raker lasers around the space is just an absolute thing of beauty. I just adore how it recreates certain things from the film. Just like this main hall like with all of the computer screens is really nice. And then yeah, just like little things like this corridor like it's just recreated. It's such a small bit of the film that they've the attention to detail I think is super lovely. And then obviously the bit where the table and chairs fold into the floor and the ceiling opens up and then you're underneath the exhausts of the the Moonrakaker uh shuttle. It's just such an impressive moment. I I I really do adore this level. How the more modern elements of the level sort of mesh with some of the more, you know, the the the ancient Aztec uh elements is really nice. I love the boss battle with Jaws as well. That's really fun. This is one of my absolute favorite levels of the game. And so when it comes to ranking it, I have to put it up in the S tier, but I'm just like, oh, I don't I I I'm going to put it ahead of control. I feel good sort of placing it kind of in the middle of the S tier. Like facility train and silo are very special levels to me. And Aztec feels Yeah, it it feels I feel good putting it just after those. And then we come to Egyptian, which is a uh an interesting level, one that I've never particularly gravitated towards. Uh like don't get me wrong, like it it's a nice level showcasing the Golden Gun. The Golden Gun mode in the multiplayer. It's probably my favorite multiplayer mode. Uh it's certainly the one that I played the most when uh I would be hanging out with my friends when we were kids playing this game. It's cool seeing Baron Samade here and it's obviously it's quite nice that you get to kill him like three times because obviously he keeps popping back because he's a voodoo priest and all that but uh I I'm always a bit offput by the fact that like why is this level set in Egypt? Why is Baron Sam in Egypt? In the mission briefings they kind of set these bonus levels up as being almost like sequels to what you see in the movies which I think is quite a nice detail. Obviously Jaw survives in the film so that makes sense for him to be here for you to kill. Baron Samody, depending on how literally you want to take the ending of Live and Let Die, survive. So that's why he can appear here as well. But yeah, I would have figured that like maybe they could have reused some of the jungle assets to kind of create a space that is perhaps a bit more evocative of Live and Let Die where Baron Sam's actually hanging out. Like they could have perhaps you had a bit of like a forest kind of thing and then you get to the graveyard from Live and Let Die where Baron Sam's hanging out. I would have thought that that would have been a bit more of make a bit more sense in that way. This is another one that I just I don't find myself going to it all that much. And then I I do find the I I I guess the the thing with the floor tiles where you need to walk across them in a particular order to actually get access to the golden gun, otherwise the uh auto guns will appear and start shooting at you. Like I guess that's a nice thing. I I don't know. I just I I I find it a bit of a gimmicky kind of level. But uh yeah, this is not one that is going to be troubling any of the upper tiers of my ranking. It's going to be in the D tier. The question is like what's my least favorite level of the game? Is it depo or is it Egyptian? I think it's Egyptian. I am going to go with that at the very bottom of the overall ranking. I'm pretty satisfied with that actually. I think like those S tier levels are all levels that I hold very dear to my heart. Love all of them. A tier as well, like very strong stuff. B tier gets a little bit. They're elements that I quite like, but I just don't find myself replaying them as much as the levels above. C tier, okay, maybe those ones aren't necessarily any of my favorites for a variety of reasons. And then Dtier, yeah, I feel quite comfortable putting and Egyptian at the bottom. They are, yeah, levels that I find uh just kind of underwhelming, I guess, is the word. So, that's my own personal ranking of the levels of Golden Eye N64. Do let me know your own ranking in the comment section below as well as if I'm completely mad for some of these choices. Where are the depot fans at? There must be some out there. Also below links to my various social medias and of course the subscribe button and the Mrs. Bell notification button. So do click those to stay up to date on future video uploads. And with all that being said, until next time, Bond fans. So long for now.