Sophistication wasn't what made GoldenEye great. I think the four person multi-player and control accessibility are what made GoldenEye such a big hit. There was something very fluid and "easy" about the controls in GoldenEye. Many of my friends that never played FPS made the jump for that game, and we spent countless hours swearing like sailors as we killed each other in the archives.
I liked it for the fun single player level design mostly. The game engine also paid a lot of attention to details othe fps did not. Different reactions based on where the bullet hits an enemy. Security cameras. Alarms. Stealth sections.
I really enjoyed the music and atmosphere. It really made you feel like you were in a James Bond movie. I also enjoyed all the shout-outs to the old movies too - stuff like the Moonraker level.
Definitely agree that it was the multiplayer that made it a hit.
I had a friend who memorized the respawn pattern for some of the levels in goldeneye. He also memorized paths quick enough from spot to spot to be at the right spot every time you respawned.
He'd only have to kill you once. After that, you'd respawn and meet a bullet in the back of your head, respawn, bullet in the head, respawn, bullet in the head, until endgame.
My friends and I hung a golf club with cardboard hanging from it across the TV so that you couldn't see past your half of the screen in team mode. Suddenly, recognizing the sounds of particular doors became a valued skill.
I didn't memorize the respawn pattern but I knew where all of the respawn spots were, so I'd throw a proximity mine on each one. My friends would be so pissed, they'd respawn and die over and over and over.... ;)
I agree, it was the multi-player which made it the great game it was. I remember my buddies and I made up a game in the Complex map where one person would take what we dubbed "the house" which was an area you could go up and had a vantage point of several areas while the other person had to try and take the "house". It was a good time.
