GoldenEye for the Nintendo 64 often gets credited as the catalyst for the multiplayer shooter genre as we know it today. But the game also has a single player campaign that follows the events of the 1995 film, and players have an infatuation with tackling this campaign through non-traditional means.
Just last week, an accomplished musician decided to forgo the controller and complete the first level using a piano. Now, a speedrunner who goes by Goose has taken on an entirely new challenge.
Goose, who has a deep familiarity with the game’s speed run tactics, decided to put them to the test and find out if he could beat the entire GoldenEye campaign without firing a single bullet. In a move that might impress famous Nintendo designer Shigeru Miyamoto, Goose wanted to beat the shooter without shooting.
And for the most part, he succeeded. In a video Goose uploaded to his YouTube channel, he gives a level-by-level walkthrough of the process for tackling each challenge without firing a gun.
Goose relies heavily on the game’s slap mechanic in the run. He frequently charges directly into oncoming fire flailing wildly. For sections that require destroying a lock or a console, he dances around the guards until they pull out a grenade, and then he takes the grenade and uses it to progress. It’s amazing to see that a classic game can be beat in this way, - a task that would have been much harder had the game been released as an on-rails shooter.
While taking on a shooter without shooting is pretty cool, arguably the most interesting part of the run is the one moment where Goose has no choice but to fire his gun. As it turns out, the final door in the first level, Dam, requires the player to destroy a lock in order to progress. While in other parts of the game, the player can pick up a dropped grenade or use enemy fire to do the trick, neither will work in Dam. Enemies in the first level do not use grenades. And in the video, Goose clearly shows enemy fire hitting the lock, but the lock will not break.
So to answer Goose’s question, it seems impossible to beat Goldeneye without firing a single shot. That doesn’t make this feat any less impressive, and it’s worth watching Goose’s tricks as he makes his way through the game. As for that gate, perhaps the speed run community will find a way like when players found a way to beat Super Mario Odyssey without jumping.
More: 10 Unlikely Games We Want on a Nintendo 64 Classic
Source: Nintendo Life