First person shooters have had several titles in their catalog that stand as pillars for the genre.  One of these games is undoubtedly Goldeneye 007.

Surprisingly, the fact that Goldeneye is a James Bond game had little to do with how immersive and gripping it is.  There have been many games after Goldeneye where you get play as James Bond, games built for more technologically sophisticated hardware, but none of them have ever eclipsed the high-bar experience found on Nintendo’s N64.  It's no wonder that Activision is doing its best to see lightning strike twice by releasing a new, updated version of Goldeneye on the Wii. And while we can all remember and reminisce on the never-ending nocturnal hours we spent judo-chopping and sniping our friends into oblivion (Stop watching my screen!) I believe that it is the single-player campaign found in Goldeneye that has more to tell us about how an FPS should be experienced.

The first time I explored the single-player campaign I was shocked at the sheer amount of detail that Rare crammed into the cartridge.  I had played some FPS games before, notably the great-grandfather of the genre, id’s Wolfenstein 3D. And while gunning down Nazis was epic, Goldeneye was the first game that made me feel like I was actually wielding a gun.  For example, if I shot a guard in the hand, he would yelp in pain, dropping his weapon and grip his wound.  If I shot a guard in the head, he would drop to his knees, instantly dead.  My bullet spray would leave holes in the wall, and would unexplainably blow up furniture that got in my way.  In comparison to the Nazis in Wolfenstein that only combusted into a red, pixel filled explosions, shooting the guards in Goldeneye was graphic in a way that no blood or gore was even required to enhance the gaming experience.  I remember vividly  experimenting with this mechanic on an innocent scientist in the Facility level, shooting his hand, foot, and other appendages.  With every bullet shot, he reacted, suffering.  It was here that I felt a strange twinge of guilt, because I was making this poor blocky dude suffer.   It is in these small easily overlooked details where I feel like many FPS games have failed to learn from games like Goldeneye.  Sure, they include stellar multiplayer, awesome weaponry, and sometimes even a great story, but despite it all, I still don’t feel that I am actually wielding a gun, nor do I get the opportunity to question why I am wielding a gun.  Bioshock, another awe-filled FPS touched on this idea by allowing the player to decide whether or not they wanted to harvest the Little Sisters, but as for the rest of the citizenry in Rapture, not shooting at them could not be considered.  Perhaps it is the bad-press that the FPS genre has received in recent years  that has stayed videogame creator’s hands from developing a more immersive killing experience, but I daresay I think that promoting such a simple view of a player gunning down other guys with no consequences is the more frightening choice.  I want to see an FPS that is action-packed and fun, but one that also allows for the opportunity to react at the violence I am creating, and question why I am even doing it in the first place.  Goldeneye made me question, so why am I not questioning while I shoot down my digital foes now?