History

Talking about a turn based strategy game from the 1990's usually makes people think of the great Sid Meier Civilization series. However, there was another great strategy game from that era. You can't find it on a PC, nor a Mac. No this game can be found next to classics such as Monopoly and Risk. It is Mayfair's Settlers of Catan(SoC), a board game that mixes elements from strategy and trading games into a well designed and enjoyable experience which might even be better than the classics mentioned before. In many ways, SoC revitalized interest in new board games and helped launch a so called German Invasion into American Gaming.

Another game that came out at about the same time from across the Atlantic also revitalized it's own genre, although it was a complexly different game. The early 90's saw the birth of a new type of video games, First Person Shooter. Games such as Wolfenstein 3D and Doom were fast and fun. Soon the markets began to fill with clones. That, however, was a problem. Very few new variations on the FPS were being made. The genre was almost becoming stale while still in its infancy. Then a company known as Rare released a video game based on a two year old movie for a gaming system that had trouble keeping up with the new kid on the block. That game was GoldenEye, and it took the FPS world by storm by offering a single player mode that was not all about using big guns and lots of ammo, but also about thinking and even some stealth. More importantly was its multiplayer mode which caused the birth of countless other 4 person deathmatch video games, including this reviewers favorite, Halo.

Story

So how does one compare these two completely different games? By looking at what made each one so fun and addicting and how the other game compares to it. Lets start off with some basics, like story. In GoldenEye the story is based on the movie with a few liberties and added missions. The story is told through mission briefings given before each level. In these briefings you would also learn what your objectives were, what items(what’s James Bond without the gadgets?) you would have to use and even some hints. Some of it is told in game, but very little. This isn’t Half Life. The story isn't very deep and the extra missions don't fit the main story line, but for it's time it was good enough. Also, the multiplayer mode is where most of the fun was and with that there was no story. The story behind SoC is simple, you and the other players are all colonists on a newly discovered island of Catan. You want to become the ruler of the Island and in order to do that you have to out build your opponents. Not very deep, but this is a board game. We might want and even expect movie like scripts in video games now, but board games are still except. Who wants to read a book before playing a board game? Just tell us why we are there and why we are trying to accomplish the game's objectives and we are good.

Objectives

That brings us to our next part. The objectives. Obviously the objectives for these two games are wildly different. Yes, in both the objective is to win, but in what game isn't that the case. In SoC the objective is to gain 10 victory points first. How do you do that? By building towns, road and cities, but more on that later. In GoldenEye, there are many objectives. The main one is to survive every level and beat the game, but within each level there are other objectives. Like in the mission “Silo” which takes place in a Russian Missile Silo, you have to place explosives on different fuel storages, find components for a satellite being built there, take pictures of the satellite and minimize the amount of scientist casualties. All under a time limit. Try to find something like that in Doom. While there is a range of different objectives, none of them are really difficult (with the possible exception of protecting Natalie in the later levels) so that you almost never be stuck on one objective. Typically the difficulty comes from doing those objectives while trying to survive. So what do you do when you finished those objectives? Beat it on medium and hard difficulty and you will unlock secret levels. Beat missions on certain difficulty in a certain time limit and you unlock cheat codes like All Weapons. If that’s not enough, there’s also the multiplayer games. Get the most kills. Die the least. Kill the man with Golden Gun. These are only some of the many objectives that exist.

Procedures

Now how does one help James Bond dodge all those bullets? With a very easy control setup. Move with analog, fire with the z-button, move through weapons with A button, reload and other actions with B and some more which can be easily picked up in a couple of minutes with no need for a manual. Controls like GoldenEye help give console FPS players something to hold against their mouse using brethren. SoC is a board game, so there is of course no real user interface issues.

Ok, now you know how to move Bond, but what can you do with him? Well, as it turns out in one of games maybe only disappointments, not much. You can’t jump, swim or any other complicated maneuvers. However, during the game you won’t miss them very much. Basically all you need to do is move around, shooting people who will shoot back at you if they see you(fun little extra: try shooting a scientist in the legs, preferably after you have beaten the level once. They aren’t as unarmed as the look). Also of note here is the AI. While considered advance for its time, its shown its age more than any other part of the game. Shoot one enemy dead, and the guy standing next to him might not even notice. Go into a room, close the door and have a machine gun ready. The enemies will keep piling in and you can keep shooting them dead. Still, its not bad enough to deter from the greatness of the game. If you need to use a special gadget, just arm it as if it were a weapon and shoot. There was a tank that could be used in two levels, but don’t expect anything like the Scorpion tank from Halo.

The multiplayer came is pretty much the same, except replace the AI with three of your friends and you have yourself an almost never ending frag fest. There are many different modes, ranging from least deaths to most kills being the objective, and a great selection of weapons, levels and characters. The multiplayer mode works so well that even after hours and hours of play you barely feel discomfort in your hands.

SoC procedures are even easier. The manual explains everything in a clear and direct way, so there’s no arguing over what a rule means. For set up, you create the board randomly, which makes each game different from the one before. The game consists of 19 land pieces and several water pieces. Each land piece has one of four resources on it, wood, ore, brick or sheep. There are 18 number tiles that represent the numbers 2-12 excluding 7. Each player sets up two villages and roads in a first to last then last to first order. On a players turn they roll the dice and whoever has a village on a hex that has a number tile that matches the dice total gets one of those resources. Players can than use those resources in order to buy more roads, villages, improvements to cities or development cards, a sort of community chest card that rewards the player with some special ability or simply with a victory point. Another thing that the resources can be used for, and what makes the game fun, is trading. Suppose that you have 6 sheep, but you need brick. Well, if you want you can trade in 4 sheep for one brick with the bank, or if your lucky and have the sheep depot(a special water hex) then you can do it for only two sheep. Or you could try to trade with the other players, which is really where strategy comes into play. Who do you trade with and for how much? Do you help the person whose winning simply because you need a certain resource? Will you help someone who has helped you in the past or trade with the person offering you the most in return?

All of that would make for a good game, but the designers added an extra element which can help destroy any sort of trade agreements you have with another player. Every time someone rolls a seven, they can move the robber piece. The robber is an npc which simply stops production at which ever hex he is placed. Do have a near monopoly on wheat except for one other hex? Put the robber there, and people will start being forced to trade with you. One player seeming to run away with the game? Place the robber on his most vital hex and bring him back to the playing field. Just remember, what goes around often comes around. Additionally, the robber prevents people from hoarding resources. Anyone who has more than 7 resources when a 7 is rolled must give up half of them. This encourages spending and puts the resources back in play.

A/V

How do the games look and sound? Again, SoC is a board game, so the pieces could simply say brick and wood on them and it would still be fun. That being said, the art on the hexes isn’t bad and brings a little bit of extra life into the game. There is no sound in the game, except for the constant talk of trading and people trying to convince you not to trade with that person. GoldenEye’s graphics depend on how you look at them. Look at them from today, and of course they are poor, but when the game came out, they were very crisp and smooth. Also, the graphics aren’t trying to do things they can’t(one of my problems with its so called sequel Perfect Dark), which means that the graphics aren’t going to turn you off it you want to play. Framerate can suffer in multiplayer mode, but I barely even noticed. Compared to some of the problems found in Perfect Dark the framerate problems are non existent. GoldenEye has no voice acting, again with the exception of Conker’s Bad Fur Day, almost no game on N64 did. The game sounds were nice and the guns seemed real. Music was classic Bond and really added to the gameplay..

Gameplay

Gameplay is the most important part of any game. It’s about how all the parts come together. Is the game fun to play? When considering how well these two gameplay features work, there are three things that need to be considered. How easy is it to learn and become competitive in the game? How fun is it the first three times? How fun is it the 20^th time? As I have already said, both SoC and GoldenEye have easy to understand procedures and controls. A few minutes into either game and you will know the basics. In GoldenEye, knowing the basics won’t help you against a seasoned player who has acquired great skill from repeating play. There is a handicap feature that can help level the playing field, but still, a skilled player will win almost all the matches over a newbie. In SoC a newbie can win their first game. However, strategic elements to game can give a seasoned player an edge. While a newbie needs luck on their side in order to win, a veteran can overcome bad luck. Still a newbie will not be blown away, often getting 7-9 victory points. The game is amazingly balanced, yet still fun. As for the first 5 plays, both games can keep the players interested. While a newbie of GoldenEye will not even come close to winning in most cases, the sheer fun of the dynamics of the game make it enjoyable. Each time you play you can set your own objectives such as always improve the number of kills. In SoC every player has a chance of victory, and unlike some games like Monopoly which are really over long before the game officially ends, there is often no way of know who is going to win until the last play, How do the games play months or years after the first playing experience? GoldenEye’s single player mode can be a little boring after awhile, even with all the extra things that can be obtained. However, the multiplayer mode almost never gets old. Eventually almost all players will reach their peaks and the playing field can be very level which makes the game far more interesting. In SoC, the game is short enough that it doesn’t take long to get to the 20^th game. The more you play, the more you can fine tune your strategy, but the more others can fine tune their strategy against you. Plus, usually the first time around people are afraid to trade away their resources. After a few games, trading becomes one of the main sources of resources. In fact, in some games each turn can take 5-10 minutes with just people trying to argue why the person should trade with them and not with another player. And since the game board is randomly generated, there’s almost always something new and different. Plus if you get board, there are many different expansion packs and variations that can make the game seem new again.

Final Thoughts

So how good were these games? GoldenEye was one of if not the best game on N64. But what about Zelda: Orcania of Time? Great game as well. Its single player could easily beat almost any single player game ever created. So why does GoldenEye get the top honors. When the PS and N64 war was over, the PS won supreme and it did so by having countless more games than N64, as well as having better graphics and sound. So what did N64 having going for it? 4 controller ports vs 2 controller ports. So while my friends who owned PS could throw countless single player games in my face, it was in my basement where my friends and I spent countless nights racking up the kills in GoldenEye. For years, this games easy controllers and fast pace ruled my N64. The many different possibilities for multiplayer modes kept my friends coming back. The single player mode did get boring after a few times through, but that doesn’t matter since multiplayer is where most time is spent. While the graphics, sound and even controls seem dated when compared to something like Halo, it can still be an extremely fun experience to go back and replay the classic. The only downside that really holds the game back is the stupid AI, which again only comes into play in single player mode.

As for SoC? It’s my favorite or second favorite board game. I am very partial to Risk. However, I don’t find myself with a lot of free time, which Risk consumes aggressively. Also, Risk is a very involved game where it takes time for people to learn good strategy. SoC is easy to pick up, so even if your friends don’t want to learn how to play a new game, they can easily be taught SoC. It’s balance of luck and strategy keeps the game fair while still rewarding those who think more. While its strategic element isn’t as strong as a game such as Risk, there’s still enough to keep even adult gamers entertained, while its not to mind boggling for little kids. Perfect Mix.