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It was one of the most popular and iconic games of the 1990s, now some of the design team have admitted to a long-held fan theory – playing as Oddjob in Goldeneye was “cheating”.
Released on the Nintendo 64 in 1997, GoldenEye, a 3D shooter gaming remake of the Bond film of the same name starring Pierce Brosnan, has since become a cult piece of software in gaming circles.
Many have been convinced for years that if you played the game’s multiplayer mode as classic henchman Oddjob, you had an advantage because his short stature meant he was below the crosshair’s of the game’s auto-aim feature. Now the game’s designers have confirmed this was true.
So the creators of Goldeneye 64 have officially stated that playing Oddjob is considered "cheating".
SO you may need to call up any friends from elementary school to win an old argument.
— Joshua Ovenshire (@TheJovenshire) August 22, 2018
heres for an #UnpopularOpinion playing Oddjob isn't cheating no matter what Rare says 21 years after release…If its in the game its in the game #Goldeneye
— masterninja (@masterninja) August 24, 2018
Speaking to Mel Magazine, the game’s lead environment artist Karl Hilton revealed the team realised after adding Oddjob that he was more difficult to shoot because of his size, but it amused the developers so much they decided to leave it in.
“We all thought it was kind of cheating when we were play-testing with Oddjob, but it was too much fun to take out and there was no impetus from any of us to change it,” he said.
“It’s clearly become part of the culture and folklore of the game — I noticed playing GoldenEye as Oddjob was mentioned in Ready Player One, so ultimately, I think it’s fine.”
Just to make the point, gameplay programmer Mark Edmonds then followed up with “it’s definitely cheating to play as Oddjob”.
Anyone who lost a multiplayer game against Oddjob is therefore now able to claim it null and void and demand a rematch.
