GoldenEye Bugs

Goldeneye 007 is actually a very well-polished game, but all complex games have bugs and GoldenEye is no exception. For a bug to make this list it has to be somewhat reliably reproducible. Bugs that happen while using GameShark codes don't count.

1. The Paintbrush Glitch

Load up Dam and play as normal up to the first tower. Before picking up the Sniper Rifle switch to Unarmed. As soon as you pick it up press A three times as quickly as you can. If you did it correctly you will now be holding a "paintbrush." What you're actually seeing is Bond's arm in the wrong orientation. If you switch to another weapon then back to Unarmed the bug will fix itself.

2. Lousy Gas Containment

Play Facility and make your way to that out-of-the-way room with the scientists and gas barrels. Place a Remote Mine on some barrels. Leave the room and go back to the hallway. Let the doors close. Detonate the mine. Even though the game says "Gas leak detected - isolating area." the gas has no trouble escaping! The entire level fills with toxic gas and you will pass away if you don't finish the mission very quickly.

3. Wrong Weapon Model

Start any multiplayer game using the Remote Mines or Timed Mines weapon sets. The AR33 pickups will use the KF7 model on the ground. When you pick them up they'll still act like normal AR33s.

4. Softlock: Livin' on the Edge

Turn on Tiny Bond and play Cradle. Make your way to the small platform at the very bottom. Crouch and move off the edge. If you run you may just fall off to your death like normal. If you move more slowly, you will become stuck. You cannot move, look around, pause, or do anything at all. Eventually the Janus Special Forces will come down there and kill you. But with invincibility turned on you will survive forever and there will be no choice but to do a hard reset.

5. Floating Bullet Holes

When you shoot the large windows you escape out of in Archives it creates both a glass bullet hole and a default bullet hole. The real problem though is that once the windows are shot out the default holes stay and additional ones can be made by shooting where the windows used to be. You can also stick mines here, bounce grenades off, etc..

This happens because there is a wall on the other side. The exterior section can be seen in the outro, or you can use the no level endings GameShark code to explore it for yourself.

View from the other side of the windows.

6. Floating Padlock

Turn on All Guns and Infinite Ammo then go to the locked gate in Dam. Destroy the padlock with an explosive weapon such as the Rocket Launcher. You'll be able to open the gate, but the destroyed padlock will remain floating mid-air.

7. Braking Reloads

You cannot reload while looking at any of Train's Brake Units, or even significantly above or below them. Once the brake unit is destroyed this inability to reload is resolved.

8. Frozen Moonrakers

When you defeat Jaws in Aztec three infinitely spawning Moonraker Elites will begin to chase you. Occasionally one of them will just freeze in place. I do not know why this happens, but it happens on both emulator and original hardware.

9. Floating Projectiles

This is probably the most infamous bug in GoldenEye. Load up either Bunker level with All Guns and Infinite Ammo turned on. In the main room place a Remote Mine on each of the overhead monitors then detonate the mines. Now all weapons that launch projectiles will leave their projectiles floating mid-air. This includes Throwing Knives, the Grenade Launcher, the Rocket Launcher, Grenades, Remote Mines, Timed Mines, Proximity Mines, and Tank shells.

This glitch also adds a weapon called Null to your inventory. It uses the Rocket ammo icon, but the weapon has no effect. Null is a programming term used to indicate the intentional absence of any valid value or object reference.

10. Invalid Texture

This bug exists at all times, but the previous glitch makes it much easier to see. The back of the Rocket projectile has an invalid texture ID. Because of this it gets rendered as some other texture loaded in memory. In this video one of the Rockets starts using the blue beam texture when the Watch Laser is fired.

11. Unarmed Guard

Play Dam with All Guns and Infinite Ammo turned on. Allow the truck to get to its final point. Toss a couple Throwing Knives and Remote Mines. Select the Covert Modem and start tossing them until the game won't let you throw any more. Activate the alarm by the Russian Commandant's building. One of the guards who spawns into the level will have no gun.

GoldenEye guards have no melee attack so this poor guard can do nothing but run around.