For more than two decades GoldenEye 007 Players have been trying to figure out how to get the fastest time on the toughest level in the game without grabbing an out of the way body armor to help them survive. Turns out all speedrunners Gus Riolo had to skip the body armor and claim the new world record was a bit of trickery.
Based on the movie Mondraker, the Aztec bonus in Gold eye Level requires players to walk through a glove of elite soldiers and towers while waiting for a shuttle to take off. The yellow-clad guards are everywhere, aided by powerful robotic guns that can even be found in the air ducts of the level. It’s a hard level to beat on any of the game’s three levels of difficulty, but especially brutal on the highest, 00 agent. Each enemy hit reduces Mr. Bond’s health by two levels, which means he can take a total of five hits before it’s game over.
As speed running documentary filmmaker Karl Jobst explains in his detailed video on the subject, the only rescue runners had for over 20 years was a piece of body armor that was in one of the level’s ventilation shafts. Grabbing it wasted precious seconds, but it effectively doubles the player’s health, making the last glove easier to survive.
But what if the armor could be skipped? For years, runners have tried to cut their time by skipping armor. The tricky part is that there are sections of the Aztec level where Bond is guaranteed to get hit. More precisely, there is a tower in one of the canals that is guaranteed to mess up a secret agent.
Or it was until a couple of runners discovered a stupid tower trick. Instead of just running straight through the vent and getting shot, players can step forward just enough to get the tower’s attention and then step back, causing it to turn around to chase them. This will give players enough time to walk down the corridor without getting shot. That, in turn, gives players full health leading into the last room speedrunner Gus Riolo used to defeat the New world record for 00 Agent Aztec of 1:34 At the end of last month.
Now that the new Strat has proven itself, it’s only a matter of time before someone else uses it to shave off another second or so. This is what speed running is about looking for new ways to achieve faster times, even when decades of failed attempts suggest that it is not possible.
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