No, Mr. Bond, I want to be Oddjob!
One debate that has raged over the last 21 years is whether or not picking Oddjob in GoldenEye 007 was considered cheating. The guy is shorter than every other character in the game, so he clearly as an advantage due to the game’s poor lock-on system. While we all likely have an opinion on the matter, the only way this argument was ever going to be put to bed was if one of the developers chimed in. That exact scenario has just happened, as not just one, but two ex-Rare devs have stated that they’ve always believed Oddjob was cheating in the game’s hit multiplayer mode.
Speaking with Mel Magazine in an interview on the history of GoldenEye 007, Karl Hilton (Lead Environment Artist) and Mark Edmonds (Gameplay and Engine Programmer) made their stances abundantly clear: Oddjob is most certainly cheating. Both agree that it is part of the charm of his character, but he definitely has an unfair advantage when versing your friends.
When discussing the various mutations one can do with GoldenEye 007’s multiplayer options, Hilton stated, “We all thought it was kind of cheating when we were play-testing with Oddjob [due to his short stature, the auto-aim of the weapons goes above his head], but it was too much fun to take out and there was no impetus from any of us to change it.” Hilton then points out how the character even made an appearance in Ready Player One, so his legacy is likely to stick around long past any of us.
Edmonds then chimed in to agree with Hilton. “It’s definitely cheating to play as Oddjob!,” Edmonds said, “But that can just add to the fun when you’re all sitting there next to each other and berating/poking/hitting the person who chooses him. Personally, I like to pick Jaws and then beat the person with Oddjob just to show them!”
The rest of the interview, which features Chris Kohler (Features Editor for Kotaku), David Doak (Developer on GoldenEye 007) and Mitchell K. (Head of GoldenEye modding site GoldenEyeVault.com), goes over how the game came to be and the ambitions that Rare had for creating the ultimate James Bond fan project. It may not be chock full of brand new information, but it definitely makes for an interesting read.
An Oral History of ‘GoldenEye 007’ on theN64 [Mel Magazine]