Goldeneye 007 Tutorial: Statue Agent
This is a tutorial for Goldeneye 007. For an outline of the strategies used in this tutorial, see the main level page.
Walkthrough
This level might seem pretty straight forward to run at first once you know the fastest route, but knowing the fastest route actually isn't what will bother you the most. There are three parts of this level which makes it not so straight forward: The Val-strafe, the Trev Shot and the random appearance of the flight recorder. The objectives are the same for all difficulties, hence, the same strat will be used for each.
It is strongly recommended that you study a video of a Statue run in order to learn the correct route and strafing lines. However, here’s a brief explanation. You should wait out both cinemas, since this will increase your chances of boost(s) in the beginning. Also, you may choose to smoothly kill the first guard (assuming you waited out cinemas) and pick up his KF7 which you can use later on. Note that you will lose a considerable amount of time doing the “KF7-strat” so it is not advisable considering the standard “PP7-strat” isn't much harder. You start out in left strafe and go along the left side of the slope, to the left of the white statue, along the red statue and through the small opening between the two blocks. Continue on until you get to the block before the dumpster and change to right strafe just as you pass the block. Strafe passed the corner of the dumpster and turn left around the little “hill”. Do a sharp turn around the end of the red dumpster and just as you meet Valentin, immediately start alternating right- and left strafe while slowly moving backwards. This makes you able to “lure” him towards you and is known as the “Val-strafe”. It is a bit tricky to pull off at first, but the amount of time saved makes it a crucial part of the strat. To strafe him as far as possible you should do a sharp turn around the first corner and attempt to strafe him in a straight line upwards the slope. You will need to watch a video to get a further understanding of the Val-strafing (how long and where to strafe), and on top of that a lot of practice of course.
A lot of people complain about their lack in the ability to do the actual Val-strafing, that they aren't able to get him far enough and thus are not able to get a good time. The fact is, however, that what's more important is the ability to time the leaving right. When Valentin starts his sentence “Now I must leave …” you can either try counting approximately 4 seconds or count about 4-5 side strafes before you leave. You should see "OBJECTIVE A COMPLETED" up to a couple of seconds after you leave. If it fails, just start over again and try improving your timing.
Left strafe towards the opening of the area where you will meet Janus (Trevelyan) by the statue. Keep to the right wall, still left strafe towards the statue and touch it as soon as possible to trigger the Trevelyan appearance, then quickly turn around and position yourself slightly forward and to the left, on the separation of the green and brown part of the ground. Aim directly to the left of the nearest block where Trevelyan will appear and at the exact moment you see him appear, do one quick shot at him. This, clearly, is the Trev Shot and will make him start talking earlier (saving somewhere up to 6 seconds)! The difficulty about this is that the amount of damage you inflict will affect Trevelyan's reaction, which means that only certain parts of his body are ideal to hit in order to make him start talking immediately (known as a “good Trev” or simply a “good Trev-shot”). This is the reason why the Agent difficulty actually is a lot harder to speedrun than SA and 00; you are more likely to either kill him or hit him in a way that fails the objective. Also worth taking a note of is that using a dot will make this part a lot easier. Or if you wish, you can perform the KF7 strat, by picking the rifle up in the beginning and use zoom-aiming to hit Trevelyan although you will lose time on this. You are destined to fail the Trev-shot more than often, and whenever you do, simply restart the level as there is no point in continuing. Just as a little sidenote: a 1:08 quitout at the moment you fail the Trev-shot is required here to have any chance at the WR.
After a successful Trev Shot, you should see his first line appear shortly after. There are various outcomes here, and he might sometimes spend longer time and not start talking immediately. This depends on his recovery from being shot. Keep in mind that for a shot at the WR you will need to do the Trev-shot at the exact moment you see him and he must recover from the shot and start talking instantly. Switch to unarmed and turn around after you fired a shot and start left-strafing into the front of the statue. Wait out until the moment Bond starts his line (“Alec? You're Janus?”), then, to time your leaving, start slapping and wait out 5 slaps before you immediately start right-strafing along the same line you came. Hopefully you will be boosted by the shotgun bearing guards up to two times while strafing towards the opening you came.
The route you will use to get back to the beginning of the level, where Natalya is now, is with a few exceptions the same as where you came (watch a video!). Now when you are at the slope back in the beginning, move upwards and smoothly strafe along the right side of the chopper to save Natalya and trigger the proximity fuse which will leave 15 seconds left. Strafe towards the gate, open it, and right-strafe back to the right of the block where you spawn. Go down the slope towards the right side of the nearest white statue. Behind this statue is one of the six possible flight recorder (FR) locations and it is the only one you will check when speedrunning. The FR appearance is totally random, and is definitely, along with the Trev-shot, what makes a good run very hard to complete on this level. The FR will not appear until the timer has run down, and the important thing is that you time it very precisely without ever stopping the strafe. You should be at the FR location just as the timer runs out, if not even slightly passed it. You will usually not be able to actually see the yellow box appear in front of you. The only indication you get on doing it right is that you hear a subtle beep and Obj. E completes. Continue right-strafing upwards the slope again and strafe just to the left of the corner on the block where you spawn. Now alter your course slightly to the right and move towards the exit gate which should be open still. Exit the level and see what time you got, or what a fantastic time you would have gotten if it wasn't for the flight recorder.
As a final note, you are almost guaranteed to spend numerous hours on this if you are going for a good time/WR utilizing the Trev-shot. You really don't have a lot of odds on your side when it comes to completing a good run. It is also important to be quite consistent and be able to keep your composure throughout the rest of the run once you get a good Trev. There are a lot of edges you can get stuck on, but at the same time you will most definitely need to roam every one of them.
