Dam

For the level in the 2010 video game, see Dam (2010).

Overview of the Byelomorye dam, as seen in one of the mission's introductions. This same shot was used to create its mission select photo.

The Byelomorye dam serves as the setting for the first part of Bond's first mission in GoldenEye. It is home to a Soviet military outpost, which protects the chemical warfare facility located at the dam's base.

Overview

The area surrounding the dam is mountainous, Bond must follow a twisting path through the mountains to reach the entrance to the dam. Docks are located on the lake behind the dam, and a small island sits out across the water. A storm drain runs through the dam; it leads to a hidden underground computer station where the records of the facility's transactions are stored on two mainframes.

The area leading up to the dam is heavily protected by guard towers, a pillbox, security gates, and a small security checkpoint. Three guard towers are located on the dam itself and a heavy gun emplacement is located on an island. Guards are stationed all throughout the area surrounding and within the dam, most are stationary but a few have patrol routes.

Goldeneye 007 (Music) - Dam

The Dam music.

Dam Island

The island.

Dam island (also known as "GoldenIsland" by the community) sits out across the lake from the dam and can easily be seen through the fog from any place on the dam. It was the target of many hoaxes that were surrounding it, even more then the 4 Bonds Code. Because of this, it served as a source of mystery for many players until a no clipping GameShark code was used, and it allowed Bond to walk out to the island. One example of these hoaxes in particular is the boat that would take Bond to that Island.

The island has a lone guard tower, unique from the other two styles found in the stage, and a heavy gun emplacement that is part of the stage's background, rather than an object. The GoldenEye Setup Editor reveals that a path network had been in place on the island at one point and a preset still exists for an additional alarm. The island most likely never got beyond the planning stage and only serves as additional detail in the final game.

The island would have been accessed from the docks at the back of the dam; an unused Soviet boat object can be found in the game and a preset exists for its placement at the docks. It is unknown if Bond would have controlled the boat on his trip to the island or if it would have taken him across the water automatically.

"There was talk about being able to drive a boat there, but we never got around to implementing the boat… Development was very freeform and unplanned back then – some things made it in and some didn’t. We really were working out how to do everything as we went along."

-Mark Edmonds, in an interview with MundoRare.

"There was no real objective as such – if I did it today I’d probably have a control for an open water outlet pipe that was blocking Bond’s bungie jump there, so you’d have to go there to turn off the water. I think the original plan was to have a building over there to go and investigate, with armour as a reward. That would have meant a boat ride needed to be coded in, and some of the scenery had gaps in when viewed from the island, so it was too much work. The Dam was one of the more technically difficult levels to get working – Martin ended up hard-coding the chunks of background into the game to get it to turn off scenery correctly and it took him ages!"

-Duncan Botwood, in an interview with MundoRare.

Weapons

Silenced PP7 (Given By Default)

DD44 Dostovei (Russian Commandant)

KF7 Soviet (Siberian Guards (Arkangelsk) and Russian Soldiers)

Sniper Rifle (Found in The Guard Tower)

Gadgets

Covert Modem (Given By Default)

Enemies

Siberian Guard (Arkangelsk)

Russian Soldier

Russian Commandant

Autogun (Drone Gun) (Dam Island) (No function)

Trivia

• While the level has no counterpart in the film (which starts immediately with Bond's running across the Dam and then bungee jumping), it is possibly roughly based on beginning part in the Bond novel Operation GoldenEye, which features a violent confrontation prior to Bond reaching the top of the dam.
• The first area of the map is remade more or less exactly in the Wii Re-Imagining and Reloaded versions.
• It was originally planned that Bond had to ride the truck through the earlier checkpoints as a rail-shooting section (like Japanese Virtua Cop). This was eventually "implemented" into the Wii re-imagining.
• The aforementioned truck ride takes place partly inside a closed tunnel. Though short, it also is referenced in the DS Version, after the ADS Tutorial. The tunnel then leads to two gates with a panel that needs to be activated to open that gate. Only one of the gates can be opened at once, referencing the gate that Bond and the truck go through in the N64 version.
• The crates in the Dam itself contain KF7 Soviets, however these crates will explode if shot.
• The first level of TimeSplitters 2 was also based around a Russian dam; the company that developed the game, Free Radical Design, consisted largely of former employees of Rare who had worked on GoldenEye 007, and the dam level was included as a reference or homage to the Nintendo 64 game.
• The Russian Commandant was originally planned to be Bond's contact, and would provide him something. Perhaps a key for the lock.

Glitches

1. You can shoot through the locked gate leading up to the dam, using the sniper rifle, and the guards won't follow you.
2. Dam is the only singleplayer level where it is possible to trigger the infamous "paintbrush" glitch. To do this, the player must be unarmed when picking up the Sniper Rifle, then cycle back to unarmed again. If done correctly, this will result in a paintbrush-like object appearing instead of the rifle stock. This is actually Bond's arm in mission like Frigate, oriented like the sniper rifle stock.