All of the world record times for each stage of GoldenEye 007, on Agent difficulty, were set more than 12 years ago and Dam, the first stage, is the oldest of them all. Yesterday, that time was beaten.
Dam, Agent difficulty, was run in 53 seconds by Bryan Bosshardt on Sept. 27, 2002. Karl Jobst ran it in 52 seconds on Dec. 2, 2017, which you can see above.
It’s a seven-minute video but the payoff comes 1:48 in when Jobst gets the official word from the game itself: 52 seconds. GoldenEye is a speedrunning mainstay, and this mark has been akin to the sub-four minute mile, multiplied by breaking the sound barrier.
Jobst’s success comes down to a true blink-of-an-eye instant: as he’s strafing to the gate (GoldenEye speedrunners put the camera in a corner of the screen as they move so the game renders faster) he blasts the lock off and from there sprints to victory, gracefully tiptoeing up the steps to the final plunge.
Jobst has no idea what his time is until he gets the final report, which is as drawn out and dramatically fulfilling as the reading of Sir Roger Bannister’s 3:59.4 mile. His reaction is pure speedrunning catharsis. The chat screen pinwheels with congratulations and someone enters the room, gives Jobst a celebratory kiss and rubs his back.
“I’m just shaking, this is insane,” Jobst says as someone immediately donates $52 to his stream (nice touch). “I can’t just ... like, I’m pins and needles.”
Speed Demos Archive (the organization behind Awesome Games Done Quick and Summer Games Done Quick) as of now recognizes Bosshardt’s 53 seconds as the record for Dam on Agent difficulty. Speedrun.com likewise lists 12 with 53-second Dam Agent runs. The-Elite.net, featured in the following video, already recognizes Jobst’s 52 second run — and 127 others with 53-second marks, oldest among them Bosshardt.
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