M79

Lore & Background

The M79 entered U.S. military service in the late 1960s as a lightweight alternative to the heavier M203 under-barrel launcher. Its simple tubular design—a single steel tube with a folding stock and a top-mounted sight—made it easy to deploy and maintain in the field. Soldiers valued its punch: a 40 mm high-explosive round could breach a door, suppress a machine-gun nest, or neutralize a cluster of infantry with a single, deliberate shot. Rare's design team drew on that real-world identity when they built the weapon into GoldenEye 007. In the game's world, Bond picks up the launcher in select levels as part of his rotating weapon cache. The single-shot constraint is not a limitation but a design philosophy: each shot is a commitment. The player must judge range, anticipate enemy positions, and commit to a target before pulling the trigger. The resulting blast—visible as a bright fireball and a ring of shockwave—satisfies the same instinct the M79 was built to serve: maximum effect from a single, well-aimed discharge. Within the broader GoldenEye 007 arsenal, the M79 occupies a deliberate niche. It is less precise than the sniper rifle, less sustained than the machine gun, and less devastating than the RPG, but it excels in the mid-range band where enemies are close enough to threaten but too spread out for a single bullet to finish them. It is the weapon you reach for when a squad is funneling through a doorway and you need them all to stop.

In Their Own Story

The corridor beyond the blast door was narrow, concrete-streaked, and smelled of cordite. Bond cycled the last round into the M79's chamber with a soft metallic click, the folding stock settling against his shoulder. Through the scope's ghost-ring sight he could see three figures huddled behind a concrete barrier, their submachine guns sweeping the gap in lazy arcs. He didn't need three shots. He needed one. He exhaled, let the reticle drift to the gap just above their heads, and squeezed. The tube kicked hard against his shoulder, and the world turned white for a heartbeat. When the dust cleared, the barrier was gone, and so was the need for a fourth round.

Reader's Guide

The M79 Grenade Launcher is a single-shot, medium-range explosive weapon available in select levels of GoldenEye 007. You pick it up from weapon caches scattered throughout a stage; once acquired, it remains in your inventory for the duration of that level. Firing is straightforward: aim with the crosshair and press the fire button to launch a 40 mm explosive round. The round detonates on impact with a wall, floor, ceiling, or enemy, producing a spherical splash-damage zone. Because the weapon is strictly single-shot, a reload animation plays after every discharge, leaving a brief window of vulnerability. Plan your shot accordingly. Best uses: clearing groups of enemies clustered behind cover, destroying destructible crates or barriers to open alternate routes, and suppressing opponents in mid-range corridors where the submachine gun's spread is too wide for reliable hits. The M79 is less effective against single, fast-moving targets at close range, where a shotgun or pistol is more practical, and it cannot match the RPG's raw destructive power against armored vehicles. Tip: aim slightly above or in front of a clustered group so the blast radius catches everyone, and use the launcher to break through destructible walls that reveal shortcut paths or hidden ammo caches.

Did You Know?

• The M79 is strictly single-shot in GoldenEye 007; there is no burst or full-auto mode, and a reload animation plays after every single round.
• The real-world M79 was designed as a lightweight, single-soldier alternative to crew-served automatic grenade launchers, weighing roughly 5.5 kg.
• In GoldenEye 007 the M79 sits between the submachine gun and the RPG in the weapon hierarchy, filling the mid-range area-damage role.
• The M79's 40 mm round in the game can destroy certain environmental objects, opening alternate routes that are otherwise inaccessible.