How do you solve the problem of updating one of the most revered console franchises of all time and making it relevant for a whole new generation of consoles and gamers? Personally I’d suggest the best way would be to just not bother, avoiding desecrating the memory in the process, but Activision would clearly disagree.
According to Eurogamer, Activision are all set to reveal GoldenEye at this years E3, which kicks off in Los Angeles on June 15th, although it’s currently unclear whether the new title will be a full remake, a re-imagining or a totally new adventure. The name does however suggest the game will be tied to the seminal N64 classic in some way, and given that Activision are involved, it might be naive to rule out a full remake or cash in just yet.
What we do already know is that the game will appear on both the Wii and DS, with development being handled by Eurocom and n-Space, who look set to share development duties across their respective UK and US studio’s. Although Eurocom’s back catalogue reads like a list of largely terrible movie spin-offs and cash in’s, they did work on the rather good Dead Space: Extraction for Wii, offering some slight hope for GoldenEye. n-Space have previously been responsible for a string of Duke Nukem and Rugrats games, whilst also heading up responsibility for porting several console franchises to the DS; notably the Call of Duty franchise.
Looking on the bright side, this could work.. I guess? GoldenEye hasn’t aged particularly well, and 13 years worth of console FPS’ have surpassed many of the features that made the original such a groundbreaking experience. Having said that, the combination of the Wii controller and Eurocom’s experience of making that work so well in the past could be crucial. Then again, Activision are involved..
Email the author of this post at matc@tap-repeatedly.com.
You see Matchew, Me and Gregg (we’re both here) think Golden Eye has aged well (like Liz Hurley- she must be about 80 by now?) I could guarantee it would still stand toe to toe next to Killzone or any of the other dross that lauds its way onto our home consoles. Sure, it might not have the graphical panache of modern counterparts, but under the hood it is still timeless.
Oh, and the multi player was fucking awesome at the time!
p.s <3 Perfect Dark too! (I've finished both)
Meh, each to their own, but when me and some friends went back to it (including the multiplayer) I thought it had aged terribly.. just couldn’t get to grips with it.
Also, I’m not sure you mentioned Killzone there. Naturally, my comment was related to the good console FPS games, not the distinctly average ones. Personally, that’s where I can see Activision dumping any sort of remake of GoldenEye.. with the rest of the average FPS. Is that what you want for a new GoldenEye?
I’ve got to say Mat, I haven’t played GoldenEye in years but I just seem to remember it being very similar, mechanically, to TimeSplitters 2 which me and a friend have had a riot on in recent years. The thing is with GoldenEye was that it handled nearly every single thing it did really, really well. Levels were very well designed, pretty damn big and layered with great objectives, they had alarm systems, usable security cameras, in some cases vehicles, great enemy encounters with appropriately dumb AI, stealth was very well executed, a great health/shield system, reduced weapon carriage so you had to be selective, dual weapons, neat gadgets, context sensitive body damage/animations (which still aren’t used in most games) and above all, the controls were slick and fluid. Granted, these elements might not be anywhere near as polished now as they were back then but the game was well ahead of its time and in some cases still is because of all the things above.
I don’t believe for a second that they could come close to what GoldenEye vets would expect from a remake/spin-off, coupling that with the rosy blush of nostalgia, it’s a tall order. Merely calling it ‘GoldenEye’ kicks a leg out from underneath it straight away. I’d like to be proven wrong but I can almost hear the cash cow mooing over the horizon…
Anyone remember Goldeneye: Rogue Agent? Of course not.
Good to see how that AAA only strategy is shaping up. I guess Activision hated being one of only two publishers that made money last year.
No remake could match what GoldenEye did for N64 and console shooters (far more than Halo, IMHO) in general. This is an obvious, and particularly pathetic, cash grab attempt. Give gamers more credit, Activision. A 14 year old Bond redux?
Gregg, I agree with absolutely everything you said. I didn’t even own an N64 but played plenty of GoldenEye multiplayer at friends etc. It was an absolute riot and at the time, a truly groundbreaking experience.. one that layed so, so many of the foundations for which the modern console FPS is built on.
But that was over a decade ago, and times have moved on. Like I said, the last time me and some friends went back to the game, we pretty much agreed that it had aged pretty badly, and of my friends I’m pretty much the only one geeky enough to know what sort of standard even your average FPS plays like nowadays. It’s not even to do with it simply being old, either. We played a hell of alot more Mario Kart 64 around that same time period than we did the recently released Mario Kart Wii..
GoldenEye on the N64 was an exceptional title.. genuinely innovative and a trend setter for others to follow (I’m a fellow lover of Timesplitters, also). Will a Wii version stack up? No, I don’t think it will, and to that end I think this stinks of a pretty cheap cash in. Eurocom’s involvement might ensure that it’s at least a decent game, but that little dose of Rare magic might well prevent it from being a great one.
I’d be happy if they released the old game as is, for the PS3. Slap $19.99 on it, and make it downloadable via PSN. I’d gobble it up with gusto.
If they do a re-make, let’s hope that the original comes bundled with it.
@Mat: May I ask out of curiosity what had aged badly about it, aside from the graphics? Indulge me! 😉
Gregg, I’d love to give you a full technical break down, but honestly, I think that’s beyond me at this point. The gap between my 2 periods of playing Goldeneye were about 11 years.. and it’s been a couple more since I last went back to it (and I was slightly drunk).
I just thought the game felt dated. A silly thing to say about a game which IS dated I admit but.. to sit and play the game felt different (and worse) in too many ways than my head remembered. I thought the aiming and combat generally felt quite off, and the gameplay quite sluggish..
Like I say, perhaps the most illustrative point was that the group of friends I was playing with, who played the game more than I did on the N64, agreed that it hadn’t held up particularly well, and wasn’t anywhere near as fun to play in 2010 as, say, Mario Kart N64 was. They aren’t the sort of people who are overly familiar with the graphical prowess of Killzone, or the multiplayer of Halo or Bad Company 2.. seeing games like that on a daily basis.
In truth I didn’t own an N64 either and usually played it round at friends’ houses as well but I can understand the controls thing because when me and my girlfriend went down to the Game On exhibition in London a few years ago they had Mario Kart on the SNES on show and it just felt horrendous yet it didn’t seem any worse than I remember it. It was just sort of, sluggish, like you say.
Thinking back, I don’t remember GoldenEye’s framerate being spectacularly high so perhaps that accounts for the sluggish gameplay there.