A remake of the Nintendo 64 classic GoldenEye 007 leaked online and can be played on a computer using an emulator, Video Game Chronicle reports. The game, originally intended for the Xbox 360’s Live Arcade service, features the original single-player campaign, as well as local split-screen multiplayer, but online multiplayer and rankings are apparently lacking. The whole package has received a graphical overhaul, but players can switch back to the original graphics with the push of a button.
The remake was never released, after it was canceled in 2008 because it was completed. According to a report by 1Up at the time now confirmed by VGC, the issue comes down to the large number of right holders for the game. This includes not only Nintendo (publisher of the N64 original), and Microsoft (owner of Rare, the developer of the original game), but also Eon Productions for the licensees, as well as the actors whose parables appear in the game .
Remake footage has surfaced before, including a two-hour gameplay video released just last month, but now the single-player campaign and local multiplayer game can be played for anyone who wants a copy of the ROM on file-sharing sites. and set up an Xbox 360 emulator (Xenia is apparently the way to go here). But if that sounds like a lot of effort, Digital Foundry’s livestream provides an excellent overview of the remaster’s content:
Although this particular GoldenEye 007 remaster has never been released, there are a number of other related projects that have come to light over the years. Although the complexity of the Bond license may have prevented Rare from being recreated Golden Eye, Dit wash can finally release a remake of his spiritual successor, Perfectly dark, on Xbox Live Arcade back in 2010. Perfectly dark was a similar style of play as GoldenEye, and is working on an upgraded version of its engine, but was based on an original IP.
Meanwhile a separate GoldenEye 007 remake was eventually developed by Activision (which had the rights to develop and publish Bond games between 2006 and 2013) and released for the Wii in 2010 (the following year it was transferred to the Xbox 360 and PS3). This remake was generally well received but had little to do with the N64 original. At the time, many noticed that it was more like a Call of Duty game that also happens to be based on the 1995 Bond film, rather than a remake of the 1997 game.
Apart from official projects, a number of attempts have also been made to make remakes of it. GoldenEye 007 over the years. GoldenEye: Source was a remake of the original game’s multiplayer game made in Valve’s Source engine (it can be downloaded here) Golden Eye 25 was an attempt to rebuild the original game’s campaign in Unreal Engine 4 that closed last year.