Have you played Goldeneye recently? I have. I grabbed a Nintendo 64, a copy of the game, and a few controllers, hoping to relive some childhood memories with a few friends. Things... didn't go well. We stopped after only a few minutes. The graphics were nearly unbearable; the controls unworkable. It hasn't aged well by any means, and after playing I felt that it was best to just let well enough alone and remember Goldeneye fondly instead of digging around and unearthing the ugly, ugly truth. Activision has other plans. At this year's E3, the publisher announced that Eurocom, developer of Dead Space: Extraction, would be bringing a remake to the Wii (with a DS version in development by n-Space), reinventing the classic game in a form more consumable for the current generation. This means re-imagining the singleplayer and revamping the multiplayer completely.

The way they're going after the singleplayer is actually fairly imaginative. The story is going to be similar, with the same characters and memorable moments. Where it differs is in the Bond. Activision has swapped out the smooth Pierce Brosnan for the gruff Daniel Craig. While it might seem like a small change, it should have rippling effects throughout the entire story, with Craig's Bond handling things in a much more direct way than Brosnan's did. So far, we're still in the dark as to how this might play out, though an early scene showing Craig parachuting off a dam instantly sent nostalgic tingles throughout my entire body.



While information on the singleplayer is scarce, I was able to get some time with what, for many, is the definition of Goldeneye: multiplayer. At E3 2010, four-player split-screen was being shown off, with each player being handed a Classic Controller and set off into the familiar world. At the start, we were able to choose between a number of different classic characters, including Jaws, Scaramanga, and Oddjob. It was like old times. Too much like old times for my liking, at first. After being let down by the original recently, I didn't expect to have much fun at all, instead anticipating something akin to Perfect Dark's XBLA return. Thankfully, the developers have been able to update the gameplay and graphics without sacrificing what makes it Goldeneye. Certain things we've all come to expect from first-person shooters, such as regenerating health and the ability to vault over cover, have been added to the formula, while the weapons all still look much like they did in the original. It's a mix of old and new that works much better than expected.

So far, it appears that Goldeneye 007 is going to be a success. The bad taste of Rogue Agent is gone, the issues with the original game have been swept under the rug, and what's left is something that should feel nostalgic, even if it shouldn't. Activision has done a good job at updating the classic and making a game that feels like the Goldeneye we all remember, even if it's not the Goldeneye it actually was.

Goldeneye 007 is due out for the Wii and DS this fall.