2nd November 2010 - Very few games in the history of video games are put on a pedestal like the original Goldeneye on the Nintendo 64. It was the game that dragged the FPS genre from the PC realm into the realm of console gamers everywhere, from a mouse and keyboard to the humble controller.
So it is with some trepidation that I go into the re-imagining of Goldeneye on Wii. I mean what if they rip it off the pedestal and jump up and down on it? What if it doesn’t translate into the new generation well? I mean we have Call of Duty and Medal of Honour and Halo now, they are the benchmark in FPS. Have we moved on from the simple yet addictive multiplayer that was grenade launchers in the facility?
The challenge for Eurocom is massive, they have to take a game that is 13 years old and somehow make it fresh enough for us to buy it but not forget why we are buying it in the first place. We want to experience the feeling that Goldeneye gave us all those years ago. We want our kids and the new generation of gamers to experience what we experienced, we want to be able to say grenade launchers in the facility and watch them look up and to the left and smile and nod knowingly whilst you know they are thinking about a classic match they once had.
A lot has been said about the demise of Peirce Brosnan, at the moment I am willing to give them the benefit of the doubt, what if it is part of what is making it fresh and slightly different from the original? The addition of online was a must for this generation, but I am glad they kept the split screen action for the Goldeneye purists, like me, who will be getting the mates around for a few beers and some nostalgic killings, if only I could plug an N64 controller into my Wii!!!!
Part of me doesn’t want this to be in the same vain as Medal of Honour or Battlefield, I don’t want them to be concentrating on graphics (as long as they are adequate) and whose face is on the character model, I want them to be concentrating on squeezing as much fun as they can into it and then let me get the fun out of it. In my opinion if it isn’t as fun as the original they will have failed.
So dust off the old 34cm TV, practice your best 1 liner and get in contact with all your old mates (I did). You know the drill guys 1 shot 1 kill, first to ten, paintballs on and you can’t use Odd job, it’s time to die bitches!!!!!
Article By Michael Brennan