There’s fresh rumour and speculation that a HD remaster of the classic N64 shooter GoldenEye could be released publicly for Xbox. Eagle-eyed denizens of the internet – such as Wario64 on Twitter – have spotted that Xbox users have been unlocking achievements for a long rumoured Xbox remaster of the game.
This follows on from previous leaks about GoldenEye HD, with achievement tracking site TrueAchievements catching the achievement list and progress being made by a suspected Rare developer. This achievement list gives players the opportunity to earn 1000 Gamerscore through 55 achievements spread across the game’s campaign and multiplayer modes.
A playable version of the GoldenEye HD remaster actually leaked last year and was thrown up onto file sharing sites. Dating back to 2007/8, the remaster was intended for Xbox Live Arcade on the Xbox 360, but ended up being bogged down by licensing issues as Microsoft, Nintendo and the various screen rights holders couldn’t agree terms. In the end, it was Perfect Dark, Rare’s second N64 FPS, that was remastered and released to Xbox Live Arcade, before being included in the Rare Replay collection on Xbox One.
However, there could be a light at the end of the tunnel. The fact that the port leaked and got plenty of positive attention from fans online could have convinced the various parties to come back to the table and talk it through. The game is no longer banned in Germany, and that’s led to simultaneous speculation that GoldenEye could be coming to Nintendo Switch Online’s ‘Expansion Pack’ library of N64 games.
There’s also fresh interest in adapting the James Bond franchise for video games. After the success of the N64 exclusive GoldenEye 007 in 1997, the license passed over to EA until the mid-2000s and the end of the Pierce Brosnan era, whereupon Activision grabbed the license and made a few games in the early Daniel Craig era – their first effort, 007: Quantum of Solace, was perhaps their best. The license went on hiatus after 2012, but it was announced in November 2020 that Hitman developer IO Interactive is working on a wholly original James Bond video game where “players will step into the shoes of the world’s favourite Secret Agent to earn their 00 status in the very first Bond origin story.”
via VGC
