The Rare-developed GoldenEye 007 for the Nintendo 64 remains one of the most influential console games of all time. It has been rebooted and remade multiple times in the past, but this canceled version of GoldenEye 007 for Xbox 360's Xbox Live Arcade looked to be one of the most promising.
Fans can check out the game in action thanks to a new, 30-minute gameplay video uploaded by Rare Thief, whose name is exactly what it implies. The person behind the YouTube channel and website dedicates themselves to exploring all things developed by Rare, and that includes a number of projects that never officially saw release.
Rather than attempting to radically revolutionize GoldenEye's gameplay, this unfinished and unreleased remake from Rare focused on improving the game's visuals and giving fans a hefty dose of nostalgia while playing. The remake sees the game play at a silky-smooth 60 frames per second, along with vastly updated visuals in the form of updated character models, gun models and breathtaking sky box backgrounds for players to take in. Players could also swap between the improved visuals and those of the original with the press of a button, an impressive feature seen in games like Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary.
Unfortunately, the project never became a reality, despite being mostly finished. Microsoft (the current owner of Rare), Activision (the current owner of the James Bond game license) and Nintendo (which helped publish the original GoldenEye 007) were said to have reached a licensing agreement for the project. The game was in development around 2008 and said to be near completion. However, according to Unseen 64, the plug was pulled on the project when Nintendo failed to give the project the green light at the last minute.
It's really a shame, because as the gameplay video shows, GoldenEye 007 looks great with a modern coat of paint. The full game would have included both split screen and online multiplayer as well, which would have been sure to bring back plenty of memories for fans. Had the remake seen release, it likely would have also appeared in last year's Rare Replay, a collection of older Rare games for the Xbox One. That would have been a treat.
Sadly, this sort of thing happens all the time in the realm of video games. There are countless canceled projects that never get to see the light of day, but at least fans of GoldenEye 007 can use this gameplay video to appreciate what could have been.
