You Can Now Play 'Goldeneye' On PC With Modern Graphics
No N64 controller required.
If you’ve ever missed the fun of huddling around a TV with friends for a hectic game of Goldeneye deathmatch, you’re in luck: the cherished N64 classic and possible bane of your (or your enemies’) existence is now once again playable, for free, on PC.
Well, most of it is. As a mod for Half-Life 2, the long-in-development Goldeneye: Source includes a full spate of multiplayer, with 25 maps, 10 multiplayer modes, completely reworked weapons and other major tweaks, including a redesigned multiplayer-friendly version of the game’s iconic Dam opening level. The unofficial fan project started development a decade ago, and it doesn’t include single-player – the team apparently just doesn’t have the resources for that.
The absence doesn’t matter that much. As a modern multiplayer conversion, Goldeneye looks like a loving recreation – seeing the in-game shots of levels like Aztec or Facility really bring back a lot of memories, and might even trick your brain into misremembering how the original incarnations looked in the good old days. (Pretty bad.)
Interestingly, despite improvements to gameplay, the design also appears to stick pretty close to the original, kludgy aiming included — you won’t find iron-sights here. Note that FAQ section on the mod’s site says players can still take more than one headshot, as per the original. Some things never change.
This isn’t the game’s first release either. The project left beta in 2010 and has seen incremental updates over the years, but has been quiet since 2013. Without single-player, the new version 5.0 release is probably close to the finished version, minus any upkeep.
Goldeneye has been revived elsewhere as well – Activision released a remake with more modern sensibilities for the Wii in 2010, only weirdly replacing Pierce Brosnan with Daniel Craig, who must’ve been thrilled to have to do voiceover for a game. The remake was ported to HD consoles in 2011. In any case, if you can’t find Goldeneye Source on Steam, that’s probably why.
