A few days after footage of the GoldenEye 007 remaster for the Xbox 360 appeared online, a ROM of it surfaced on the internet. It is a slightly modified build compared to those images, but the game is playable.
The game runs on modded Xbox 360 consoles and the Xenia emulator. The game also ran on the latter when the images from a week ago were recorded. According to Ars Technica , who was one of the first to own the rom, some quality of life patches have been made for the game.
For example, it now has support for 21: 9 resolutions and several minor bugs have been fixed. Inoperative parts such as the online multiplayer menu are also hidden. Local split-screen multiplayer will work as usual.
This remaster of GoldenEye 007 should have been released for the Xbox 360 in 2007, ten years after the original. The resolution would be increased and the game would run at 60fps. Despite the fact that Rare was obviously very far with the development of the game, it never came out. This was based on the fact that there were a lot of parties involved in the game, who all had to give their approval.
These included Nintendo, Microsoft and Rare, Activision, production company Eon and the actors portrayed in the game. Xbox CEO Phil Spencer called the situation in 2015 “challenging” and stated that they “always gave up” on this front.
Sometime around the time the rom first appeared online, Ars Technica published an extensive ‘review’ of the remaster. The site is very positive about the technical condition of the game and the fun. Video Games Chronicle calls it ‘the best remaster you probably won’t play’.
David Doak, author of the original game for the Nintendo 64, says to the BBC that it is “heartening that people have such fond memories of the game and still enjoy it so much.”
