Hands On: GoldenEye 007 (2010)

There were big cheers from the crowd in the Nokia Theater on Tuesday when Nintendo announced the return of GoldenEye 007 later this year from Activision. The title, often credited for launching the console first-person shooter genre, GoldenEye holds a special place in the hearts of gamers. In the past couple years, there have been rumours of where this game might surface.

When Perfect Dark arrived on Xbox Live Arcade earlier this year, it contained a number of GoldenEye multiplayer maps and weapons, suggesting a full game might be just around the corner.

But rather than Xbox, we’ll be seeing GoldenEye completely revamped for the Wii and DS. And while it pays strong homage to the original game, there are a number of changes including Daniel Craig replacing Pierce Brosnan, sexier graphics and nicely improved gameplay. So how did my first 10 minutes of this new game feel today?

If you’ve ever returned to your N64 to relive the glory of your GoldenEye days of yore, no doubt you noticed how painful it is to play the 1997 original. Single and multiplayer is chunky, slow and–simply put–painful to play.

Fortunately, Activision’s new version recognizes that the FPS genre has changed in 13 years. The updated gameplay (Nintendo recommends using the larger old-school winged controller for the Wii) is quick and easy to pick up. Characters can now easily duck, vault over barriers, switch weapons and attack. In just ten minutes, we were running around, dodging and shooting each other like the old days.

Four-player split screen is back in great form. It pushes all my nostalgia buttons and brings back the joy of four players fighting around a golden gun.

Right now, Activision will only confirm that there are 8 original characters, multiplayer maps, online play and that the game will follow the original movie quite closely–except with a bit of actor revisionism with Mr. Craig taking the title role.