10 Video Game Remakes NO ONE Asked For
Do you want an Until Dawn remake? No? Well, here it is anyway.
Many factors have to be taken into consideration before remaking a video game. How can the property be updated while still maintaining the essence of the original? What elements can be improved upon? Can modern technology be implemented to enhance the gaming experience?
Of course, the most important question to ask is also the simplest - Is the demand still there? Square knew Final Fantasy VII Remake would sell like crazy, since the fanbase have been begging for a reboot for decades. When Resident Evil 2 Remake topped the charts, Capcom got to work on redoing the follow-ups, since interest in the zombie saga peaked.
However, there are times when a publisher or development team decide to give an RPG, platformer, or a shooter a do-over, despite the fact nobody asked for it. When a title is still available on last-gen systems, it comes across as greedy to retool it for the latest console with the mildest tweaks. If the game in question is terrible or if the IP has been dead in the water for years, bringing it back rarely bodes well.
With that in mind, it's bewildering why these ten remakes got the thumbs up when it was crystal clear that nobody wanted them.
10. GoldenEye 007
It's hard to comprehend how impactful GoldenEye 007 was. Thanks to its accessible controls, mission-based gameplay, perfect soundtrack, flawlessly structured levels, and masterful multiplayer, it revolutionised the first-person shooters and proved movie tie-in games could be top-quality. (It also made everyone develop an unbridled hatred for Oddjob.) As a result, Bond enthusiasts were giddy with excitement upon learning GoldenEye 007 was being remade.
Sadly, that elation turned to confusion when it became apparent 2010's GoldenEye 007 was a remake in name only. Daniel Craig was portraying James Bond in the films at the time, so it was decided the martini-guzzling secret agent would be modelled off him instead of Pierce Brosnan.
To further emulate the modern Bond era, this revision removed the banter with Q and Moneypenny prior to missions, since the characters hadn't appeared in the on-screen reboot at the time. Bond's relationship with the main villain, Alec Trevelyan, was completely rewritten, distancing the plot from the source material once again.
Anyone intending to give this GoldenEye 007 a go purely to scratch that nostalgic itch were shocked to learn the levels had been redesigned from the ground up. Basically, the reboot had little resemblance to its N64 counterpart.
Ironically, the game itself was pretty solid. But it was so divorced from what came before, it seemed disingenuous to call it a GoldenEye 007 remake.