Last week a friend or mine persuaded me to spend £25 of my hard earned cash on a copy of the popular PC game Half Life 2. I don’t normally play PC games, I’m more of a console man but there was a reason behind ordering this and it wasn’t for the original highly acclaimed game.

Some extremely clever programmers have made a modification/add-on for Half Life 2 which allows people to play the Nintendo 64 classic GoldenEye. It’s not just a bit of a jumped up version of the 1997 classic either, this mod entitled “GoldenEye Source” is truly jaw dropping.

The maps are the same as the original, as are the weapons and characters however so much detail has been added in all areas while maintaining the original, highly addictive game play which made the original just so popular.

Unlike the console version where multiplayer games would consist of a split-screen, GoldenEye Source is one full screen per player. This is a great advantage as nobody can see where you are! Of course it does mean every player needs their own PC and copy of the game, but Half Life 2 (like most games on the PC) is strictly designed for local area networks and the internet.

The game is currently being developed and is only at an alpha stage. A beta version is scheduled for a September 2006 release (there will be some updates before then though). This said even though the game is at such an early stage it is certainly playable.

There are a few bugs but none that seriously affect game play. The only areas lacking are character, weapon and level selection, so many from the original are missing in this mod however the designers fully intend to include all the missing areas in future as well as a few more surprises! I have also heard there are plans to make the original, 1 player game available in due course. That would be so cool!

I have included a gallery of screen grabs (personally grabbed during play) here. If you fancy playing me both my userID and screen name is “Sparkster_LUFC” (the same as my Xbox Live account). Just e-mail me first otherwise requests may be ignored. Jon, a friend of mine who often plays the console version with me is also enjoying the game, his userID is “Hubbers” and his screen name is “Jono”. Daninthemix is also a big GoldenEye fan – I’m working on getting him to buy Half Life 2 so he can play too :o)

Oh, I almost forgot, if you actually want GoldenEye source you can download it free and legally here. You will need a copy of Half Life 2 as well as Deathmatch – only legal copies will work so there’s no place for you pirates out there.