Following rumours last month that Electronic Arts are working on a new GoldenEye game, the company has finally confirmed that they are indeed developing a new action-adventure named after the 1995 Bond movie.

Of course, the first GoldenEye, developed by Rare for the Nintendo 64, was one of the finest console first-person shooters ever but it doesn't appear as if the new game, which is being coded by EA's Los Angeles studio, will take its lead from the Ninty classic. Instead, GoldenEye 2 places players in the role of the 'ultimate Bond villain' - a former MI6 agent who is sacked for being reckless and then joins Auric Goldfinger's evil syndicate. As you do.

The game, which EA promises will explore the darker side of the Bond universe, has apparently already been in development for over a year and is due for release towards the end of 2004. While EA's most recent 007 outing, Everything or Nothing, has just been released to generally positive reviews, it remains to be seen whether GoldenEye 2 will be able to live up to its classic N64 namesake. We should have some idea come May, where we expect the game to be unveiled for the first time at the E3 games show.

While GoldenEye 2's platforms have yet to be confirmed, we'd expect it to appear on PS2, Xbox and Gamecube and it's currently scheduled for an autumn release