Since IO Interactive revealed they were working on a James Bond game, I was looking forward to it. They were tight-lipped at the start, but as time went on, they gave us more and more details. As is the case with most games that I have a significant interest in, I tend to go on a media blackout until launch. It’s been over a month since 007: First Light launched. While I am still chipping away at it, it’s almost exactly the game I thought it would be.
Not quite Hitman, but very close to Uncharted
Like a lot of people, I wasn’t sure how IO Interactive would develop this game. They’ve spent the last decade perfecting their Hitman reboot. It more or less defines the studio now. Yes, they’ve done other games in the past, including the underrated Freedom Fighters. So, they aren’t strangers to other genres. While 007: First Light does borrow from Hitman, this is a much more cinematic experience.
Because of the way they blend cutscenes with gameplay, it comes off more like an Uncharted game. You could plop a non-gamer in front of the TV screen, and you could convince them that they are watching a movie. That was one of my favorite aspects of the Uncharted series, so this is very much a compliment here.
It also helps that the game does a fantastic job with its motion capture. The facial designs are great. It’s only the awkward animations and graphical hiccups that take you away from the action. But again, this feels in line with how the 21st-century Bond films have felt over the years. It’s got its fair share of humor, drama, twists, and turns.
I also enjoy the fact that while this isn’t as open-ended as Hitman, they still allow for experimentation. Here, you always have a few ways of handling things. There is always one easy one, but it’s the least engaging. So you’ll often want to go the harder route because it results in some interesting interactions.
Bond from his early days
It’s nice that they went the route of showing James as a recruit. The entire cold open and first couple of hours of the game do things in a fun and creative way. Sure, the bad guys in the cold open are from the Balkans, and I found some of their interactions funny. Additionally, I liked how they showed us how Bond becomes a 00 Agent.
The entire training chapter is well done. I expect it will impact how other games approach tutorials. They do it in a clever way where you get you to do different things, from driving a car to shooting a gun. But it’s incorporated in a way that’s brief and gradual. You learn a bit of one thing, then move on to something else. Then, you learn a bit more, and by the end, you feel comfortable being James Bond. It never feels like you’re in a tutorial.
The only downside is the game’s pacing at the start. I’m not done with the story, but the early parts feel long. It’s not until you reach Slovakia that the game starts to pick up the pace. You don’t reach this part until well beyond the first three hours. While it’s possible that my exploration in the early parts made it take more time in the early parts. But I still found later sections dragged on a bit more than necessary.
The kind of jank you expect
While the game matches the look and feel of modern Bond, it’s still very much a video game. There are some awkward scenarios and situations. As I mentioned, the animations aren’t always solid, so that takes you out of the action. I am playing this on my PC, which can handle most games, but I have had my fair share of graphical hitches.
Most of my issues are during cutscenes. I would often encounter characters not loading into the scene or freezing. This might be a graphics card issue on my end, though. I am running the game from a standard SSD, so it might improve if running on an M2 drive. During my brief playtime on an Xbox Series S, I didn’t encounter any issues.
The hand-to-hand combat is a lot of fun. It’s also my preferred method of approaching combat. I would try to avoid firefights, unless triggered by the game. However, I did find that when there are many enemies around Bond, the game encounters issues. In most sequences, enemies will clip each other or the environments, which takes you out of the action. It feels as though the game wasn’t meant to have that many enemies on screen at once.
Pacing is not Bond’s strong suit
Other than the jank, the only other criticism I have with the game is the pacing. I know they don’t want this to be a quick, in-and-out experience, but some parts feel longer than necessary. The chapters themselves often feel like many mini-chapters smushed into one.
I recently finished the “Knightfall” chapter, and this one felt longer than necessary. You start by navigating through an office area. But the first parts have you do the same thing a few times: find a way to open the door for your companion. This part finishes with a series of firefight corridors. Yes, the combat sequences are fun, but this feels longer than necessary.
The next major chapter has Bond visit Vietnam. Again, this section is fun, but the need to locate three people seems like padding. One of them doesn’t impact the later section at all, so they feel unnecessary. At this rate, I may have another 3-4 hours of game to go before I see the ending.
Can’t wait for more
With all that I’ve experienced so far, 007: First Light is a great Bond game. My gripes are minor and specific to me. For the issues I have with jank and pacing, the rest more than makes up for it. From what I’ve read, we’ll be getting more of this Bond in the future. As long as it’s not a five-year wait, I cannot wait to see where they take the series next.
