007 First Light brings us into a new era of James Bond. It’s probably safe to say that everyone has a favorite era of James Bond, right? I grew up during the Pierce Brosnan era, so I remember spending countless nights playing GoldenEye 007. The rest of the games during the Brosnan era ranged from alright to absolute bangers like James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing. The big takeaway is that as long as a James Bond game (or movie, for that matter) has the following things, I’m satiated.
- Some cool gadgets.
- A driving sequence or two. Probably in a luxury car I could never even imagine owning.
- A good and evil Bond girl.
- A villain and at least one iconic underling.
- Wild set pieces.
With that in mind, I was more than pleased that 007 First Light checked off the list. If I take off my rose-tinted nostalgia glasses for a moment, I’d even put 007: First Light on par with GoldenEye 007. The game feels like some of the best parts of the Hitman and Uncharted franchises. Similar to the Arkham Knight games, I thought it was interesting that they opted for their own continuity while adding in plenty of homages and nods to both the novels and films. To be fair, no official actor has been cast yet for the next run of James Bond films.
Also, for full disclosure, this review was done on the Xbox Series X, and a key was graciously provided by the IO Interactive team. The remainder of this review will contain mild spoilers, but I’ll be avoiding any major points.
The Story
The story starts off with you playing as a young James Bond (portrayed by Patrick Gibson). He’s not even a 00 yet; he’s a Royal Navy aircrewman on an SAS rescue mission. It quickly goes sideways when mercenaries attack the helicopter he’s in. He winds up as the sole survivor and comes into contact with an MI6 operative who instructs him to continue the mission. After being told the odds are impossible, Bond ends up going rogue. He opts to rescue some captive scientists and destroy the base so it doesn’t fall into enemy hands.
A bit later, Bond is recruited by M, the head of MI6, who has received approval to revive the 00 program. The 00 program was basically shuttered because AI rendered it obsolete. M insists that, because Bond succeeded despite the AI giving him a 99.9% chance of failure, there are still human elements AI can’t predict. Cut to a training montage where Bond joins the other 00 recruits, and it gets made pretty clear that he wasn’t meant to be there. We also get introduced to this universe’s Q and Miss Moneypenny (his handler during the Iceland mission). I love how fatherly this Q is; he’s very much like a combination of Lucius Fox and Alfred Pennyworth from the Dark Knight trilogy. Bond wins over the respect of his fellow 00 candidates and his instructor, John Greenway.
The story kicks into high gear when MI6 is informed that a former 00 has finally popped up after evading them for over a decade. This is also where we start to see all of the hallmarks of James Bond. Q gets him armed with a Q-Branch OMEGA Watch (which you could buy if you just so happen to have $9400 to burn) and a host of other gadgets. 007 First Light has Bond traveling and infiltrating high society all over the world, from Slovakia to Vietnam to Antarctica. At each location, you get to watch him become more suave and self-confident; I suppose “he becomes a classic James Bond” would be the best descriptor. There are Bond girls, a big bad, and the iconic underlings come in the form of two twin assassins. I keep using Arkham Knight as a reference point, but that’s because I’m pretty sure this game was immediately greenlit for a sequel or two.
Your Style, Your Bond
Each mission has so many different ways to accomplish the tasks at hand, a la the Hitman series. You can opt for a combination of stealth and social engineering. You can just start swinging because the combat system is surprisingly fun, and the only real penalty for sounding the alarm in most segments is that you have to deal with more bad guys. The game has an achievement system that hints at all the possible ways you can approach each mission.
When the set pieces hit, they are absolutely epic. This is where I (and many other reviewers) mention that it’s like playing an Uncharted game. There are multiple sections that blend driving with getting out and finding all the explodable things to take out swarms of bad guys. There are even a few intense scenes that feature a cameo by Lenny Kravitz. There are some sections where you could use stealth, but it feels like they’re clearly meant to be run-and-gun ordeals.
The training montage I mentioned earlier is a clever way to introduce you to all the various controls. There are a lot of little things, like if you’re out of ammo, you can just toss the gun at the enemy, tackle them, and take them down. Really, my only complaints about the gameplay of 007 First Light are that the cover system can be a bit wonky and there are a couple of sections that feel like you’re fighting corridors of bad guys.
Smooth Like a Vesper Martini
Overall, 007 First Light is a fantastic entry to the Bond series. There are so many little flourishes and world-building pieces that add heart and honor the previous roles. There were a few Bond one-liners and banter that had me rolling. I was a little surprised that this is a completely single-player game, but I wouldn’t be surprised if multiplayer were added down the road as either free or paid DLC. There’s a whole training gimmick that allows you to replay previous missions. The campaign took me about 18 hours to beat. If you pull a Frank Reynolds and just start blasting, it’ll probably be much quicker.
007 First Light is available on Xbox Series X|S, Playstation 5, Steam, and the Epic Game Store.
007 First Light
$69.99
Pros
- This game could easily be a movie
- It literally feels like you become James Bond
- The combat system is surprisingly deep
Cons
- The cover system is wonky
- Some combat sections drag
