There are only a few constants in pop culture. One of them is that James Bond endures, even as he changes to reflect the times. Since the iconic spy first marched on-screen in 1962's Dr. No, he has seen six reincarnations during his half-century film career, alongside countless new books, comics, and video games.
Over the years, Bond has been a ruthless murderer, misogynist, family man, buffoon, hitman, and a traumatized soldier looking for peace. Yet certain elements have remained untouched: Bond loves fast cars, dangerous women, and expensive clothing. He always has an unsteady, if mutually respectful, relationship with his superiors. And he's a cipher born out of the British military with the rank of commander, ready to die for King and country.
Even Casino Royale, which rebooted the franchise twenty years ago to the earliest point we had seen yet, began with Bond earning his 00 status as a grown man in his mid-thirties.
This makes First Light, the latest game from IO Interactive, so tantalizing. With unprecedented trust and freedom from Eon Productions, Bond's parent organization, they've returned Bond to his twenties, taken away his years of experience, and given him a new beginning that feels miraculously fitting, as if it was always meant to be.
First Light also gives Bond a found family of sorts in his prospective 00-colleagues, and a mentor in Greenway (Lennie James), a former field agent who once worked in the now-defunct 00-program. The setting is as close to the present day as it gets, too. The 00s have been disbanded years ago, and AI-powered surveillance rules the roost. As a new M (Priyanga Burford) restarts training for new field agents, she and MI6 come under fire for bringing back a relic of the past that has no business in the new digital realm.
Right away, First Light impresses with its detailed knowledge and love for Bond as a character. It updates him to match the times where necessary, but also keeps important things intact, including the quirks that make him as insufferable as he is admirable. Even little things, like Bond's scar, which originally appeared in the early books before the character had a skin graft to match the pristine appearance associated with the movies, now appear for the first time in the series.
Bond is in his mid-twenties and an aircrewman for the British Navy. When the story begins, he's a nobody who ends up in the middle of a clandestine operation that goes horrifically wrong. In typical Bond fashion, he goes against orders and the odds to do what he sees as right, and finds himself recruited for the new 00 program as a last-minute addition. Nobody wants him there, and nobody believes he's got what it takes to prosper. It's a smart way to introduce the new world, characters, and gameplay styles to the player, and the expanded tutorial section is admirable for the amount of exposition it packs in.
In a film, you can get away with something like this in a montage, and First Light even plays with the narrative in a similar style. Players get quick glimpses of Bond's months at the academy, with fast, blink-and-you 'll-miss-it opportunities to try your hand at different challenges, as Bond is put through the wringer.
The extended tutorial proves surprisingly necessary, as IO Interactive is figuring things out for themselves, as well. Their previous franchise, featuring another iconic anti-hero, was the Hitman series, which plays out very differently from what players expect out of James Bond. Where Agent 47 is slow, calculating, and methodical, Bond is impulsive and temperamental. He is as quick to blow things up as he is to charm his way into a secret soiree.
This leads to a mixture of two gameplay styles, both familiar from different franchises, which sometimes work beautifully, but often struggle to find a rhythm. For example, some of the larger missions in the game are open levels, where Bond has to complete multiple smaller goals in pursuit of a larger one, very much like in the Hitman series. But, almost inevitably, these missions ultimately turn strictly linear, as this is still a Bond game that emulates the films, which demand a certain level of escalation each time.
In some missions, that illusion of freedom is broken faster than in others. I found myself consistently frustrated towards the end of the game, as the sprawling level design becomes more constrictive, demanding I push forward in the plot, despite still including expanded walking sections in grand environments to pretend like it isn't that linear.
At worst, First Light exists in a hazy midway point between Uncharted and Hitman, not quite either one, and struggles to find a smooth transition between the two. You can complete some missions entirely through stealth, while others will force fail-states to keep the story going. Sometimes, you'll plow through an entire big action setpiece just to end up in a forced failure anyway.
These problems appear in the game's optional challenges, as well. In theory, First Light encourages the same open-ended approach as with the Hitman games, offering experience points and rewards for smooth infiltrations or spectacular action sequences. But because the story ultimately takes precedence, most of these are set dressing for the combat simulator accessed separately from the main campaign. Often, there's one ideal route for progression, and all others only offer slight detours.
This is all down to ambition. IO Interactive knows the burden and expectation of adapting Bond to any format, and they've pushed their team to include everything you'd expect out of the famous spy, and then some. During the 20-hour playthrough of First Light, players will race cars down mountain paths, skydive, drive boats in exotic locales, infiltrate events, wear disguises, have shootouts, mess with Q-lab, and tinker with light RPG elements through dialogue. There's a lot here, and, arguably, First Light would be better with a stricter and narrower focus. Bond doesn't have to be a mammoth spectacle to impress, and chasing an ever-escalating series of events can lead to diminishing returns.
In First Light, one of those issues is with the villains, who range from unremarkable to downright forgettable. I admire that IO Interactive wants to shake things up and give Bond a variety of enemies in his first outing in nearly two decades, but there are simply too many of them here to leave an impression. (I count at least seven in total!) Cut out half of them, and First Light would still have more antagonists than your average Bond adventure, and they'd breathe more freely in the process.
Similarly, the third act of the game drags on too long, with an extended outing to more exotic locales that slows down the pacing and appears to be in rougher shape than the rest of the game, to boot. Likewise, parts of the soundtrack, including the terrific theme song, are superlative, while other areas feel oddly muted – as if some stages didn't get as much time as others.
It's part of the curse that is game design today. Every project can take up to half a decade or longer, and if you get the chance to make something, it's everything or nothing. Who knows if there's a second opportunity?
This mentality extends to the controls as well. While in spy mode, Bond controls with the same elegant precision we've come to expect from the Hitman series. Fans of Agent 47 will feel right at home exploring vast levels and figuring out new ways to infiltrate exclusive areas. It's when the action kicks in that First Light struggles. Even simple things, like a mixture of two buttons for different kinds of running mechanisms, frustrate to no end. At times, it was far likelier to die from Bond getting stuck in a corner of a knee-high obstacle than it was from the action.
Vehicles, likewise, handle acceptably, but you can tell they're not the focus in the design. Which makes the driving portions feel perfunctory. They're not terrible, but if they weren't there, I doubt anyone would notice or care. It's again a case of linearity versus player freedom. Bond is at his best improvising and doing the unexpected. When IO Interactive tries to compete with the likes of Naughty Dog and their strict rollercoaster experiences, First Light shows where it still has things to learn. Compare the car chase seen in the early levels to the one from Uncharted 4, released over a decade ago, and Naughty Dog still runs laps around Bond.
Credit where credit is due, though. Gunplay in First Light feels dangerous and exciting, and when the controls get out of the way, firefights are cinematic and heartpounding. This isn't a case of spraying and praying at bullet sponge villains, either. First Light treats weapons with sincerity more akin to the Daniel Craig era than the cartoonishness of older Bond films. It only takes a bullet or two to put someone down, and Bond himself falls quickly if he attempts to pull any shenanigans. Each fight is dangerous and so risky that playing the game as a blunt instrument isn't nearly as easy a proposition as it initially sounds.
Likewise, hand-to-hand combat is surprisingly fun. It captures the dynamic and brutal efficiency of From Russia With Love and Skyfall, and every close-quarter scuffle is a thrill as Bond uses anything he can get his hands on to win. I love that none of this is clean or cool, but ugly and desperate. Even though Bond throws quips – which start clunky and get better as he grows more confident – there's a sense that each encounter takes something out of him.
Which brings us back to the story, the highlight of First Light, and one of the better Bond adventures to date, regardless of the format. Here, Bond is a rookie. He's cocky and confident and even capable, but ultimately still learning the ways of a world that is constantly shifting. His relationship with Greenway, whom Lennie James plays beautifully, is a shining example of how to write a great character dynamic that enriches an established icon.
Around them, Bond's found family of other misfits and MI6 agents is equally impressive. I didn't think I'd enjoy seeing Bond as part of a group, yet within moments, I couldn't imagine him otherwise. IO Interactive uses influences from multiple books and notes that series originator Ian Fleming left behind, which form the backbone for a supporting cast that is both familiar and excitingly new.
Likewise, the new M is a fascinating mix between the career politician of Mallory in Skyfall and Judi Dench's pragmatic matriarch. Priyanga Burford doesn't get as much screentime as I'd like, but she embodies the part pitch-perfectly as someone torn between idealism and the bitter realities of British politics. Both the new Q (Alastair McKenzie) and Moneypenny (Kiera Lester) feel like they've always been here, which says a lot to how well they fit into the franchise.
There's also a newfound emphasis on what it means to be a 00 agent that I did not anticipate, but greatly appreciated. Greenway sees the 00's as civil servants, people who do as they're told and don't ask questions beyond their duties. Bond, true to his nature, is more chaotic and questions everything. Their relationship is one of the foundational elements of where the iconic spy goes next, and it's an area that First Light explores better than most of the mainline films ever have.
It's in the quiet moments between the action, where First Light sets up the fundamental elements that make Bond who he is, that IO Interactive shines. To date, I don't think we've seen a better example of Bond as a genuine character in gaming. This isn't just a replica of what we have on the screen. In First Light, Bond is his own character, as important a part of the canon as Brosnan, Connery, or Craig.
First Light isn't perfect, and it could do with a narrower focus, but when it works, it's among the best Bond adventures to date. It proves IO Interactive as a rightful home for the iconic spy and a brilliant new beginning for a franchise that hopefully won't lie dormant for another 15 years.
In a just world, we'd see a new adventure every few years, even if it means action on a smaller scale. Bond doesn't need to reinvent the wheel every time.
