007 First Light

It's a gutsy task IO Interactive has taken on with making 007 First Light. Amid a time when the James Bond franchise is at its most turbulent, the creators of Hitman stepped up to the plate to make a truly original story revolving around Ian Fleming's immensely famous spy. The aim was never to make a forgettable movie tie-in film or even to tap into the FPS heritage of the series. Rather, IO Interactive decided the time was right for an action-adventure game featuring Bond, but not only that, a full-blown origin story too, something the films don't often delve into.

So yes, what we have with 007 First Light is something very special in a multitude of ways. It's ambitious and flashy, authentic and thrilling, and for Bond fans out there who are desperate for any sign of life from the franchise, it's almost a must-play experience. But here's the thing about 007 First Light too; IO Interactive, for all of its brilliance when it comes to making Hitman games, is not particularly well-known for making action-adventure projects. So have they defied the odds and delivered a title that will take IO Interactive to the true upper echelon of the video game development elite?

Before I answer that question, let's look at the game through a more analytical lens. For starters, as a Bond experience, IO Interactive has completed the task at hand with flying colours. Patrick Gibson is a wonderful choice as James Bond and the way this character is written and performed feels like a fresh but familiar take on the legendary spy, one that still has his suave charm, his witty flair, his unfaltering determination, and his penchant for all things style and class. Bond is the man all men want to be and the man all women want to be with, and while that might sound like male chauvinistic garbage, it's a core tenet of the character and something that IO Interactive has approached with caution and overcome with excellence. Plus, the wider cast play their parts and deliver interesting characters, even if there is still the Bond franchise's signature eye-candy here and there. So credit to IO Interactive for effectively fording the womanising river of the brand that even the films likely fear crossing today.

And continuing on the Bond front further, we have all of the other areas where we expect certain promises to be upheld. We're treated to Aston Martins, shaken-not-stirred Martinis, Walther PPK sidearms, Pen Missiles, Laser Watch Straps, Dart Phones, and a host of other Q-developed gadgets. As far as a Bond experience goes, 007 First Light gets top marks, truly, delivering a world that feels just as authentic as the films, arguably even more so in places when considering Bond's scar in this version...

Building on this again, IO Interactive treats us to a globe-trotting adventure that takes us from MI6 headquarters and London nightclubs, to serene Vietnamese islands, to European manors, and even into the Arctic and Antarctic Circle. This is a truly ambitious game in regards to where it takes the player in the shoes of Bond, and the way each biome and location is presented is full of such colour and life that you can't help but marvel over how effective the Glacier Engine continues to be.

But here's where we start to experience a few hiccups as for all of the things that 007 First Light does exceptionally, there are also a host of things it does simply well. IO Interactive has never proven itself to be a particularly effective storyteller through the Hitman franchise, but that was never an issue during those games due to the emphasis on freedom of play. 007 First Light needs to be razor-sharp on its narrative edge, dishing out tight and effective dialogue and weaving character development for both its heroes and antagonists in a flawless manner. Unfortunately, this game doesn't have that level of refinement. The story doesn't quite pack the punch you hope it would and the villains, for one, lack the memorable aura all the great Bond villains usually do. I will note that IO Interactive clearly has grander ambitions to expand its story further, so perhaps this is simply the first act of a wider tale, but still, 007 First Light could have benefitted from a tighter narrative and dialogue setup.

Likewise, and this is perhaps 007 First Light's biggest vice, it seems to be facing a bit of an identity crisis from a gameplay perspective. It's not a catastrophic issue by any means, but this game exists in a sort of limbo where it is neither a stylish and thumping action-adventure game like Uncharted but it also lacks the versatility and freedom-of-play of Hitman. And yet it attempts to give you the best of both worlds and unfortunately no one wins from this decision. There are a handful of staggering set piece moments but not enough to catapult it to Uncharted and even Tomb Raider's heights. There are sandbox-like areas where you are given more freedom to complete a task at hand, but compared to Hitman, it's almost on rails and it's very hard to deviate from the plan in place or even to fail the mission. Then all of this is stitched together by unnecessary driving sequences through London or North Africa, which feels more like an interactive commercial for Land Rover than it does a key part of the wider experience.

The point is 007 First Light works from a gameplay perspective but its sandbox and player-agency-focussed elements are a shadow of what Hitman offers and similarly its top action-adventure moments fail to leave much of an impression, sometimes even feeling a tad unlike a Bond story altogether. After rolling credits, it's clear IO Interactive needs to either lean more into what it does best by offering rich and almost infinite sandboxes or focus entirely on the more linear action-adventure design, because this middle-ground and balance doesn't come across as a marriage that will be able to carry additional stories.

Ultimately, the parts of 007 First Light that impress the most are typically the bits where the gameplay takes more of a backseat and you find yourself trying to convince a pirate king not to feed you to his alligators or driving up to a stunning manor in the Montenegrin mountains. It's when it lets loose and asks you to navigate a restricted area, seeing you take down oblivious enemies with the same takedown techniques, or even simply run-and-gun like a chapter of a Call of Duty story, these are the times when 007 First Light slips and stumbles. If you didn't know better, you could be convinced that 007 First Light is a different developer's attempt to emulate IO Interactive's Hitman formula...

So yes, 007 First Light has plenty of hits and plenty of misses. In answer to the question earlier, there is enough in this game to give you confidence in IO Interactive and its broader vision for this style of a James Bond game, with plenty of ambition and quality oozing out of every crack. But there is clear room for improvement too, areas that would take this game from being simply an enjoyable and great action-adventure project and elevating it to be something truly unmissable. As it is, you'll enjoy 007 First Light, but it's no Uncharted 4 and it's no Hitman 3, either.