There\u2019s a scene in the 2012 Bond film Skyfall where a still-injured 007 sits among works of art feeling depressed, tired and past it. He contemplates the scars, the bruises and the deep trauma of his job, but his malaise is shattered by a young whippersnapper who arrives to snap him out of his sad trance and show him the future.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In the film, it\u2019s the new Q, played by Ben Whishaw. In 2026, it\u2019s Danish video game developer IO Interactive who are bringing billions of Bond fans out of a shared depression and into the light.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The 2026 quagmire of Bond is a deep old swamp. Things haven\u2019t been as up in the air than this since the opening skydive in Moonraker.\u00a0<\/p>\n
While the director for Bond 26 is firmly in place (Dune\u2019s Denis Villeneuve), the casting process remains a closely guarded secret and there will surely be no news on anything until his Dune 3 has left the screens and its marketing has died down. The bad news for those who want to move on from No Time To Die is that Dune 3 does not open in the UK until December 18.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s just not been an easy road liking Bond and all Bond-related things these past few years. It\u2019s been stumbles and falls both on the big screen, the small screen (with whatever the hell that appalling Apprentice clone with Brian Cox was supposed to be), and on the small gaming screen too.<\/p>\n
Starting back in the early 1980s, Bond games have for the most part been the red-headed stepchild oof the 007 Family. Sure, there\u2019s been N64 Goldeneye and James Bond: Everything or Nothing, but there\u2019s also been rancid old skips filled with bad Bond detritus. Miles of tape, cartridge and disc nightmare inducing film adaptations appearing with the tedious inevitability of an unloved season, sending shudders through sad gaming fingers, and tears into joysticks.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But as a Bond fan of well over 40 years, I can safely say that 007 First Light is the finest achievement to ever fire down the barrel. Not only is it a triumph of a Bond adventure\/romp \u2013 maybe the best overall Bond product for many, many years \u2013 but also as a standalone game, it is a rip-roaring joy to behold.<\/p>\n
While the previous title holder of most beloved Bond game was the first-person shooter Goldeneye, which was all about putting Bond in your hands, 007 First Light is about putting yourself in Bond\u2019s shoes, and that is where it truly shines.<\/p>\n
Set in the modern day, you begin as Airman Bond, who in a time of crisis stumbles upon a chance to shine. He does just that, impressing MI6 so much that they offer him a spot on the \u201crebooted\u201d 00 programme, giving him a chance to earn his stripes at a training base in Malta, and also to prove to the big brass that the 00 programme is still a necessity, with AI now posing a threat in the world of espionage.<\/p>\n
The positives are there from the start: training missions in games are usually designed to set up the plot, while also getting the player familiar with the controls and moves needed to be the man from Universal Exports. Usually, they send sighs of boredom bellowing from the lungs of most players.<\/p>\n
However, the designers of 007 First Light took the brilliant decision to make the training stage as an actual playable montage. It is just so fun, funny and almost a work of genius.<\/p>\n
You zip along as you learn how to fight, run, drive, shoot and climb and by the end of it you feel like you\u2019ve driven the story along, not just put the brakes on to learn how to drive a car. As a side note, I loved that the car is the 2006 Aston Martin. A nice nod to the last time Bond had a reboot.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Set over 10 thrilling chapters, the name of the game is starting from scratch in order to earn your licence to kill; working your way up from the brave but reckless serviceman, and becoming the world\u2019s great super-spy. You also get to save the world from a rogue agent in the process.<\/p>\n
None of this great game design and clever writing would work as well without central performances to match. Bond is played by Irish actor Patrick Gibson, and played very, very well. The trailers had me briefly worried he\u2019d be far too smug and give off deeply annoying vibes, however he just nails the fun, supreme confidence, suave and debonair charm of 007, while also maintaining the strong (ish) moral compass that is needed when donning the Walther PPK. There\u2019s also the added bonus that his real-life dad is Herr Flick from Allo Allo (Richard Gibson), a fact I just adore and one that means future games of \u201cSix Degrees of Allo Allo\u201d can now have a Bond twist.<\/p>\n
The rest of the wonderful cast help to sell the illusion that you are taking part in a living Bond adventure. Priyanga Burford as M (who herself briefly popped up in No Time to Die) is a joy, as is the cantankerous Lennie James as Greenway, who plays the \u201che\u2019s not ready\u201d card from minute one, driving Bond\u2019s ambitions to prove him wrong.\u00a0<\/p>\n
There are countless moments where you just catch yourself enjoying the character interactions and acting play out, like having the best seat in the cinema, and that is truly the sign of a game well done.<\/p>\n
The stellar cast are matched by stunning graphics, inventive gadgets, thrilling car sequences, combat scenes and fun touches and flourishes that truly live long in the memory banks, such as kicking a gun from the floor into your own hand, or breaking objects while you beat a baddie up around a room. The game, much like the films, is stuffed full of egregious product placement, including a moment where you have to pick your nice new Omega watch out from a luxury display box, but rather than feeling like a cheap money-maker, it helps you feel immersed in Bondworld.<\/p>\n
As well as fighting, you have ample opportunity to stealth your way through missions, not only using your ears to listen out for clues and pointers, you can also utilise brutal takedowns by luring guards into an area to take them out with a well-aimed gadget. There\u2019s just so much here to play with and enjoy, and surely the lesson to take from this for all future films that emerge is that Bond is always at its very best when it\u2019s fun. It\u2019s really not moon shuttle science.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The superb music is supplied by ever-reliable game composers The Flight, tbut I suspect it\u2019s the it\u2019s the dazzling title sequnce that will likely command the lion\u2019s share of attention. It teams Lana Del Rey with the very welcome return of David Arnold (composer of five Bond movie scores). The song itself is a genuine pleasure and the opening credits recall the best of the golden age of \u201cMr Kiss-Kiss Bang Bang\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n
If you loved the Uncharted series (and really, who didn\u2019t), and the world design in and around the Hitman games, then you will love 007 First Light, with the similar use of environments, utilisation of gadgets and highly creative action.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But I will also add that if you love the world of Bond, boy are you in for a huge, smiling treat. When it comes to this world of Bond in video game form, nobody has done it better.<\/p>\n