Before we start, I just want to take a moment to be honest about something pretty germane to our current conversation; I have never enjoyed James Bond as a character, and that comes despite the fact that spy thrillers and action games/movies are some of my favorite forms of entertainment. While the newer Bond films have given the character a more grounded stance, the old films were just so unbelievably cheesy and before my time, especially when you consider the fact that I grew up in the 90s. Prior to Pierce Brosnan, the last Bond film was released when I was seven, and that was License To Kill featuring Timothy Dalton from 1986.
That six year gap was more than enough for my tastes to ferment, and Bond, sadly, did not make the cut. While I didn’t enjoy the Bond films, I also didn’t hate them in any way. I understood their cultural importance, and I generally felt that most of them were a solid 7-of-10 in the rankings. Then the Daniel Craig films came out and the vast majority of them were so long and so slow that I don’t think I finished a single one of his Bond films without falling asleep at least twice, and I’m absolutely not joking about this. Bond just wasn’t my style, but you know what was? Hitman, the games and the films!
If you’ve never played a Hitman game, the concept is amazingly simple. Surprise! You play as a hitman by the name of Agent 47. The game was created by the Danish studio IO Interactive, though the first publisher would end up being Eidos Interactive. The concept of the game was innovative, but also shockingly simple. Using a third-person perspective, the player controls Agent 47 as he attempts to finish off his targets using disguises, hiding places, stealth, and an uncanny ability to use almost anything in the environment to his advantage during a fight.
How you chose to infiltrate your target could be changed up and varied from gameplay session to gameplay session, increasing the replayability of the title since players could always discover new secrets and ways to kill their targets. If you’re into tactical shooters, stealth, and solving puzzles, then Hitman is a game that you should check out. The game features sprawling destinations, complete with an entire world buzzing around you. The game is as much about exploration as it is about killing. Half the fun is uncovering the different secrets and items that you can use to your advantage in future missions or even replays of your current mission. The action and the replay value are second to none.
Why am I talking about James Bond in the same breath as Hitman? It’s because IO Interactive is developing James Bond 007: First Light. They just launched their debut gameplay trailer, and it is absolutely stunning in every regard. The world of James Bond is alive and filled to the brim with possibilities. While we only saw the opening mission for this game, it was more than enough to convince me that this will be a Day One purchase, and I will be exploring many different playthroughs so I can experience the different ways the story can play out.
The very first mission of the game reminds of the Sapienza level in Hitman: World of Assassination. There was a palatial estate in Hitman, but it’s a palatial hotel in James Bond. In the Hitman games, your mission in Sapienza includes infiltrating a massive mansion that is complete with an observatory, an underground laboratory, and the entire mansion is built on some old castle ruins. It also has the feel of Thornbridge Manor from Hitman III’s mission “Death in the Family,” where someone was poisoned and the killer has everyone fooled except for Agent 47. It’s your job to uncover who was responsible for the murder of Zach Carlisle, and then it’s also your job to introduce them to consequences for their actions. If you’ve even played one of these mansion missions in Hitman, then you’re absolutely going to vibe with the settings in James Bond 007: First Light.
As Bond infiltrates, he can also take his time and listen to the conversations the NPCs are having. Many times these conversations will open up new story paths, new ways to accomplish your mission, or they may just contain the very information you need to pull off your current mission. Patience is a virtue in this game, and it may be your only avenue to success. That doesn’t mean stealth is the only way you can approach this game. You can absolutely go guns blazing in some missions, but there will be times when stealth is the most practical path, and not by a small margin.
Another feature to Bond during gameplay is the watch Q gives him at the start of the game. This watch is a key feature of the title and will allow Bond to highlight usable objects, it can fire a laser beam that makes your opposition feel ill, or it can be used to create smoke everywhere so Bond is hidden from view. It is really up to the player how they want to proceed with the mission. Unlike Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III’s bogus “open combat missions,” 007: First Light has a team with extensive experience in creating titles with immense replayability due to player choice when it comes to completing their missions. IO Interactive have been making games like this for 25 years, so Bond is in very capable hands.
The combat for 007: First Light looks truly stunning. The gunplay looks snappy and realistic. The game also allows players to use objects around their environment to take care of enemies. At a bunch of henchmen sitting under a chandelier firing at Bond with their pistols? Use your watch’s laser to relieve the ceiling of the chandelier’s weight, and send it crashing down on their heads. Are you fighting a bunch of dudes next to a pool table? Use the balls on the table as projectiles while using the stick as a weapon of staff destruction. Yeah, I’m aware that joke is lame.
Since becoming independent and free from Square Enix, IO Interactive has been cooking in the lab. The Hitman: World of Assassination games have been nothing short of spectacular, and anyone who has spent any time with 007: First Light is in love with what they’ve seen and experienced. The individual settings look outstanding, and the voice acting sounds great, too. Overall, the game looks to be coming along nicely and I can’t wait to see what will happen when the game is fully released.
My only negative for the game was how absurd some of Bond’s infiltration methods were. In Hitman, NPCs will absolutely notice you and become suspicious if you’re doing weird things in their line of sight. In this gameplay reveal trailer, Bond was able to walk back and forth several times in front of the same guy who denied him entry, and not a single bit of that raised any red flags. He then lit the leaves on fire in front of about 15 people before jumping on the side of the house and scaling it into the third floor, where he jumps through the window and then convinces two people that he’s a “penetration tester” so they don’t alert security. If you watch the video, there’s going to be several instances where you think to yourself “man, this AI is dumber than hell,” but I think that’s something they’re likely going to be working on until the very last minute. I just hope that they get the AI to a slightly better state before launch.
Even with that tiny shortcoming, 007: First Light is easily one of my most anticipated games. I’ve generally loved every Hitman game I’ve played, and I regard IO Interactive very highly. The game looks outstanding, sounds outstanding, and has plenty of replayability. Sure, there are few things they need to fix, but they still have well over six months left, and that’s assuming they don’t delay the game for any reason, something pretty common these days. Whatever happens, BSO Entertainment will be all over this story as it unfolds. Both Rob and I are huge Hitman fans, and we can’t wait to see what they do with 007: First Light.
