In 2015, Batman: Arkham Knight launched with a succinct, straightforward tagline: “Be the Batman.” With a snappy, free-flowing combat system, riddles and mysteries to solve, a large selection of gadgets, memorable boss fights, and full access to the Batmobile, this game was the ultimate Batman Simulator.
Over a decade later, it feels like game studios are finally nailing down how to create gaming experiences that capture iconic characters from other properties and adapt them into compelling video game protagonists–the latest of which is IO Interactive’s 007 First Light.
On the surface, First Light checks off the items you’d have on a James Bond checklist: You’ll travel to exotic locales, drive fancy cars, and flirt with beautiful women. There’s even a title sequence with an original song, and somewhere in there is a gun-barrel sequence.
But rather than being just a facsimile of a typical James Bond movie, First Light fully takes advantage of its interactive medium, letting you inhabit the character rather than experience a cheap imitation of one of his movies. They might as well have made the tagline “Be Bond.”
The easy way to develop a video game with the 007 branding on it is to make a by-the-numbers shooter and add some stealth moments, but First Light is a far deeper experience, full of systems that are befitting of Bond’s character. The hand-to-hand combat makes Bond feel like the brutal and efficient operator we know him to be, gadgets are interactive, with loads of environmental elements, and Bond can even BS his way past grunts with fairly convincing lies–all of which help to build sandboxes where players can essentially role-play as Bond and approach situations in several different ways the character might.
I’d include First Light in a category that includes the Arkham series, Insomniac’s Spider-Man games, and especially Indiana Jones and the Great Circle–all blockbuster games that serve as “character simulators” and really put you in the shoes of legacy heroes. And I think a big part of what makes these games successful as simulators is how much they enjoy the busywork of being those characters.
Think of every time you dissected a crime scene in an Arkham game, conducted science experiments in Spider-Man 2, or discovered artifacts and opened secret doors in The Great Circle. These quiet and slower moments remind you that being these characters is more than just running around and punching bad guys (though there is plenty of that, too). These games are inclusive of every part of being that character.
Similarly, First Light had so many moments that made me feel like I was living in James Bond’s world. Possibly the most gleeful moments I had playing the game were whenever I got to walk around Q Lab. I got to take in the space on my own time, interacting with technicians and watching physical comedy bits where they’d get tossed around by their own technical creations. And as fun as combat and stealth was in the game, I felt more stimulated by schmoozing NPCs through dialogue choices, trying to squeeze out information for myself and truly get into Bond’s headspace.
These are the types of moments that we see on film and TV screens but haven’t necessarily seen translated to games, where player input and choice are above all. Through 007 First Light and its aforementioned contemporaries, players can finally take in the details of these fictional worlds and experience them as iconic places with some complexity and nuance.
We’re now far removed from the licensed tie-in games that pervaded the 2000s, with many of them being rushed, relatively low-quality fare meant to coincide with the release date of a movie. I sometimes think of Activision’s adaptation of Quantum of Solace as a prime example of these types of tie-ins. While it shares many of the cast members and story beats of Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace, it’s hard for the game to beat the allegations that it’s more than a Call of Duty clone (especially with Treyarch as the lead developer): a soulless shoot-’em-up unbefitting of the James Bond name.
Too often, the tie-in games of the era were sloppy retellings of the events seen in a movie, repurposed into formulaic gameplay sequences that fail to stand out in any way, which often does a disservice to the original source material–and James Bond alone has a few of those.
On the other end of the licensed-game spectrum, you’ll see games that give iconic characters like James Bond and Indiana Jones their own original adventures, and there are plenty throughout history that have been successful. For instance, I’m fascinated by 2004’s Everything or Nothing–it not only brought back franchise actors Pierce Brosnan, Judi Dench, and John Cleese, but it also included Hollywood talent like Willem Dafoe and Heidi Klum to give the game some legitimacy as a proper James Bond installment.
I never experienced Everything or Nothing firsthand, but as impressive as that cast list is, I find the premise of “it’s a Bond movie, but just a video game” unappealing. I think we often don’t consider how movies are a shared experience: a spectacle to witness on a giant screen with a large crowd. Whereas, video games, for the most part, are enjoyed at home, in solitude or with a few others on a couch.
007 First Light knows what it is: a video game, first and foremost, about James Bond–not a game that kind of, sort of feels like a movie.
Though I sing the praises of 007 First Light and how it married James Bond tropes with modern game design and storytelling, the premise of the game being an origin story for Bond did leave a little to be desired. It was endearing to see a young James Bond learn how to knot a bowtie for the first time, but after playing games centered on characters like Indy, Spider-Man, and Batman in their professional prime, I yearn for a sequel that does the same for Bond.
IO Interactive has the foundation down with stealth and gunplay–let’s get a sequel with a story about a Bond who’s more adept at spying, better at keeping emotions in check, and with a more refined taste in alcoholic drinks, suits, and cars. As long as we can fully experience the world of Bond through his eyes, we’ll be golden.
