007 First Light preview: I spy a decent James Bond game, for once

It has been 14 years since the last major James Bond video game; longer still since the last decent one.

It is therefore hardly a surprise that 007 First Light has garnered such widespread attention, with gamers and Bond fans alike keeping their eyes on it, eager for a return to form for a series that once – albeit nearly 30 years ago – dominated gaming culture.

After a couple of hours hands-on with the game, if the rest of First Light lives up to what I experienced, then Bond could very well be back in business.

For those unaware, 007 First Light is a wholly original Bond story, telling the tale of a young Bond on his way to earning his licence to kill.

We kick off in Iceland, where James is party to a military operation gone wrong. With no other choice, MI6 intervenes and directs the pre-spy Bond on a top-secret mission, culminating in his recruitment to the agency.

Unlike the Bonds we are used to, he's rough around the edges. The irrepressible charm and wit, unsharpened by years in the business, instead comes out as a brash cockiness – this is an immature young man who hasn't quite realised that he isn't hot shit just yet.

Again, I was not able to form much of a view on our supporting cast, but their performances are just as strong, and Bond bounces off each character superbly, thanks to some great writing.

To be clear, this is not James Bond as we know him; it's young Bond. This is to say that he may not be for everyone, but for what the writers were aiming for, I think they and Gibson have done a bang-up job in imagining who a raw and unfiltered young 007 is.

But enough about acting; this is a game after all, and developer IO Interactive has made use of their years of Hitman experience to deliver a solid stealth experience.

Initially, things start off very basic. You're hiding in the grass, causing minor distractions and taking out guards.

In Iceland, since you're very much learning the ropes, there's quite a lot of leeway for you to screw up and still get the job done.

Later on, however, you are held to a much stricter standard. You can still sense traces of the chaotic Hitman DNA here and there, but in certain missions, getting caught is practically a death sentence, unless you are playing on the easiest difficulty.

This is, in my mind, how it should be. Despite his youthful charm, this is still a serious story, and straying too far into the slapstick would inspire some strong cognitive dissonance.

Figuring out your best path forward feels more like a puzzle – albeit a simple one – than it does in Hitman.

For these reasons, when something ridiculous does take place, while it does break the immersion a bit, I am happy to let it slide in the moment; this is still a video game, after all.

But while I enjoyed the stealth sections immensely, I was less convinced by the action sequences.

Bond is, of course, no stranger to action. But in First Light, when things begin to kick off, they spiral out into bombastic and over the top set pieces.

Watching our hero ride a quad bike down a narrow tunnel towards a tank manned by soldiers that would manage to miss fish in a barrel was eye-rolling, to say the least.

Having seen other action sequences in previous trailers and clips, I am willing to assume that this is perhaps a one-off, and may perhaps be just a matter of personal preference.

For some players, a flashy action thriller might be what they're looking for, but I lean more towards the calculated, espionage-focused side of things; more Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy than Mission Impossible, not to further complicate my spy comparisons.

But to have come out of a preview with such an admittedly minor foible is to have come out with a very positive outlook on the game.

I had previously been interested, but not sold on 007 First Light as a project.

Thankfully, the opening of its story, some well-written and quite likeable characters, and gameplay that is challenging, intelligently designed and of course, fun, have been enough to sell me on it.

I am confident that, at the very least, 007 First Light is going to be a great Bond game. I just hope that come the end of it, it leaves me both shaken and stirred.

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