Initial Thoughts
A young James Bond is serving as a Navy aircrewman when his helicopter is shot down over Iceland, which then launches into one of the most impressive prologues I have ever played.
Right from the get-go, you’re in the thick of it, learning the stealth mechanics, the traversal and pretty soon the combat. It’s adrenaline-fueled, action-packed, and just a straight-up masterclass in storytelling and believability from this unbelievable cast.
Now I will set the record straight: I’ve never really given Hitman the proper try it deserves. I’m not the biggest stealth fan, but this game has the perfect balance of stealth and action to keep me completely drawn in.
Not once did I ever feel any repetitive strain, I never felt bored or never thought “that was a bit shit”, whilst I do have my grievances with this game, there was never enough for me to be annoyed or put off.
The Mechanics
As you’re learning to become an unstoppable spy, you need the tools to do so, right? In your loadout, you can have up to 3 gadgets, which then increases to 4 as you get through the game. From flashbangs to lasers & poisonous darts, you can use all these tools to aid in getting through sticky situations.
On top of that is the hacking feature, which is very well thought out. You really do feel like James Bond when you’re using all these things at your disposal.
The introduction of the bluff is definitely one of my favourite mechanics in recent years of gaming. If you’re in a tight spot, you can just hit bluff and bullshit your way out. It only lasts about 10 seconds, but it works a charm when you’re desperate. You only have limited uses, though, so use it wisely!
The combat is fun, engaging and downright brutal. Landing blow after blow, bouncing people’s heads off walls, chucking ashtrays into their faces, tackling them over ledges is damn fun! The parry mechanic is easy enough, and the use of your gadgets whilst fighting can really make you think about how you’re going to deal with situations.
The gunplay is also very decent; it did seem that ammo was quite scarce, and you constantly had to pick up other guns or hope the guy you just killed had the same ammo as yours.
Whilst it wasn’t awful, it did sometimes disrupt the flow, but at the same time, it made me think more. This also didn’t stop License to Kill from being one of my favourite moments when it happened, when your screen changes from “trespassing” to “license to kill,” that’s when you can forget stealth, and you know all hell is about to break loose.
Performances
Everyone’s portrayal in this game is just fantastic. Patrick Gibson’s Bond is absolutely wonderful, charismatic, witty, charming, smug, just all the traits to make a brilliant Bond. If it got announced he was the next Bond to take over from Daniel Craig, I wouldn’t be surprised now.
Kiera Lester, who voices Moneypenny, put on a brilliant performance; her character’s chemistry with Bond was just perfect. Such a well-written and executed character, the wit and calmness of her character, resonated so well with me.
A huge shout out to Lennie James as Greenway as well, my personal favourite character of the game, a mentor for Bond, and a grumpy one at that, just a brilliant performance from him.
As I said, it’s a brilliant cast except one hiccup (here’s looking at you Lenny Kravitz). Bawma didn’t resonate with me at all, and I thought it was an odd choice of voice…
Issues
I’m going to stop the glaze for a minute and talk about a few bits I wasn’t keen on.
The driving in this game was ABSOLUTE ASS, now I don’t know whether I’m just being a dick because I’m off the back of 30 hours with Forza Horizon 6, but holy crap, thank god there’s only a few car chases because it was absolutely dreadful, now I get it, it’s not a driving game but come on…
I think the yellow paint went a step too far in this one as well. It was extremely hand-holdy. I get it, sometimes an open-world game will need that element, but this is extremely linear, and there’s just too much help. I did test this across difficulties, and it didn’t make a difference.
Whilst it’s obviously integral to progression and updating your loadout, I wasn’t a fan of after every mission, going back to Q’s lab to run around trying to find shit. I’ve just been through some unbelievable mission, then watched a brilliant cut scene with amazing performances, to then be back milling around Q’s lab looking for my pistol, just immersion breaking.
They weren’t bad, but I wish the boss fights had a bit more to them; they were far too easy, unless I just got good.
Verdict
007 First Light is a true love letter to this huge franchise. The wait has been long for a new installment to this gaming franchise, and my god, has this been worth the wait.
The cinematics were absolutely unbelievable, and I was playing on a base PS5; it was graphically stunning. The nightclub scene is genuinely some of the best lighting I have ever seen in a game.
The settings are absolutely fantastic, the gameplay loop is amazing, the characters are so believable, and the story is also really engaging and well-written.
I am giving 007 a 9/10 on our scale as this is an incredible game, from start to finish. This will go on to be an extremely successful series of games, and I can’t wait. I’m already excited for what they do next.