007 First Light is best Bond

When people say GoldenEye is the best James Bond game, what do they mean? I think they’re talking about the first 30 minutes of the single player, and being 12. GoldenEye was ahead of its time — the location-specific damage, the light immersive sim elements, the competent console FPS controls — but it’s not a masterpiece, and an FPS was never the best way to translate Bond to a video game. Unfortunately, the hive mind of pop culture reduced every Bond game that came after to “Is this GoldenEye?” and often the answer was no — even for games that were trying to be.

The only licensed Bond game that really feels like a Bond movie is Everything or Nothing, the Xbox third person shooter, that features Pierce Brosnan in likeness and voice, a catchy theme song, driveable vehicles (every time I see a Porsche Cayenne in real life I assume it has a cloaking device), and Willem Dafoe playing a Russian villain. It’s still mostly an action game, but it sells the Bond fantasy pretty well.

Because Bond is a fantasy, and the best Bond products make you — either as reader, viewer, or player — feel like you could be James Bond if only you had diplomatic immunity, unlimited government funds, and a cashmere turtleneck. I’m halfway through the single player story, and 007 First Light absolutely nails this.

I’ve been playing stealth games for a long time, Thief and Splinter Cell are some of my favourite series, and I can be a real stickler for doing things “right”: don’t get caught, don’t get into combat, don’t leave bodies lying around, close doors behind you. Leave no trace. I play these old stealth games with the Quick Load button on a hair trigger. The genre has struggled since the 2000s to “modernize” stealth, make them less punishing, faster, etc.

Splinter Cell’s Mark and Execute mechanic in Conviction and Blacklist was a smart way to “modernize” stealth: take out an enemy in melee undetected, and you get a handful of “marks” you can use to instantly take down guards with your gun. It’s a fun system that merges stealth and action, but isn’t a win button: you have to have line of sight and range for your marked enemies, and make sure you don’t drop them in view of other guards.

Similarly, Arkham Knight’s limited but powerful Fear takedown system leverages the character of Batman really well. Batman is terrifying — if he catches you off guard. If not, he’s just a guy in a suit, and any old thug can take him down with a gun or a blunt object. The Fear takedowns were usually used to eliminate a handful of enemies at once, then wade into the melee combat, using your gadgets and reflexes to your advantage — just like Batman would.

If the goal of the modern stealth game is to eliminate that Quick Load hair trigger, to remove friction while maintaining a challenge, 007 First Light triumphs. Just how Arkham Knight builds its Fear and melee combat around Batman’s strengths, First Light takes the foundation laid by the Hitman series and adds Bond’s charm, confidence, and improvisational instincts. After all, in the movies getting caught is never more than a setback for Bond, or an opportunity to move the plot forward a bit.

First Light’s Hitman-like levels have 3 tiers of security: Open, Trespassing, and Licence to Kill. Bond is generally allowed to be in Open areas: the main rooms of a gala, for example. Open areas allow you straight up ask people for information, eavesdrop on private conversations (Bond’s cheeky little facial animations during these are delightful), and try to walk right past guards who will politely stop you from entering. You can use your gadgets here — my fave is the little dart that makes people instantly nauseous, abandoning their post to puke in the nearest bin or toilet so you can sneak past, pickpocket them, or trap them in the stall by breaking the lock.

Bond’s cover story for these missions is usually that he’s some kind of rich, entitled prick — not far off from the real thing — and he plays the part well. He variously flirts, threatens, and plays the idiot rich guy, then tosses off a remark to Moneypenny back at base to remind her, and the player, that he’s not really that kind of guy. It’s very charming, I find myself switching between feeling like I’m the badass and being charmed by this cocky little shit. My favourite portrayals of Bond always remind you that he’s a predator swimming in an ocean of prey. Everyone is a target, everyone can be used, the ends justify the means. First Light works really hard to humanize Bond, but the very mechanics of the game remind you who he is at every turn. It works very well.

Once inside private areas, you’re Trespassing, and the stakes (and options) ramp up. These areas are usually busy, so you’re not immediately identified as an outsider. Enemies are rarely standing around waiting for you, they’ll be patrolling, chatting, searching, deleting files, etc. You can walk around like you own the place as long as you keep your distance and break line of sight once the familiar “suspicion meter” starts to fill. If you are caught, you’ll have an opportunity to stall a bit. You can get some distance if you’re expecting a firefight, try to lure enemies away from others or to an environmental hazard you can trigger with a gadget, or get close for a takedown. First Light deploys a variation on the Mark and Execute system here: you get charges for these options by taking down guards in melee; the more discrete the takedown, the more charges you get. Two of the options are free: you can fake surrender, like in Hitman, and engage them in melee when they get close, or in some places you can even comply with their order to get out. This warps you to the nearest Open area and, in a nice touch, puts the guard who kicked you out on alert: he won’t immediately turn his back and let you waltz right back in.

The most expensive option is Bluff, where Bond whips up a story to explain why he’s there and keeps the guards off your back for a little while. These are great, and every mission has several unique bluffs that change depending on the intel you’ve acquired in the mission, your location, the type of guard you’re talking to, etc. They also have an area of effect, so you can talk your way past a whole group of enemies with one bluff. It doesn’t always work — it shouldn’t, some enemies can’t be bluffed, Bond isn’t a mind reader — but it absolutely nails the Bond fantasy. It got me thinking of when I’ve worked in busy places, like a conference centre, how often I just let strangers go wherever they pleased. First Light really nails the “not my problem” mentality that most people have at work.

If the bluffs fail, you’re generally forced to engage in melee combat, which fucking rules. I’ll write more about it later, but it’s a punchy, reactive, improvisational blast. I think it’s the best simulation of a brawl I’ve ever seen. If you’re able to keep the fight quiet and localized, you’ll be able to contain the situation and carry on as if you were never caught — as long as no one finds the unconscious bodies you’re forced to leave lying around, a concession to momentum that I totally understand even if it makes my stealth perfectionist brain itch a bit.

The there’s Licence to Kill, which is usually triggered by a plot moment. Enemies will rarely whip out guns if you botch a Trespassing area (so far, anyway). The gunplay is fast and lethal, and introduces a bullet time focus mechanic sorely missing from the recent Hitman games, allowing you pop off headshots like, well, you know. Aiming for legs and guns is effective, too — you can even catch a gun out of the air after a disarm. Thankfully, the expected armoured enemies aren’t invincible tanks and a full burst from an SMG or a couple of shotgun blasts will take them down.

Bond is often ridiculously outnumbered and you’re expected to use your whole kit, especially since you can’t carry much ammo. Your gadgets can trigger pipes to blind or kill enemies, powerful fans to knock enemies off balance, collapse bridges and drop heavy objects on groups — and of course there are bright red explosive barrels all over the place. The low ammo count and destructible cover forces you to stay mobile and use your wits to even the odds; shooting a steam pipe to obscure a pair of enemies, whipping your empty rifle at one to stagger him, then grabbing the other and tossing him off a railing. Disarming a guard at close range and using his gun to shoot him and his mates point-blank is something I’ve watched Daniel Craig do a hundred times, and it feels as good to do as it does to watch.

I’ll update this as I go, but even if it falls off a cliff in the second half, the first 10 or so hours of 007 First Light are excellent.