I recommend: 007 First Light (Review)

This video is brought to you by NVIDIA, delivering cutting -edge graphics technology like DLSS 4 .5 and path tracing.For games like 007 First Light, NVIDIA Tech delivers the highest frame rates, most immersive lighting, the sharpest image quality and maximum responsiveness so that you know you're experiencing the game the way it was meant to be played.Click the link below or stick around to the end of the video to learn more.Ever since Hitman existed, we all kept saying to ourselves, man, imagine if IO got their hands on the Bond franchise.Imagine what they could do with that.And then, all of a sudden, it happened.

IO announced a rights deal with Amazon, and some time later, 007 First Light was revealed.A new spin on James Bond that put you in his shoes at a time when he still might have worn sneakers instead of leather loafers.This is Bond as you've never seen him before, young enough to not have to worry about chronic back pain.The big question you likely have coming into this review is, did IO pull it off?Did they make for us the Bond game that we always imagined they would if they were ever handed the keys to this franchise?Well, I'm pleased to tell you that, yeah, broadly speaking, they have.

But in order to appreciate that, I think we first have to divest ourselves of some of the expectations we might have carried with us when we imagined a Bond game made by IO.If you were hoping for Hitman with a Bond skin on it, you're going to be pretty disappointed, because while plenty of that Hitman DNA is here, a lot of it isn't, because Bond and Hitman are fundamentally different fantasies.Agent 47 prefers the guns pointed away from him as he disappears into an assumed persona, while Bond does his best work mogging the camera while driving a Jag, through a platoon of heavily armed Russian goons.But just as Agent 47 also knows how to throw down when needed, so too does Bond know how to sneak, trick, disguise and connive his way into or out of a situation.The task that IO had before them was, could they strike the perfect blend of clever, thoughtful, immersive sim puzzle -box design andsun -soaked high -speed testosterone -fueled spectacle?

Could they make the perfect Hitman and Bond cocktail, one that would leave us shaken and stirred?Sorry, just couldn't resist that one.I do think the answer to this question is yes, IO got that formula largely correct, but there is still an unreconciled tension that sits at the core of it.By never being able to fully commit to its immersive sim elements or its action elements, both parts of the formula leaving you wanting a little more than they're able to deliver.For fans of Hitman, it's likely that First Light's puzzle -boxed levels may feel less reactive, sophisticated and immersive than you're used to.Similarly, fans of more straightforward cinematic action games may tire of these lengthy, sim segments, and yearn for more action than First Light is willing to deliver.

But the unifying factor here is James Bond himself.We know who this guy is, and we know what sort of experience we should probably expect when playing a game starring him.It s not meant to be any one single thing, but rather a collection of vignettes.It s meant to be a little bit of sneaky spy work, a little bit of action, a little bit of driving, a little bit of under -the -covers fieldwork with a femme fatale, throw in some cue gadgets and some flirty banter with Moneypenny, and we re there, another Bond adventure just like all the others, And I mean that in the nicest way possible, because I really do think that 007 First Light does a wonderful job of capturing the very essence of James Bond.But even that isn t without its flaws, as a really terrible opening act left me reeling and very worried about where all this was headed, and persistent pacing issues make Bond s adventure feel more than a little padded out.It is 15 -20 hours long, and I suspect it would have been a far better game had IO aimed for a tight 10 -12 hours, but I m very sympathetic to the realities of player expectations when it comes to number of hours for dollars spent.

Even with these tensions and these complaints, this is still a brilliant Bond adventure, one that offers a unique spin on the characters, one that offers the deepest, broadest simulation of the 00 life, and one that captures the spirit of what made the Bond films so beloved.Their charm, their swagger, their spectacle.No studio could have been better suited to the task, and while it s a bit of a mysteryin parts, I really do think that IO delivered most of what we d been hoping for when we imagined what it would have been like to have the team behind Hitman offer their own unique spin on that other very famous spy.Let s start with a quick whip around of performance, visuals and presentation.I did this review on a high end PC running at 4K max settings, DLSS set to quality and I was getting around 100 FPS while doing that.

Didn t have any crashes, frame drops were minimal, no gameplay related bugs.The only issue I had was on the very last mission of the game I was getting truly awful stuttering, like really bad.I don t want to show you any footage of that because I don t want to spoil the last mission, but it was definitely a problem.Restarting the game and my PC did not fix it.I essentially had to finish the game with intense stuttering.I certainly hope IO have this bug in their sites before launch, because it definitely took some luster off the game s finale.

the leading man himself, 007 First Light scrubs up pretty nicely when it wants to.Rather than constantly overawe you with overly designed locations, IO s artists have instead chosen to carefully dole out the visual stimulation, keeping their powder dry over long stretches before igniting it in the next party scene, the next set piece location, the next distant horizon or action showcase.When it wants to look good, 007 First Light looks really, really good.really good, perfectly capturing the glamorous aesthetic of nightclubs, fancy European hotels, high society social mixes and exotic beach resorts.Many of these settings benefit greatly from iOS proprietary Glacier Engine, which is purpose built to handle dense crowds with each person having their own geometry, their own physics, their ownreaction to you bumping into them.

The nightclub scene is the first proper showcase of this tech, and it certainly doesn t disappoint, offering maybe the most realistic feeling nightclub in any video game ever?Well, except for the one on the Citadel of course.Similarly, the Society Mixer at the Art Gallery later is a fabulous showcase of the power of this tech, since this entire space is yours to move freely through, bumping into folks and overhearing their chitchat as you do so.I think my favourite location in the game is actually this one, a secluded resort set in Vietnam, reachable only by boat, one that caters to the super duper rich only.It s just a really beautifully designed space that felt like such a perfect playground for Bond and his antics, and I think that s something that First Light really nails actually.Because when we watch Bond films, we sit in the cinema and we go oh, wouldn t it be nice to go to that place?

In the interactive form, we re a step closer.We re not literally there obviously, but we can decide how long we might linger on a setting sunset, we can feel these spaces a little more as we take them in at our own pace, we can poke our nose into a corner just to see what s there.The same way that Assassin s Creed games provide a sort of virtual historical tourism, First Light provides straight up virtual tourism, and none of the previous Bond games have been able to do this because they ve never been able to look anywhere near this good.Speaking of good looking, wait until you get a load of this facial animation tech.Now, it's by no means best in class, as games like The Last of Us and Guardians of the Galaxy do have it beat, but it is very, very good.It's certainly a cut above the average game, and it's a very big deal that IO managed to nail this as well as they have.

This is a licensed game based on a movie property, so if facial animations weren't believable, it'd be the first thing you'd notice.But it especially matters in a Bond game, because Bond is so often about the rage ofthe smirk, the lingering gaze, the twinkle in the eye, the tiny imperceptible thing that makes you go thinks she's into Bond, and obviously Bond is into her.The fact that they're able to capture this so beautifully and so consistently pays huge dividends.I suspect you could turn the sound off in many scenes and still get a strong sense of what's going on just by reading these characters' faces.Then again, it's never really hard to guess what's going on when Bond's involved.

This AAA presentation and polish is what any modern Bond game would have needed.Clearly, IO understood the assignment, considerably leveling up their technology to deliver on the high expectations that come with the source material, and the result is a sumptuous visual feast that sits comfortably in the broader Bond pantheon.After all, watching pretty people in pretty locations is half the fun of a Bond film, and First Light certainly has no shortage of eye candy.

This city is an extension of my being.

So, 007 First Light is really nice to look at, but how does it perform in the story department?Well, it s a little complicated, but I ll tell you that for the first few hours of this game, I really was not enjoying it, and a lot of that was down to the story.Now honestly, it s not really possible for me to explain why without spoiling some story beats, and I d rather not do that, especially for an embargo review.All I will say is that I think this opening act is kind of terrible, full of unlikable characters, some very strange story beats that do not endear you to this new bond, and an absolutely terrible, terrible villain.By the end of that first act, I had a very bad feeling about where all of this was headed.But then, immediately after that, everything changes.

Many of those characters and villains I didn't like are shoved to one side, almost never mentioned again throughout the duration of the game's runtime.In their place, the game's core cast of characters solidifies, and they're great.the game's true villain emerges, and they're great too, the story sets up an entirenew arc centred on different things, and at that point it s pretty solid.In fact, it s surprisingly good.It s about AI and its role in security and intelligence, and the risks of AI s fallibility, which is obviously a very relevant question to us right now.

Massive companies are firing scores of staff claiming to be replacing them with AI, when half the time AI is spouting hallucinations and bullshit.Just last week Google announced that they re replacing traditional search results with AI summaries, The world is about to start trusting this shit when most of the time what it says is wrong.Now imagine what would happen if a global intelligence apparatus started relying heavily on AI for its synthesis and conclusions, and you can see why First Light's premise has some really strong legs.The villains established here are also great, I won't spoil them of course, but there is a cool villain that makes a lot of sense in the world of James Bond, and crucially, he's motivated by interesting things rather than just moustache twirling villainy.He sort of has his heart in the right place, as twisted and as fucked up as that place ends up.up being, but it does make his motivations more interesting and relatable.

Connected with that compelling story is a very compelling set of questions.core characters.There s Moneypenny who s cool and quirky and fun, and the chemistry between her and Bond is very well handled.There s Em who is as always doing her job, providing a steady hand, secretly supportive of Bond s risk taking antics without ever being allowed to say it.There s also Q of course, a father figure of sorts, if your father wore 3 piece suits and knew how to turn your iPhone into a railgun.But the real star of the supporting cast is Greenway.

He s Bond s mentor, and he really doesn t think much of him at the beginning, but they re forced to spend time together, and I m sure you can imagine where that relationship goes over time.It s a really brilliant performance from actor Lenny James.He really did crush it.The game ends up having a lot of heart, and a lot of that is down to the depth of Greenway s character, both the excellent writing and James s flawless performance.But luckily, the standout performance comes from the man himself, Patrick Gibson as the newly minted 007, and oh my god, listen, if we don t get another one of these games, I m going to be devastated, because this Bond is absolutely perfect.It is crazy how good this guy is in the role.

26 years old, cheeky grin, twinkle in his eye, handsome and he knows it, but he knows how to handle it.There s an inevitability to Bond s charm, and the only way that that doesn t great is when it s delivered with the right amount of subtlety and elegance.The world wants to give him a free ticket, and he knows how to cash it with style, never being crass, never being assuming.There s no humility to Gibson s portrayal of Bond, but there s also no arrogance.It s a very charming and disarming form of confidence and bravado that you can t help be won over by, and that makes it very easy to believe when the world is won over by him.That, I think, is what makes this kid such a great Bond.

he s got just the right touch, he really does, I absolutely loved him in this role, IO s casting couldn t have been more perfect.First Light's opening hours are very awkward and head -scratchingly disconnected from the rest of the game, but it does eventually settle into a very authentic -feeling Bond adventure.You've got the exotic destinations, you've got the high -society living, you've got the evil mini -bosses, you've got Bond meeting some sexy woman in a bikini and then bedding her 15 minutes later.Even I was surprised at how quick Baby Bond works.It has it all, man, all the Bond juice you could want.That's why, for Bond fans, this is an absolute must -must play, because I think you're going to get a real kick out of this rendition of this character.

For those of you who have little affection for Bond, well, I'm sure he'll win you over just as quickly as that woman in the bikini.007 First Light is a rather unique game in the modern era.It's a licensed game based on a movie franchise.We don't get many of those these days.It's a strictly linear game.Again, we do not get many of those these days.

And it's an immersive sim, a genre that simply refuses to die no matter how many times its obituary is written.Structurally, yes, this is a strictly linear affair.There is no hub.You do not choose missions from MI6 headquarters and then head out.There's no walking around the streets of London or anywhere else.You'll watch a cutscene telling you you're headed to Vietnam and the next shot is you riding a boat in Vietnam.

And that linearity sits very comfortably in the world of Bond because it allows IO to tell the story that they want to tell using the locations and camera angles that best serve the story.But IO have very different level design goals when it comes to their gameplay scenarios.And that's why a number of first lights levels feel lifted right from the Hitman handbook.These missions have a fairly linear introduction before opening up into these massive sequences set in large areas with lots going on around you, and you need to figure out a way through.Before that though, it s probably best we go meet Q. Bond is, after all, not all about fisticuffs and firearms.He's also very much about his gadgets.

You'll often start your missions in Q -Lab, where you're able to select up to two or three gadgets to bring along with you.The most important one is your Q -Watch, which allows you to hack specific electronic devices, make guards sick so they'll wander off, and even let you temporarily stun or blind guards so you can just walk up behind them in the moment that they're dazed.Armed with these tools, you're ready to do some good old -fashioned spycraft, IO -style.This society function is the perfect example.As the party goes on around you, you've got to get upstairs to hack a computer.And of course, there are a few different ways to do that.

Personally, I stumbled on a PR publicist waiting for a contact.

I do the obvious thing and I pretend that I am the person that she's been waiting for.

She tells me I need to get a camera and a press pass, and here's where the fun really begins.The press pass is laying at a nearby security desk, but they don't seem to be too willing to hand it over.Luckily, my cube watch can be very persuasive.After that, I need a camera.I find a photographer who's walking around.I use my Q watch to short circuit his camera.

And he's like, oh shit, I need a new camera now.He then leads me to a place where I can find cameras.And again, I use my Q watch to zap this guy in the face, walk right in, steal the camera and off I go.So on the one hand, this is clever in that I do need to explore my environment for solutions and utilize my gadgets to get things done.On the other hand, you probably watched this gameplay and thought to yourself that it looks kind of goofy.And honestly, yes, it does.

This is actually one of my complaints about the game, the fact that Bond can just stand right there in front of people, bring his watch up, press a button, blind them, and then he sort of just gets away with it.It doesn't look or feel quite right, it seems a bit silly.I would have much rather there be a requirement for you to be out of sight when these things happen, a little bit more immersive.Regardless, that's how this stuff works.But of course, what I showed you there was just one of the ways to get upstairs.Like any good immersive sim, there are a handful of ways to accomplish your objective.

I found a vent that would also take me up there.I know there was a staff passageway that worked as well.There was probably at least one or two other paths forward.And I suspect that one of the reasons someone might want to replay First Light is so they can explore all of these alternative thoroughly.Having said that, neither the gadgets nor the level design feel particularly sophisticated, and I can t imagine that hardcore Im Sim or Hitman fans are going to feel very tested by this stuff.I suspect that IO had a pretty clear view of who their target audience was for a given

like this, and they probably rightly guessed it s a different audience to the one buying Hitman World of Assassination and seeking that deeper, more demanding, more complex version of ImSim gameplay.As such, I do think it's important to go into First Light with the right expectations.It is an immersive sim, but it's ImSim Lite with a focus on approachability and perhaps a few corners cut when it comes to immersion.Perhaps my biggest complaint about First Light, other than its opening act, is around pacing.And these immersive sim puzzle solving segments seem to be caught in the crossfire when it comes to this game's runtime.See, it is a 15 to 20 hour experience, and that very easily could have been a 10 to 12 hour experience.

had IO been willing to trim the fat and keep things moving.But in the modern era, a very large segment of your audience won t fork out for a linear 10 -hour experience that doesn t have the words Resident or Evil on the box.As such, I'm sure that IO felt some pressure to get this runtime up, and rather than add more action sequences, we're asked to wander around office buildings looking for keys, or through slightly different looking office buildings looking for different keys.During these sequences, the exposition pours forth from your earpiece, but much of it feels like chatter to break the awkward silence rather than things that truly needed to be said.Some of this would have been alleviated had First Light had a better, more interesting gadget economy that would open up new gameplay opportunities as you progressed through the story.That doesn't really happen, you get almost all of your gadgets right off the bat, and the few new ones that do unlock later have more utility in combat than in boring walk and talk sections.

That goes back to that earlier criticism of the imsim elements here being a little undercooked, and yeah, I think they are overall.We could have done with some more gadgets, a little less goofiness when using them, and fewer segments where it felt like we were going through the motions.But even with these issues, this whole package still hangs together because Spycraft is just one part of the Bond fantasy.and the car chasers in the combat.First Light may not live up to Agent 47 s high standards, but it was never really a fair measuring stick to apply when Bond and 47have very different MOs.

For Bond, Spycraft will only get you so far.And then it's time for the fun stuff.While the immersive sim elements of First Light can feel a little underbaked and overstretched, Combat suffers from no such afflictions.In fact, it's so good that the biggest complaint you're likely to have is that there just aren't enough combat sequences to let you truly have your fill.Combat in First Light is either a fail state or just another option depending on how you see the world.You are encouraged to constantly crouch, quietly sneaking around specific locations, using stealth and gadgetry to get the job done without anyone noticing, but invariably you will make a mistake, get spotted, and then it's on like Donkey Kong.

This is the fail state way of looking at things, but it is true that you could also just walk into every room fully erect, I'm talking about your stance by the way, settle down, and then just start serving up haymakers until the room is clear.In that sense, combat is a choice that you can make whenever you like, and there are very few situations where the game actively punishes you for making that decision.In these scenarios, you're largely relying on your fists, since you can only draw a weapon when you're granted a license to kill, and that only happens when an enemy draws their weapon first.Bond is, after all, a gentleman and a fair sport, and far be it from him to bring a gun to a punch -up.Male combat in First Light is highly intuitive, We might incorrectly diagnose it as simple, but only because IO have put so much work into it to make it feel so intuitive.Much of it is that classic Arkham thing of goons standing around you in a circle, taking turns swinging at you while flashing a certain colour so you can parry or dodge their attacks.

Much of it is about you mashing the punch button when an enemy has their guard down.Soften them up enough and a takedown option pops up, and it s goodnight sweet henchmen.All of that stuff is straightforward, but there s a hell of a lot more to it when it comes to things like vaults, grabs and charges, because each of these manoeuvres is highly contextual.See, what Iowa built here is a melee combat model that works in harmony with your surrounding environment,If there s a wall nearby and you grab an enemy, Bond will slam that guy s head into the wall to KO them.There s a rushing attack that sees you charge straight at enemies, pushing them back until they eventually hit some geometry.

The vault attacks are particularly cool, since they let you seamlessly slide over objects to quickly and easily leave enemies staggered.This environmental sensitivity is the secret sauce that makes First Light s combat so good, because it obviously adds mechanical depth, but perhaps more importantly, it just looks fucking cool.And it s how punch -ups should look in a James Bond video game.IO really knocked it out of the park here.Of course, Bond does get that license to kill from time to time, and gunplay exhibits the same smart design that delivers both mechanical depth and cinematic spectacle.Do expect plenty of aim assist when playing on a controller, making headshots plenty easy, and the ability to slow down time on a whim lets you pull off some very smooth kill chains.

You'll notice that headshots on unhelmeted enemies are, in fact, a one -shot kill, and that isn't the only way the game rewards precision targeting.For example, shooting at a target's legs sets them up for an easy melee finisher, while shooting the gun out of their hands leaves them momentarily stunned.No matter which way they drop their gun, their loss is your gain, since the only way that Bond can keep trading shots in a firefight is by picking up the weapons and ammo of enemies he's taken down.This actually mirrors one of the best features of another licensed movie game starring a charismatic ladies man, Indiana Jones.In that game, Indy had to constantly pick up new weapons as he went because that's what he did in the movies.Here, it's actually better because Bond has all these sick animations allowing you to seamlessly kick up weapons with your feet so you can grab them and immediately start firing.

Together with this environment -sensitive melee brawling, First Light's combat has a beautiful, fluid momentum that plays as good as it looks.You'll hide behind cover, empty a magazine to take down three goons, bum -rush a fourth and toss your empty weapon at them to stagger them, perform a quick melee takedown, kick their weapon up off the floor, catch it, and start spraying it in a seamless motion.The highlight reels for this game are gonna be absolutely insane, especially in the locations where IO really puts on a show.Do you think though that these balls to the walls combat moments are a bit rarer than I would have liked?In a game that runs for 15 -20 hours, I reckon full frontal weapons free combat only accounts for about 2 -3 hours of that run time.The rest of it is cutscenes and level exploration and the im sim stuff that I mentioned before.

I get why that balance exists in the way that it does, but I would have liked just a little more.Luckily I can get it outside of the main game in these tactical simulations.which is an entirely separate game mode that provides VR training sims for Bond, complete with its own currency so you can unlock more missions and upgrades as you go.IO said that they plan to add more of these missions post -launch, which mirrors the work that they ve put into Hitman post -launch.I don t expect it will end up being quite as expansive as the world of Assassination ended up being, but I m pretty certain that in two years this menu of content is going to be a hell of a lot fuller.So that s 007 First Light, and you might be reflecting on all the cons I ve listed in this review and be thinking to yourself, did IO really deliver the Bond game we were hoping for?

And I come back to what I said in the intro, I think yeah, broadly speaking they did, though where something like the Indiana Jones games seem to effortlessly capture the essence of indie, First Light eventually gets there.but it does have a few missteps along the way.The first act is really rough, and sets up co -stars and villains and events that seem totally disconnected from the rest of the game.When the plot moves past that awkward opening act, it does find its stride, but there is certainly some stumbling to get there.The spycraft side of the Bond fantasy is a touch undercooked here, especially given the pedigree of this studio and what we might have expected from them.The gadget economy is a little limited, and the number of drawn -out walk and talk sections puts further strain on these already stretched game systems.

And as for combat, it does feel like the game could have done with a little more of it, and with that balance would have come both better game pacing and more time spent with one of the games best features.But look, here s the thing about reviews.In listing things that do and don t work, it s the classic forest for the trees thing.Drilling down into the one or two things that fall short can place disproportionate weight on them.Yeah, I didn t like the opening act, but the rest were great.Yeah, I thought the spycraft stuff was simple, but it was still fun.

Yeah, I would have liked more combat, and that s because combat is actually really good.More than that though, the reason why I think IO pulled it off is because Bond is that mix of a little bit of everything.A bit of intrigue, a bit of suspense, a bit of action, a bit of spycraft, a bit of globetrotting, a bit of betrayal, a bit of villainy, a bit of heroism.Pull back to Wideshot, Bond and the Lady DuJour kiss, credits roll.IO didn t get every part of this package right, but I think they nailed the most important part, putting you in the shoes of this newly minted 00 agent, and letting you live out another thrilling Bond adventure.It really is as simple as that.

If that appeals to you, then this is an easy day one purchase, but if you re less invested in this character, then this may be the sort of game you grab down the line when some more content and some discounts have rolled through.Personally, as a sucker for Bond, I really enjoyed it, and whether you grab it day one or much later, I do recommend it.007 First Light is a pretty stunning looking game no matter where you play it, but to ensure the sharpest image quality, best lighting and highest framerates,you're going to want to play it on a GPU from this video's sponsor, Nvidia.Nvidia GPUs are the undisputed market leader because when it comes to raw processing power, nothing comes close to what Nvidia's 50 series GPUs can produce.But Nvidia does a lot more than just hardware, they've also delivered a suite of graphics technologies that push that hardware even further.

For example, 007 First Sight is a game that supports one of Nvidia's flagship technologies, DLSS 4 .5.Not only does this deliver a sharper image while reducing using monitor's refresh rate, guaranteeing you the smoothest possible performance.Also, DLSS 4 .5 gives you a lot of headroom to enable higher settings and more advanced features.Features like path tracing, which will be added to 007 First Light post -launch.That'll deliver sharper reflections, better volumetric effects, more immersive field lighting and much more.It's a real system hog, but thanks to the power of DLSS 4 and FrameGen, you'll be able to turn it on and experience 007 First Light as it was intended to be played.

For years now, Nvidia has been the market leader in graphical tech for the simple reason that they've never stopped innovating, and DLSS 4 .5, frame generation, and path tracing are all examples of NVIDIA's relentless pursuit of the best possible visuals and performance in the games that matter to you.If you're interested to learn more, I've left a link to the NVIDIA product page below, showcasing all the benefits that NVIDIA tech brings to 007 First Light.A big thanks to NVIDIA for sponsoring the video, and thank you for watching it.