007 First Light - IO Interactive

I hope they got clearance from Tom Cruise to use his likeness when coming up with the look for this new Bond. :joy:

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Thanks for saying it so I didn’t have to. This feels like a lot of things to me, but James Bond isn’t one of them. There’s some Cruise in there for sure, though.

So…loose canon with a lifelong history of insubordination and impulsive behavior, a penchant for casual wear and brawling, and a mother figure ā€œMā€ taking the role of mentor/enabler. I guess this game is firmly rooted in the Craig reboot template for the character, and not ā€œBond Classic.ā€ I’m really, really hoping Amazon goes in a different direction.

Don’t let me be a wet blanket, though; I’m happy for those fans who are excited by it. It doesn’t help that my video game skills pretty much peaked in the early 80s with Galaga, so I was never the audience for this regardless.

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This was what was most disappointing about the trailer. In this new era of Bond, both for the videogames as well as the films, I’m looking for something new. This Bond/M relationship looks like everything we’ve seen from those two characters dating back to 1995.

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It all looks most jolly, but way beyond me. Curious use of Lord Brett Sinclair’s Aston.

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So that’s what Amazon will want to do with Bond.

What’s this boring obsession with young males disregarding authority, always making a mess and only getting out through sheer luck?

That kind of wish fulfillment worked well for FF. But it isnā€˜t Bond.

Was a long day.

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The character model looks younger than I expected but I don’t mind that, especially considering how early in the timeline this is. The casual clothing is a big indicator he’s Bond but still with a way to go in his life journey. I like that gamers will have their own incarnation to call their own and evolve with.

It looks like we’ll get training levels too with shooting and combat, which would work well as opening tutorials.

The tone is also lighter than I imagined, which does open up the potential of Q and a whole host of gadgets like the watch laser. The flame throwing bike is very Everything or Nothing and is that Smart Blood technology from the Craig era?

It’s new content and it’s what we’ve been needing. Fingers crossed the current generation falls in love with it, because even if we enjoy the older classic Bond, I imagine the youth of today don’t feel the same way. This is an entry point for them. A new journey I’m also excited to take.

Probably a good chance.

It looks like a more polished Everything or Nothing, which I think is the ideal template for Bond games. Driving, boating and potentially swimming is the big point of difference from the Hitman games. I’m so glad we’re getting that variety to get the full Bond experience. The locations look nice - the islands are spectacular, and I’m guessing Iceland will be near the start. The end of the trailer with the crocodile death trap is right up my alley.

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It does look really good. Hope it does well.

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Everything or Nothing and Nightfire are still the two best Bond games, as much as I enjoyed Bloodstone, and those came out over(!) twenty years ago. The motorbike with a rear flamethrower is a great sign, as is the crocodile pit. I don’t own a game console anymore, but I’m so happy to see a young Bond that will hopefully ignite of bit of enthusiasm toward the brand, especially with younger players. It also works as a proof of concept that we can get a modern Bond with all of the classic elements (scar on the cheek, no less!) even in this day and age. Yes, for the cinema I’m hoping for a Bond that’s already established, but this is an awesome proof of concept that I hope suggests we’re moving forward at long last with humor and bright color, while still maintaining the necessary edge. That added element of his parents dying to save him is a great additional psychological twist. This is all very well done. I’m very happy with what I see.

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If you click ā€˜sign up and get free items’ on the official game site 007 First Light it shows the black LALD finale outfit, plus a Gilded Wraith weapon skin. I wouldn’t rule out more movie inspired outfits. The trailer already used the OHMSS theme which was a nice surprise.

Agreed. This is following the general template of the Hitman games. The relationship 47 has with Diana Burnwood and the way they dig into his past and motivations. I think that’s fair enough for IO to take full ownership of the property and put their stamp on things. From the press release it says the 00 section is newly resurrected, so it’s starting again just as we do. Bond is 26 years old and starts as a Navy air crewman. 009 appears to be the villain. Coming out next year is better than I thought, because at least we’re seeing things now.

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I think the game looks fantastic.

Way better than I had thought it would. My only mild criticism of it is that it doesn’t feel distinctly James Bond.

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For a Bond game that should be more than a mild criticism?

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I think it mostly does, but i kind of get your point that this trailer, which i loved, is selling both a Bond game and that its from the makers of Hitman.

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I don’t think so. I get a Bond vibe but not being quite there is part of this stage of the timeline’s appeal. It was true of Higson’s Young Bond and when I was reading Forever and a Day.

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It depends. This would hope to appeal in equal parts to traditional fans and gamer kids alike - but defining Bond through the kids’ perspective and from their POV. It seems to be Young Bond 2.0, continued as if that concept had been set in 2000 instead of the 1930s. Strategy-wise it’s a good idea to give the younger gaming audience something to chew on, even if it’s not quite Bond (yet?). We’ve had much the same approach with Craig.

What bugs is that it’s yet another origin, but that’s probably a given anyway since for the kids Craig is already ancient and an origin tale is still a favourite with the industry. I think we can nonetheless be cautiously hopeful the cinema version will not start from the same place but probably some 10 years later. I don’t think that’s a bad sign. We know Amazon will do things differently. If the finished product manages to keep that adventurous tone we could be off significantly worse.

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Yes, it is another origin story, but this is something unique for the games. Casino Royale was gulp 19 years ago, so it’s not exactly like what happened with the Spider-Man films. Personally, I like how they seemed to nail the little details right down to the scar on his cheek. I could be biased since this is the first bit of major Bond media we’ve gotten in years, but I’m excited.

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Well, it’s by default the best thing the franchise has given us in a long time. But that’s the lowest of low bars to clear, so they get no credit for at least doing that.

The only thing that feels distinctly ā€œBondā€ about this is the trust/parental issues between Bond and M, which was one of the things I think was almost unanimously considered a top priority to jettison from the franchise.

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Question is, can you have an origin story without them initially sounding out what kind of trust they can invest? I’m not hot on it either - which doesn’t matter since I don’t play these games any more - but once they decide to go with a young Bond starting in SIS a careful build up of trust is basically the default position.

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As a writer I get their point, but if I’m honest I don’t think anyone chooses that profession on a whim. I’ll wait to see what they do but I think Moore is the only one who would be accurate in terms of being a company man.

Shoot me.

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Given that Bond is coming from the navy (or the SAS in Craig’s case), where chain of command is what it is and there shouldn’t be any variation from the orders given, I would have hoped that those ideals would have found there way into the characterization of Bond over the years. Instead, the en vogue thing for the past few decades seems to be to make Bond more like a child who doesn’t react well to being told ā€œnoā€. He’s not so much a professional anymore but rather a problem child that M apparently needs to babysit.

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