There’s still not much known about this videogame. What they showed us a couple of weeks ago was entirely cutscenes which, if you pay much attention to how they roll out these games to the press nowadays, is hardly ever reflective of what is actually in the game or of the quality of the game. The finished product is almost always worse than the quality that is alluded to in the initial reveal.
The fact that there was just about zero gameplay shown in the trailer suggests that, even five years later, there’s still a long way to go with the actual game. I wouldn’t be surprised if it gets delayed at some point as we near the end of 2025.
But, even if it does manage to turn out to be a quality product, it’s still going to get absolutely steamrolled by Grand Theft Auto VI.
The other Bond games have barely moved the needle when it comes to the general public. This one will be more of the same in that department. I really can’t see this game informing what Amazon is going to do with their Bond much, if at all.
They would not allow this to endanger their new big money machine. So they will have been part of the development.
They definitely see this as a test balloon. Sure, if it blows up they can distance themselves from it, saying “it was never what we are aiming for”. But if it works well enough (they won’t expect it to be more successful than the big games), they will see it as an entry into the market they are trying to conquer.
The game is coming out in the Amazon era but we all know it didn’t start during it. I’m sure 007 First Light will stand alone as its own thing, with Amazon going their own way. It’s apparent that’s how IO wants things too based on their comments.
This fairly small game studio has attracted over 75 million players for the World of Assassination Trilogy to date. They have a built in customer base with Hitman and I can see a good portion of that carrying over to Bond, even if those people aren’t die hard Bond fans.
Gamers know what type of quality the company delivers and I wouldn’t be expecting a suddenly subpar product when the gameplay reveal occurs this summer. The way I see things, there is good reason to be optimistic about new content and it’s better than the alternative of doing nothing for fear of failing.
Truth be told, I would have set some money on Cavill myself back then, looked like a reasonable assumption to have an established lead who’s already popular with (some of) the fans. I’d still think he’d be a good option on paper if Amazon wanted to kick its Bond off fast-ish.
I’ve been in the “haven’t got a clue camp” on Bond 7 but also on the direction they will take with the next film. I’m not convinced the game will have much of an impact as key decisions on the film may already have been taken. We will see.
Indeed. But then again, maybe not. It’s entirely possible Pascal & Heyman have just a white board with ‘James Bond’ on it and wait for the respective pitches of their would-be directors. On balance I just think a younger - 30ish? - actor is the only thing Amazon may have a preference for.
Good call on BOND 27. First Light and BOND 26 both have a similar task in attracting the next generation of fans to Bond, so there may possibly be some overlap in their approach - but the game has necessarily streamlined priorities to the demands of the gaming community, a stable gameplay engine, mission design, different modes, equipment, interaction with characters so on. All things a film decides for its audience.
The general tone of the game may however hit a sweet spot with youngsters and more dedicated fans alike. If so, Amazon would surely take notice.
There’s also this to consider. At some point during the reveal of First Light it was said that EON had grown tired of the Bond games being mindless shooting games, which was partly why they had sat on the license for almost a decade after Eurocom and Activision turned the franchise into a lesser version of Call of Duty. Which makes it almost certain that this is not going to be that kind of game. Amazon may view Bond as a more action-driven property and want all of that. They may view it as something else. Who knows, but I would also venture to guess that they’ll be a little too far down the line with their decision making timeline for First Light to have any kind of significant impact on Bond 26.
Guess we still have a ways to go before we see our man on the big screen once again, but I’m happy all the same. Dune 2 was an incredible spectacle in theaters, and Arrival is one of my favorite sci fi films. Onward!
The fact he has such a reverence for the prior films is very encouraging. This will hopefully transfer to the screen and not venture too far off the prior path of the past.
I’m very happy with the choice. He’s a fantastic filmmaker. I do hope that because the Dune movies are quite dark and having helmed three of them back to back to back that Bond will give Villeneuve a chance to lighten up a bit and have some fun.
Regardless of the tone we’ll certainly get quality filmmaking.