007 First Light is the latest game featuring James Bond, this time from IO Interactive. MeinMMO editor Benedikt Schlotmann played it, and the game evokes memories of trips with Deutsche Bahn.
Close your eyes and imagine, you are traveling with Deutsche Bahn, with all its surprises it has to offer: chaos during seat selection, lost luggage, police operations, and spontaneous evacuations. You know that the trip will be an adventure, but not what you will encounter along the way.
But one thing usually remains the same: the view outside and the actual destination of the trip.
007: First Light feels similar to such a train journey: it always goes in the same linear direction, and unforeseen events occur along the way. But the view outside remains the same, and the choices within this journey with MI6 are as varied as the selection in the onboard bistro.
Strongly linear game with a few fine options to the left and right
The team at IO Interactive has decided to create a story-driven action game with 007: First Light. Less of a sandbox, an open playground like in the Hitman series, but rather clearer guidelines on where the protagonist’s journey goes.
As a result, 007: First Light sometimes feels like an interactive movie, whose story is clearly defined. You cannot deviate from this clear direction; experiences in the game remain the same: people fight, love, die, and mourn at the same places.
This also diminishes the game’s replayability: I have no reason to replay a section because the story plays out exactly the same. Maximum to collect forgotten collectible cards or mementos in the game world that I overlooked the first time.
At least: on the way to the destination, I can still occasionally turn left and right: do I want to forcefully open a door or convince the maid to open it for me? Do I intimidate my counterpart or hide in the tall grass? But no matter what I choose, the outcome remains the same in the end. The options fit perfectly with the overall concept of the game and Bond’s character, but they remain limited.
And no question, the game world is beautiful and detailed down to the smallest detail – but it remains sterile and overall lifeless. I can only use very specific things and only when the developer allows it. Have a beer at the bar or sneak something from the open buffet? Nope, none of that.
The best example of this is the luxury hotel in Slovakia, where your first real mission after the tutorial takes you (if you exclude the nightclub). The setting looks fantastic: the many people, the chess tournament, the individual rooms, and the nature around. Here, IO Interactive showcases everything the game has to offer, but only with shackles.
And the comparison with Deutsche Bahn fits well because these limitations in gaming are often referred to as railroading: the game forces you to feel, act, or think in a particular way.
On the other hand, the overall concept of First Light is really entertaining: it’s a huge amount of fun to sneak through missions, use gadgets, and take out enemies. And surprisingly, my highlight is the missions where I get to proceed stealthily.
I spent what felt like an hour in the tutorial mission in Malta finding the best way to neither be detected nor have to defeat enemy soldiers. In such missions, 007: First Light showcases its strengths, and it truly captivates me. By the way, the game is far too easy with pure firepower.
I have always reached a stable frame rate of 100 FPS at UWQHD, even in demanding or hectic scenes. For hardware, I use a Ryzen 7 7800X3D, an RX 9070, and 32 GB DDR5 RAM.
Outlook: Does the Tac-Sim utilize the wasted potential of the great game world?
What’s next? At least, I have hope that IO Interactive will still utilize the unused potential, as afterwards you can let loose in the Tac-Sim.
As soon as you play through the intro sequence and receive your watch, you can talk to Selina Tan and unlock the Tac-Sim. This is a way to experience the game’s levels again and with new objectives, gameplay restrictions, and random modifiers.
By completing Tac-Sim missions, you gain experience, improving your level and unlocking improved items in the shop. Currently, the Tac-Sim content is still quite limited.
The developer has already stated that they intend to continue providing content for this game mode. My hope is that the developers will take inspiration from their very successful Hitman series for this mode, and less from First Light.
Back to Deutsche Bahn: I am someone who often travels with Deutsche Bahn and has experienced quite a lot on these trips. Nevertheless, or perhaps because of that, I still enjoy getting on the train to reach my destination.
With First Light, I feel somewhat similar: I gladly boarded this train
and accompanied young James Bond on his journey. I was annoyed by broken display boards (bugs) and the limited selection in the onboard bistro (decisions in the game), looked for lost luggage, and in the end successfully disembarked at my destination.
But even here, Deutsche Bahn and James Bond share a commonality, and that is the (wasted) potential: Deutsche Bahn could be punctual, deliver warm meals to your seat, or provide functioning reservations on trains. It’s similar with James Bond: the world offers huge potential, and the Tac-Sim shows where the journey could go. What IO Interactive makes of this potential remains to be seen.
For Marco Risch from the YouTube channel Nerdkultur, the current James Bond in First Light is even considered the perfect option: The perfect James Bond for this generation is not in cinemas, film expert analyzes the new game with 007
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