There hasn't been a new one for five years. shooting o James Bond. Video game fans have been waiting even longer for a title worthy of the world's most famous secret agent. That's why it's on the game 007 First Light fell an almost impossible task - to simultaneously return Bond to gamers and remind the audience why this character has been one of the most important cultural phenomena for more than six decades.
The new game comes at a time of transition for the franchise, as it has not yet been confirmed who will be the next film Bond after Daniel Craig's last film appearance No Time to Die from 2021. The casting process for the feature film has only just officially begun, some 15 months after Amazon MGM Studios took control of the Bond franchise.
The game 007 First Light, behind the Danish studio IO Interactive, has already attracted critical attention not only because it represents the first major Bond project after a long hiatus, but because it offers something that the film franchise has been looking for for years: a compelling reason to reinvent the character.
That's no small challenge. James Bond has been on the screen since 1962. Over the course of more than six decades, he changed faces, political circumstances, enemies and styles. He was a Cold War operative, playboy, action hero and traumatized veteran. Every generation got its own Bond.
Perhaps the question facing the franchise today is: how to introduce a character that has been re-introduced so many times? The authors of the game decided to start from the beginning.
Who is Bond in the new game?
U First Light Bond is not yet a "00" agent. He doesn't have a license to kill, he doesn't have the confidence that movie audiences remember him for, nor the almost cartoonish elegance that has been his trademark for decades. In the game, he is a young, impulsive and often unpleasant intern who is just trying to find his place in the world of espionage.
Thus, the game is more reminiscent of a coming-of-age story than a classic spy spectacle.
Actor Patrick Gibson, who lends voice and character to the young Bond, does not try to imitate his predecessors. His Bond is neither Connery nor Craig. He is a young man who has not yet become a legend.
The authors of the game did not rely only on the film heritage. Parts of the story were also inspired by Ian Fleming's original novels, so beneath the familiar motifs lies a more complex and vulnerable character than the one on the big screen.
Photo: Screenshot/YouTube/James Bond 007Bond for the third decade of the 21st century?
A hitman disguised as Bond?
However, some critics claim that it is First Light actually a game from the series Hitman disguised as James Bond.
The developers point out that, although certain elements of the DNA of the Hitman series can be recognized in the game, it is a very different experience.
"In order to faithfully present Bond, we have to show the full spectrum of his abilities," explains Martin Emborg, director of narrative at IO Interactive, according to the BBC.
"You can fight, but you can also charm your way through. There's a whole segment of spy work."
Studio IO Interactive has been developing the Hitman series for years, perhaps the most sophisticated modern espionage simulation. Their levels resemble complex mechanisms where the player can choose between infiltration, manipulation, concealment or open conflict.
Many therefore assumed that Bond would only be a cosmetic change to the existing formula.
The opposite happened.
While Hitman a game about a professional who perfectly controls the situation, First Light is a game about a man who is just learning how to do it. The emphasis is not only on action but also on the process of identity formation. In the game, Bond makes mistakes, improvises and often gets into problems from which he has to get out.
In this way, the game manages to do something that films in recent years have not always been able to do - to make a familiar character interesting again.
Could surpass the previous Bond in the game
And while some Bond games are all but forgotten today, First Light will have a tough task if it wants to match the reputation of GoldenEye 007, released for the Nintendo 64 in 1997, which many still consider the pinnacle of Bond video games.
All this comes at a time when the very structure of the entertainment industry is changing. Video games used to be spin-offs of major movie franchises. Today, they are often equal, and sometimes even the dominant medium of storytelling. It's no coincidence that games are increasingly being talked about as a place where big franchises can experiment with characters and stories in ways that movie studios can't or won't.
While Hollywood is still searching for the next Bond, the gaming industry may have just found the answer to the question of what Bond could be for the third decade of the 21st century.
Source: BBC/Guardian/Weiss
Real journalism costs money, and we will not be bought by tycoons and corporations. Support us with a one-time or monthly donation. The time for it is now!
