Review #064 – 007 First Light

From its inception First Light had the right ingredients for an ideal James Bond video game with IO at the helm. One thing is certain—they’ve absolutely nailed of look and feel of Bond. You’ll utilize an array of wild gadgets, sneak through heavily guarded locales, and smooth-talk your way out of tense situations. Even the opening theme by Lana Del Rey feels appropriately grand.

The gameplay is hit-and-miss though. You’ll do a lot of stealth and shooting but both feel underbaked. I lost count how many times I got caught half-way through a stealth section and had to clumsily shoot my way out. I like being able to throw empty weapons and shoot guns out of an enemy’s hands, but the controls—especially the cover mechanic—feel awkward.

The highlights of the game for me are the Hitman-adjacent sandbox sections where you can freely explore and tackle objectives in various ways, but they’re way too infrequent. It’s still an extremely well-made game despite its flaws, no doubt, but I’d love to see a sequel with more fleshed out mechanics.