"We're dealing with a young Bond here. Bond, who, together with the player, will take his first steps into the world of espionage and spycraft," Rasmus Poulsen, the 007 First Light franchise art director tells me. We're talking about the game's name, but also the opening titles sequence itself, recently revealed to go alongside a title track by Lana Del Ray. It's a killer sequence, and one that helps it to stand proudly among a strong tradition of the series' iconic movie opening credits.
"This guy [young Bond] has certainly had darkness in his life – his parents perishing, among other things. But, he hasn't yet seen the full shadow side of what being an agent means. As such, he's just venturing forth and taking his first steps into the larger world. Therefore, the title: First Light. And what do you have when you have light? You have shadow," he says.
"[That's] the core foundation of the concept of the intro sequence. It's really a play on the title, the interplay between exciting action and drama, as well as the darkness that is also contained within the franchise." It's a strong theme in more ways than one – emblematic of a James Bond who, like the player, is learning, playful, and able to creatively find solutions to problems, whether that's smooth-talking, bluffing, or the old-fashioned one-two punch to knock thugs flying.
Timeless quality
Even though James Bond is one of the biggest media licenses in the world, it wasn't simple for developer IO Interactive, known for the Hitman series, to arrive at the confident clear tone shown off by the 007 First Light title sequence. James Bond's adventures are so all-encompassing, so varied and gigantic, that adaptation, especially one that's a fresh take for the gaming world, requires a lot of choices.
"If I only had one word to choose, it'd be 'timeless'."
Rasmus Poulsen
"Working with a big, established IP, the major differentiator compared to doing something new is that, since everything is established already, you are riffing on known themes. If you're not riffing on them, you are certainly playing with them," says Poulsen. Making your own thing, like Hitman, allows you to be more completely in control, he tells me. "Here, it's more of a communication of a known subject from a style point of view. Of course, we have looked at 60+ years of Bond media, and analyzed and deducted what we felt was core to that."
Bond has been gritty. Bond has been silly. Set across the '60s, to the modern day. "If I only had one word to choose, it'd be 'timeless'. That's really central," says Poulsen when I ask about the approach to fitting 007 First Light within the series' broad approach to tone. "Beyond that, we have credibility, of course. Because, it is the real world. [Those things] buy you this sense suspension of disbelief for the audience, which allows us to go on the adventure we're really there for. If it's founded in credibility and it has this timeless cool about it, then when things kick off and it gets wild – it can get a little more extravagant than what would otherwise be in the real world. Those two forces, hold hands."
007 First Light, after all, is an adventure where we've seen massive explosions, and fights in cargo planes spiral into having Bond skydiving through falling debris and taking refuge on falling trucks.
But, it's also one where in my own 007 First Light hands-on I spend a few moments of quiet contemplation pouring a stiff drink at Bond's Kensington flat-share, before fighting off an assassin in a lengthy, Quantum of Solace-style fist-fight one-on-one – unusual only in how action video games, compared to movies, often have you dropping tens of enemies without thinking about it.
Nathan Drake's kill sprees are notable for how little you do notice them. It's interesting to see this Bond take down opponents in stealth non-lethally, keep his weapon holstered until enemies have clear intent to kill, and have the stamina to survive some lengthy brawls.
"That's a great point. Physicality is something we talk a lot about during production, because otherwise games can be a little distant. It can feel a little bit like you're manipulating the world through far away events. Then, at the same time, everything gets so grand that it's entire cities and planets crumbling and whatnot, right?" says Poulsen.
"For us, it's important that every encounter feels crunchy and dangerous, and that there's a sense of physicality and body in these moments. As well as having simpler set pieces, like cement counterweights on a crane [that] feel dangerous and heavy. It's not entire buildings, but it does weigh a ton, you know? It's about lifting the otherwise mundane into the action realm by putting effort and attention into the little things."
007 First Light launches on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S on 27 May – with Nintendo Switch 2 to follow.
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