{"id":61890,"date":"2026-06-19T07:11:59","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T23:11:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=61890"},"modified":"2026-06-19T07:11:59","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T23:11:59","slug":"007-first-light-didnt-need-to-be-so-violent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=61890","title":{"rendered":"007 First Light didn’t need to be so violent"},"content":{"rendered":"


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In most games where shooting is a core part of the gameplay experience, you\u2019re often handed a gun and told to shoot first, worry about an alarmingly high body count later. Not so in 007 First Light<\/em>. The game restricts Bond\u2019s firearms usage to very specific scenarios when Bond is in mortal danger; a very dramatic \u201cLicense to Kill\u201d alert then appears on the top of your screen highlighted in red. It\u2019s an interesting flip on what we\u2019ve come to expect from a third-person shooter, though 007 First Light<\/em> could have been even more restrictive with its approach to lethal violence.<\/p>\n

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\"007\n <\/picture>Image: IO Interactive via Polygon<\/small><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Much of 007 First Light<\/em>\u2019s gameplay is of the non-violent variety. Bond has to use its wits, charm, and confidence to advance the story. Take the luxury Vietnamese resort level for example. Plenty of it is spent solving social puzzles, manipulating the environment via gadgets, and bluffing your way toward targets to help save them.<\/p>\n

Bond must also sneak his way through areas filled with henchmen, like the hallways and offices of a major tech company. Depending on your ability to stay out of sight and your skills with Bond\u2019s trusty gadget-filled Q Watch, you can bypass those guards without needing to resort to violence. If you\u2019re like me, however, these sequences probably devolve into bouts that make you feel like Batman from the Arkham games afterward. I swear, I didn\u2019t kill them \u2014 I just broke all their bones and gave them concussions!<\/p>\n

Still, even in these sequences, Bond can\u2019t simply whip out a gun and channel his inner Danny DeVito, despite how easy it would be to headshot unsuspecting guards loitering in your way. Lethal violence is only<\/em> permitted when Bond\u2019s foes are out to kill him; he won\u2019t be the one who shoots first. During one of the final levels, Bond is accompanied by a mysterious frenemy who kills an unaware guard. Bond chastises his companion, saying, \u201cThat\u2019s your way, not mine.\u201d Killing is always Bond\u2019s last resort, which makes him stand apart from most other adventure game heroes.<\/p>\n

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\"007\n <\/picture>Image: IO Interactive via Polygon<\/small><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Of course, because this is a big-budget, AAA video game, there are plenty of opportunities for Bond to, well, start blasting. Numerous areas find Bond exploring a beautiful locale, like that resort, and end with him shooting his way through waves of bad guys. While I love third-person shooting as much as anyone \u2014 and it\u2019s excellent in 007 First Light<\/em> \u2014 it feels like there\u2019s a bit too<\/em> much here, given the emphasis on the restrictive license to kill.<\/p>\n

Bond racks up a body count (and a body count<\/em> winkwinkwink) throughout the game, but at least his lethal force makes sense in the context of the story. Spy stuff, and all. It\u2019s in sharp contrast to a series like Uncharted, which 007 First Light<\/em> definitely borrows from; the fight-for-a-parachute-while-flying-through-the-air set piece easily feels like it could fit into Naughty Dog\u2019s longstanding adventure series.<\/p>\n

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\"Bond\n <\/picture>Image: IO Interactive via Polygon<\/small><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Lethal violence in Naughty Dog games like the Uncharted and The Last of Us series has generated a lot of chatter around ludonarrative dissonance, or the discord that can arise between gameplay and a game\u2019s narrative and characters. Uncharted\u2019s Nathan Drake is a charming everyman\u2026 who also just so happens to slaughter thousands of foes during his adventures without thinking too much about it. But in 007 First Light,<\/em> Bond doesn\u2019t want to kill yet is justified for doing it, by both the narrative and his 007 status.<\/p>\n

The game\u2019s restriction of violence flies out the window in 007 First Light<\/em>\u2019s final level, however. Without spoiling too much, Bond uses everything available to kill dozens and dozens of goons. While thrilling and narratively justified, it feels at odds with IO Interactive\u2019s restrained approach throughout the rest of the game. One has to wonder what a final level full of armed-to-the-teeth bad guys would look like if Bond couldn\u2019t access firearms or gadgets \u2014 probably a lot like the exciting, stealth-filled opening level in Iceland.<\/p>\n

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\"007\n <\/picture>Image: IO Interactive via Polygon<\/small><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

007 First Light<\/em> has a lot going for it over the course of its tightly paced 20-hour campaign, including plenty of great gunfights. But some of the game\u2019s best moments are found during dialogue in a nightclub and bluffing Bond\u2019s way through a fancy shmancy hotel hosting a chess tournament.<\/p>\n

The game\u2019s ending perfectly sets up a sequel. While there are many questions left to be answered, the one I\u2019m most interested in is how IO Interactive and James Bond will approach violence in a potential sequel? Will the license to kill be even more restrictive, or will the series grow to become more like the Uncharted games that 007 First Light<\/em> is so obviously inspired by? For now, we\u2019ll just have to enjoy the Year One Content updates heading to 007 First Light<\/em>, including a mission centered around Lenny Kravitz\u2019s Bawma.<\/p>\n

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\"James<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t007 First Light completely retcons Bond as we know him, to great success<\/p>\n<\/h5>\n

Nathan Drake meets Agent 47<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n


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