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Do You Expect me to Talk? First Impressions of 007 First Light (Spoiler Free) || Chatsu Shorts
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In this episode of Chatsu Shorts, Satsunami discusses his spoiler free thoughts about the new James Bond game 007 First Light developed by IO Interactive. After playing for 18 hours, how does the story hold up against its predecessors? Does it have a licence to thrill? Or did it scare the living daylights out of me? Without any further ado, check out this spoiler free review of 007 First Light!
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Transcript
Introduction to Chatsunami Podcast
00:00:00
Speaker
Welcome to Chatsunami, a Scottish variety podcast that discusses topics from gaming and films to anime and general interest. Join me, your host, Satsunami, as well as the rest of our Chatsunami team for our takes on these very important pop culture topics. Sir, it's clearly a trap. I accept copyright! That happens three times in the film. Every time that general goes, don't do this one thing, he goes, do you know what I'm gonna do? That's exactly...
00:00:27
Speaker
It doesn't well. She had the pointy teeth. What was that about? She looked like Bilbo when he wants the ring back. ah She did, didn't she? I just want the lightsaber one more time. Parasite says, no, you will get back into your office and work. No, says the man in Zoom. yeah Trousers are for the working man. You're bursting into your hotel room. Honey, we need to go.
00:00:50
Speaker
Leave the kids. You can milk an odysl. Oh.
00:00:58
Speaker
That's the worst thing you've ever said on any of the episodes. If that sounds like your cup of tea, then you can check us out at our website, chattsunami.com, as well as all good podcast apps. As always, stay safe, stay awesome, and most importantly, stay hydrated.
00:01:14
Speaker
Stay classy and have bit of... This has been chattsunami. I'm sorry.
Exploring James Bond Fandom
00:01:28
Speaker
If you've been listening to the Chatsunami podcast for a while now, then you'll know that I'm a massive fan of all things James Bond. Throughout the podcast, we've done a few episodes on Britain's least secretive spy, from Timothy Dalton in Pierce Brosnan's run to Daniel Craig in his rather controversial exit in No Time to Die. To be honest, I can't remember what film exactly hooked me into the franchise, but I think I know the person who was responsible for it, that of course being my dad. Funny enough, last year my dad and I went to showing of the 1995 film GoldenEye as part of a 30th anniversary celebration, and it really reminded me of why I loved the series so much. From the bombastic action, witty quips, and the gripping storyline.
00:02:14
Speaker
It was, at least to me, one of the best versions of Bond you could get. Was it a tad silly though? Well, of course, that's part of the charm. But I feel like since the end of Brosnan's era, they felt somewhat ashamed of the silliness, and instead became more Jason Bourne-esque with the way they handled the character. Granted, I can see why after Die Another Day, but that's a topic for another episode.
00:02:39
Speaker
Now don't get me wrong, there are definitely pros and cons to this approach, but another core component of the franchise's success, at least to my generation, was the video
Iconic James Bond Video Games
00:02:49
Speaker
games.
00:02:49
Speaker
And good lord did we eat well with these. From GoldenEye 64 to Nightfire, these were a cooperative feast that allowed people to share in the fun of playing as the enigmatic spy. Admittedly much like the films, we also had to take the good with the bad. For every GoldenEye 64, we had a GoldenEye Rogue Agent. The most infamous that even my friend and co-host Adam warned me about was the 007 Legends game which not only came out 14 years ago in 2012, but as far as I know it was the last mainline Bond game to
Introduction to 007 First Light - The New Game
00:03:25
Speaker
have come out. And before you ask, no, I'm not counting Cypher 007 for the iPhone. So when they announced that the new name entitled 007 First Light would be released, I was a little hesitant. Would the new game being developed by io Interactive, the same studio responsible for the hit, well, hitman games, be a success? Especially since this would focus on a 26-year-old bond, pre-007 days, which was a admittedly a risky move. Unfortunately, we heard some rather pitiful and downright despicable takes from certain grifters who wanted to see the game sink before Bond had a chance to earn his double-O status. Kind of ironic after playing the game, mind you, but after playing the game for 18 hours over the last few days, how does this game hold up?
00:04:13
Speaker
Was it everything we hoped for? Or did it leave people more shaken than stirred? Going forward, this Chatsu Shorts episode will not contain any spoilers for the plot. While I plan to do a deep dive into the game for a future episode of Chatsunami, if you would like to hear my full spoiler-filled thoughts, then you can head over to our Patreon page, patreon.com forward slash Chatsunami, where right now there is an episode waiting for you. So without any further ado, put on your Q-Watch as we dive in.
00:04:44
Speaker
Let's start with the casting.
Patrick Gibson as the Young Bond
00:04:46
Speaker
Right off the bat, Patrick Gibson is perfect as Bond. I cannot emphasise this enough. He captures the cocky nature of the spy we all know and love, as well as that hint of inexperience. At the beginning of the game we see Bond as an SES airman in training, forced to sneak through an MI6 facility to find out what's going on.
00:05:06
Speaker
It's a lot grittier than I expected, but encapsulates who he is as a character. and his determination to do the right thing despite his superior's opinions. I also love the relationship he has with other characters, from Moneypenny and his boss M, to especially Q and his MI6 mentor John Greenway, who's played by Lenny James. Each actor captures the essence of the character so well, and it really invests you in their story.
00:05:34
Speaker
There were several moments where I found myself smiling because Bond's chemistry with them had me emotionally invested throughout. thing One thing i also appreciated was having some of the slower moments in the story, which isn't something I overly remember much of in the previous games, bar maybe a few exceptions here or there. We get to see Bond interact with his fellow 00 agents such as Cressida and Munro, both of whom grew on me as the story progressed. The only minor part I could see there being a problem with is if you had to replay all of this and just wanted to get to the action. then it might be a bit of a pace breaker, but honestly, the pacing is what made the story so endearing.
00:06:15
Speaker
As for the NPCs, I cannot believe I'm mentioning this, but I loved their small interactions with one another. In the MI6 headquarters, you get to hear the staff discuss the going-ons about where you're at in the game, and that also extends to levels such as the nightclub mission, where you can eavesdrop for more information, or just general juicy gossip. Look, Any game that makes me remember a character called Basil from accounting is definitely doing something right. Everything just falls into place perfectly. The only minor characters that I wouldn't say are game colours but kinda confused me when I first heard about them was Gemma Chan who plays Selina Tan of Q-Branch and Lenny Kravitz who plays an armed dealer called Bathmatch. Gemma-chan isn't bad by any means, but I feel like the only relevance she has to the story is maybe one brief introduction, and then she's locked away in the Taksim mission room. I wouldn't mind it as much if not for the fact that she's credited front and centre in the opening music sequence. As for Lenny Kravitz, it's kind of a similar thing where he was promoted so heavily in the trailers, as well as his name once again being in the opening. Much to my shock when I realised he's only really in the game for one level, and while he does a decent enough job, it felt weird that he had a perfect American accent given the context of his character. Again, not the worst voice acting I've ever heard, but it was certainly eyebrow-raising
Modernizing Bond in Gaming
00:07:43
Speaker
at parts. But how does the story compare? Well again, no major spoilers here, but I love the story. Seriously, this is one of the best Bond stories I've seen in a while. And the fact that so many people got up in arms about the modernisation of Bond was fortunately unwarranted. Now here's the thing, next year Bond will have been running for 65 years, which is no small feat. During that time, he's had several iterations, some
00:08:09
Speaker
that have aged better than others, admittedly. But to me, Bond is a time capsule of the era his media has released in. From Connery through to Dalton, his dealings were primarily at the height of the Golden Age of spying during the Cold War. Goldeneye, on the other hand, looked at the aftermath of the Cold War and critiqued about whether or not an agent like Bond was needed in a more modern setting. Now, we get this conversation every time a new Bond comes out, and I have to say it felt really weird hearing them talk about things like AI and the fact that the original 00 program in this canon was shuttered in 2014, which makes me feel old indeed. Heck, if I wanted to be extra snippy at the failures of the franchise's past, then I would have said they should have closed it in 2012, to of course coincide with the abomination that was 007 Legends. But jokes aside, they managed to blend modernity into the world of Bond without it feeling distracting or in
Influencers and Celebrity Cameos in Bond Games
00:09:06
Speaker
your face. During the run-up to the game's release, there were people who complained about the cameos sprinkled in from influencers and content creators, and well, yeah, have mixed feelings about that myself. they were never really in your face, and to be honest they were no less egregious than Madonna and Die Another Day or the Tarzan Scream and the Man with the Golden Gun. Besides, if anything, the most in your face cameo is weirdly enough Coca-Cola, but throughout the game you will do your best to try and earn your 00 rank with your fellow 00 agents which, I must admit I love this part of the game, I used to love it when the other 00 agents were mentioned in the films, albeit briefly, from 009 in Octopus A to 006 in Goldeneye. It was really cool to see that MI6 wasn't just made up of Bond and only him. What was also really cool to see was it wasn't just Bond copied and pasted, with men and women of various backgrounds taking part in the program. It made total sense since, let's face it, if everyone was like Bond, then the bad guys would have a far easier job of rooting out the spies. As the story goes on, you hop from scenic locales which are visually stunning, from a crowded nightclub in London to a scenic resort in Vietnam. There is no shortage of shit-shed pieces, a shant like Sean Connery. There are no shortages of set pieces. It also helps when you have to figure out how to navigate through certain levels without failing your mission.
00:10:33
Speaker
What will say is, I had a few theories about the story that fell flat, and for forgotten that I'm glad. It's the story of how technology has encroached into our everyday lives and the true danger it may possess. While it's not the first story to approach this topic, it is pretty ironic given the company that now own this property, but... yeah, that's a story for
A Modern Bond Story in Gaming
00:10:55
Speaker
another day.
00:10:55
Speaker
Heck, even the staples of a Bond film are in this game. We have the primary antagonist, who looks menacing in his golden mask, two assassins with trademark gimmicks, the over-the-top gadgets from Q, a Femme Fatale character that fortunately isn't a bad pun name, and so much more. Even that opening, which I have to say I wasn't sure of initially, won me over by the end.
00:11:18
Speaker
Lana Del Rey killed it. Honestly, a true triumph to the spirit of Bond. Now, if I were to say anything negative about this game, and this is me reluctantly nitpicking admittedly, but I would say the gameplay is probably the weakest part of the game. Don't get me wrong, I still think it's fun, and people have compared this to games like Hitman and Uncharted, which isn't entirely wrong. I mean, even in some parts it reminded me of Sleeping Dogs, but... I feel like the issues with this is that a lot of the mechanics feel diluted as a result to try and fit them all together, and while I do think that it's cool they limit what you can do in certain areas with the license to kill mechanic, it's also a little bit annoying when you're getting punched to death and, you know, you don't get the Licence to Kill. Some areas do force you to approach it in a very specific way which can get repetitive, and in particular some of the boss battles which are varied admittedly. As for the driving, arguably a staple of Bond games and the films isn't really fleshed out either, and it wasn't as exhilarating as I hoped, bar one moment at the very end, but again my lips are sealed on that. The stealth is also a bit of a mixed bag, but I can definitely see why this is the case. Being discovered can only go one of two ways. You can either bluff your way out of a situation, which uses up your instinct points, or you can go in Full Gun's Blazing Witch, to quote Mulan, will ensure that all of China, and of course the rest of the game, knows you're there. Sometimes I got caught mid-takedown from someone who appeared randomly, while in other parts I shoved a man through three panes of glass, and the guards in the corridor didn't even look up.
00:13:02
Speaker
One thing I did love however was towards the last third of the game where they bring out a particular variant of an enemy, yet they allow you to do optional investigation work earlier in the level that helps you understand better how to defeat them later on.
00:13:17
Speaker
This whole game is one big Chekhov's gun, with many parts you come across thinking, huh, was neat I guess, only to then realise later on that wow, that is amazing how it's come full circle and you finally understand what that particular part's for. As for the Taksa missions, while I haven't played much of them yet, I will say that they're okay, just more missions with sub-objectives to complete along the way. While the variety of outfits also feels lackluster, I was surprised to learn that they were actually all from the same films. Which, I don't know if that says more about Bonds Taylor, but yeah, some of them feel a little bit similar. What I did laugh at though was if you wear the Day of the Dead outfit from Spectre, then the MI6 operatives don't even question it. They just kind of shake their head and say, I'm not even going to ask. And honestly, I can see why. So only one question remains, Pandalorian agents. Is 007 First Light worth it? Absolutely. 100%. IO Interactive should be proud of what they've achieved. While it isn't a perfect game by any means, it's as near perfect to a Bond game as you're gonna get
IO Interactive's Modern Bond Game Success
00:14:25
Speaker
in gaming. The characters and story are highlights of this game, and I loved every moment. I also feel like IO Interactive understood the assignment, with many Easter eggs scattered throughout from the history of the franchise.
00:14:38
Speaker
This game is a love letter to the James Bond series that could have gone so wrong at any moment, yet it never did. It's actually really impressive how they took the character that's nearly 65 years old and not only modernised them, but hopefully inspired a new generation of players to become fans of him. It's early days yet, but I'm excited to see what they plan to do with future DLC. So what did you think?
00:15:02
Speaker
Was it everything you were hoping for, or was there more left to be desired? Whatever the case, feel free to reach out and let us know. But as always, Pandalorians, thank you so, so much for listening to this Chatsu Shorts episode. If you want to listen to more episodes from our ourselves, then you can check us out our website, Chatsunami.com, as well as all good podcast apps. I also want to give a huge shout out to Pandalorian patrons, Robotic Battle Toaster, Ghosty, and Cryptic 1991. Thank you so, so much for supporting the show. And if you would like to listen to my full spoiler-filled review of this game, and trust me, I'll be doing a full-length episode on this game on the main podcast, but if you can... Can't wait to hear my first impressions and spoiler-filled impressions, then yeah, head over to patreon.com forward slash chat tsunami, where you can also get early access to episodes, you can get commentary tracks, bonus content, all the goodies, so definitely check it out. This podcast is a proud member of the Pop Hat Collective. For more information, check us out our Twitter slash episode. x page at hop at collect but until next time pandalurians stay safe stay awesome and most importantly stay hydrated with a shaken not stirred drink