James Bond has survived for more than six decades because the character is so endlessly adaptable (and cool, obvs). Every generation gets its own version of 007, from Sean Connery's effortlessly smooth style to Pierce Brosnan's polished super-spy to Daniel Craig's bruised, emotionally scarred interpretation. With the 26th Bond movie on the horizon and the new video game 007 First Light offering a fresh origin story for James Bond, I've found myself thinking less about who should play Bond next and more about what actually makes a great Bond story.
After spending some time with IO Interactive's 007 First Light, I keep coming back to one idea: the best Bond stories don't simply tell us James Bond is a legend. They make him earn it.
