007 First Light director Martin Emborg hopes his take on Bond will be remembered as the best James Bond game ever.
For a franchise that has been going on forever – like James Bond – it's actually pretty surprising that everyone is pretty unified on what the best game is. From 1982 to 2012, Bond essentially got a new game every single year (the years with three games probably make up for the missed ones), but pretty much everyone will tell you that the best game is GoldenEye 007 for the Nintendo 64 by Rare. It's a banger for sure, with excellent mission design and a fantastic soundtrack based on one of the best movies. Plus, it's a milestone FPS that defined what they could be on consoles (until Halo redefined that four years later).
I have a soft spot for Nightfire personally, but that could be set to change soon with 007 First Light, as the Hitman developers taking on the iconic secret agent feels like a perfect match. And that's a hope that the game's developer has, too.
Speaking to GamesRadar+, Emborg was asked what he hopes the legacy of First Light will be down the line, to which he – playfully – responds, "Oh, just that everyone agrees that this is the best Bond game ever." Bond actor Patrick Gibson interjected with "Or just the best game ever," to which Emborg responded, "I'll take that. That's kind of the minimum that we expect."
Early reactions to First Light from preview hands on have been pretty glowing so far, with Games Editor Oscar Taylor-Kent saying in the GamesRadar+ 007 First Light preview: "There have been some great 007 games before, but none of them have managed to capture the experience of a full Bond adventure and the way it ebbs and flows between explosive set-pieces, grounded action, and quieter moments like IO Interactive manages here."
And while I'm sure there are some who will never allow Goldeneye to be unseated as long as it has that pause music, it does feel likely that First Light may have a chance of unseating it as the quintessential Bond game. At least the official ones, anyway. Obsidian's Alpha Protocol will be even harder to beat.
