With IO Interactive’s 007 First Light set to release in less than two weeks, EA’s former Bond producer Chuck Beaver, recently spoke on the older trilogy of Bond titles which included popular games such as Goldeneye and From Russia With Love, and how they could’ve been improved.
In an interview with FRVR, he stated that he believes the gameplay mold that was introduced by Batman: Arkham Asylum which was later evolved and perfected by it’s two sequels, was the perfect blueprint for introducing James Bond in videogames. He would also go on to say that Batman is similar to James Bond in more ways than one, which can be debatable, though.
“We gave the license up to Activision after From Russia with Love, and we were like, ‘Oh, sorry, we would have loved to perfect it. And then, I remember Arkham Asylum came out, not shortly after, but after, we were like, ‘Oh. That’s exactly what we should have done for that [Bond]. That was so good. But it was like, Batman is Bond in a cape and cowl. It was so fun to watch them nail the essence of that.”
He also explains that “it wouldn’t be hard to make a 007 game now because you have a lot of good examples of how to, gameplay-wise, do what happens in those movies. I thought Arkham Asylum was like, ‘Oh, that’s it. That’s it. That’s how to do that. And then now, they’ve got even more to go with. You could pull in, you know, Snake from Metal Gear Solid kind of gameplay.”
The upcoming Bond title 007 First Light contains influences from the Arkham titles (along with Naughty Dog’s Uncharted games), especially it’s melee combat system, as confirmed by gameplay director Andreas Krogh several months ago.
007 First Light boasts an impressive, star studded cast of Dexter: Original Sin’s Patrick Gibson as the new James Bond, Fear the Walking Dead’s Lennie James as Bond’s mentor John Greenway, Priyanga Burford as M, Alastair Mackenzie as Q, Kiera Lester as Moneypenny and Noémie Nakai as Miss Roth.
007: First Light will launch across PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2 and PC on May 27.
