An Anime Website Somehow Received a Copy of 007 First Light

The other day, sometime last week, I was just minding my own business, probably doing something for Você Sabia Anime or maybe something completely unrelated on my PC, when I decided to check my email. I noticed I had received a new message, and when I opened it, my reaction was basically: huh? Is this really happening?

Out of nowhere, Você Sabia Anime received a key for 007 First Light, which launched last week. I even talked about it in the Você Sabia Anime WhatsApp channel.

Since last year, I’ve been trying to cover more games on the site because I genuinely love gaming. However, since this is primarily an anime website, my focus has always been on anime games or games with an anime-inspired visual style. Because of that, I actually spent some time wondering whether I should even accept the game. Well, if this post exists, you already know I accepted the key!

So, let’s talk about this new 007 game.

What Did an Anime Website Think of the New 007 Game?

Don’t expect this to become a regular thing because I highly doubt I’ll receive another game of this scale anytime soon. This is, without a doubt, the biggest game I’ve ever received through VSA.

But anyway, what exactly is 007 First Light? Honestly, my impression is that it’s basically a Hitman game, but with a stronger story focus. If you’ve never played Hitman, here’s how 007 works.

In several missions, James Bond receives a fake identity and must infiltrate a location to complete his objective. Just like in Hitman, there are multiple ways to accomplish the same task. For example, in one of the early missions, you’re disguised as a driver, but that alone isn’t enough to get you into a hotel.

There are multiple ways to gain access. In my playthrough, I overheard a woman talking on the phone about an ID she had hidden inside a flower pot. I went over, stole the ID, and used it to get inside. However, I later watched a streamer who distracted a guard and stole the ID that the guard was protecting. These infiltration sections ended up being my favorite parts of the game.

This is very similar to Hitman, where you’re an assassin sent to eliminate targets and there are countless ways to enter locations and carry out the mission. The same idea applies in 007 First Light. You have multiple approaches available for completing objectives, which is great, but it also leads me to my first criticism.

Bond has his gadgets, right?

He has his watch, smoke devices, an explosive pen, and various tools that can temporarily blind people or make them sick, causing them to leave their positions and open a path for you.

At the beginning of the game, these gadgets feel pretty cool, but after a while I realized that they solved almost every situation. Most of the time I was either blinding someone or making them sick to get what I wanted. There were only a few occasions where I actually had to come up with another solution. Because of that, I felt it was a bit of a design flaw. To be honest, I became somewhat less interested once I noticed that pattern.

Now let’s talk about one of the worst parts of the game: the shooting sections.

I’m not really an FPS fan, but I have played several shooters with friends over the years. I’ve finished Borderlands 2, Borderlands 3, Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, and both The Division games. I actually enjoyed those games, especially because of the co-op experience.

So when the first shooting section in 007 started, I didn’t think much of it. I was just like, “Cool, this game has some pew pew action.”

But as the game continued and more shooting sequences appeared, I found myself wishing they would end. I genuinely didn’t enjoy them. I honestly thought the shooting mechanics were weak, although it’s difficult for me to explain exactly why. Whenever I compare them to games like The Division or Borderlands, I feel those games handled combat much better.

Since this is clearly intended to become a new 007 series, I really hope they spend more time improving the FPS side of things in future installments because those sections were, by far, my least favorite parts of the game.

As for the story, I’ve spent my entire life with almost no interest in James Bond. I’ve never watched a Bond movie and had absolutely no idea what to expect going into this game. In my mind, James Bond always felt a bit cheesy, with all the spy gadgets and secret agent stuff.

And after playing the game…

Yeah, I still feel the same way. It’s just not my kind of story.

The plot is pretty much what you’d expect: villains trying to take over something, incredibly powerful computers, secret organizations, and trips to all sorts of crazy locations. Speaking of locations, while playing I often found myself thinking, “This is exactly why I love video games.” The game takes you to places I could never experience otherwise, like massive snowy regions and other unique environments.

So, what did I think of the game overall?

Honestly, it’s not really my type of game, nor my type of story. Even so, I finished it so I could write this review.

I didn’t enjoy the shooting sections. The infiltration missions were genuinely fun, I’ll admit that. But overall, I’d describe it as an average game.

Since they’re clearly planning sequels, there’s a lot they can improve in a second installment. Ultimately, though, you’ll have to try it for yourself. You might absolutely love it. Personally, I thought it was okay at best.

By the way, it took me around 20 hours to finish the game, and I ended up unlocking 25 out of 47 achievements. I was actually surprised by that because I never went out of my way to hunt for achievements.

007 First Light is available on consoles, and you can also purchase it on Steam here.