Strong Opinions on 007 First Light's Younger James Bond? 'That's Great', Says Dev 1

007 First Light is introducing a brand new James Bond when it arrives later this month, and as you'd expect, the younger take on the secret agent character has been somewhat polarising.

Well, IO Interactive's perspective on this reaction to its Bond — played by Irish actor Patrick Gibson — is that it's a very positive thing.

The game is an origin story for a fresh-faced James Bond, who starts off as a soldier and is picked by MI6 to become a part of its revived 00 programme. He's younger than audiences are perhaps used to, and with that comes a naivety and cockiness that's very much intentional.

Speaking to Eurogamer, senior combat designer Tom Marcham thinks strong opinions on IO's Bond is encouraging.

"People having differing opinions about a James Bond: that's great," he says. "Everyone has their favourite Bond. If we made a Bond where no one had any opinions on them, it would be the dullest Bond ever made. So the fact that we've got a little controversy on that, I think it's a good thing."

Narrative and cinematic director Martin Emborg says Bond displays an "unearned confidence" in the game that's very intentional. "[Bond's] like, 'Yeah I can do whatever,' so he's a reckless young man," he says. "This guy hasn't seen death in the way that an older Bond has. When you're a young man, you feel immortal [...] and he'll definitely learn that he's not."

Emborg continues, explaining that some of Bond's personality doesn't necessarily come across in marketing materials.

"This character's got some rage in him. It's an interesting take. He's an orphan [...] and there's an attitude that maybe he didn't have the greatest time growing up. Maybe he's been in some tough fights before and he knows how to handle himself, and he's got some inner rage that comes out every now and then.

"But you might not necessarily see it when you just see a face-shot of our Bond. And I think [Patrick Gibson has] done an incredible job, and he's definitely someone that has so much charisma that the more time you spend with him, the more you like him."

We expect that this younger James Bond will gradually become a closer approximation of the more seasoned character we're familiar with from the movies over the course of the game.

Fortunately, there isn't too much longer before we can play for ourselves and see how he evolves during the story.

Are you a fan of Patrick Gibson's younger James Bond in 007 First Light? Tell us in the comments section below.

Are you a fan of 007 First Light's take on James Bond?

[source eurogamer.net]