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G<\/span>iven that we\u2019ve not had a great James Bond video game in decades \u2013 or any Bond film at all in five years \u2013 there\u2019s a lot of pressure on 007 First Light to reinvigorate a British cinematic hero. But developer IO Interactive has been auditioning for this role for some time. It\u2019s there in the globetrotting nature of its Hitman<\/a> assassination games, starring a besuited hero who knows how to turn a soiree to his deadly purpose; then there\u2019s the developer\u2019s evident eye for corporate opulence and brutalist architecture. Even their in-house game engine, Glacier, sounds like a secret codename cooked up in a Bond villain\u2019s lair. All it would take is a slight shift in Hitman\u2019s moral compass \u2013 more old boys club, fewer old boys clubbed \u2013 to turn IO\u2019s familiar series into a Bond game with minimal fuss.<\/p>\n 007 First Light refuses that easy route. We join young Bond in his pre-00 days, as a petulant, belligerent rule-breaking trainee. Actor Patrick Gibson begins as a cookie-cutter insubordinate, but warms to the role once he\u2019s bouncing off M (herself a green leader looking to make her mark), and an enjoyably urbane Q who drops the frustrated quartermaster routine and introduces Bond to the wonders of vinyl. A scene where he teaches our agent to tie a bow tie is a perfect bit of prequelcraft: arriving at an iconic look through a lovely character touch.<\/p>\n