According to the game’s creative director, 007: First Light simply wouldn’t exist if it weren’t framed as an origin story.
Speaking to Edge, Hakan Abrak said he was grateful IO Interactive was given the latitude to craft Bond’s beginnings instead of recreating a preexisting portrayal. That creative freedom, he insists, was vital — without it, the project “would not have happened.”
Abrak continued that IO “would never have adapted a film” because the studio wasn’t interested in spending its energy trying to perfect an actor’s likeness — for example, rendering Pierce Brosnan pixel-for-pixel. He added he meant no disrespect to earlier Bond developers, but emphasised that leaving a distinct creative imprint on both story and production was essential. Ironically, several Bond titles featuring Brosnan were themselves original narratives, yet Abrak’s point about creative ownership remains clear.
Cinematic and narrative director Martin Emborg elaborated: “Everyone knows how Bond takes his drink, how he dresses, what he drives — those details become superficial quickly. If your goal is to carry players along emotionally, that won’t be enough.” Rather than ticking off a list of callbacks, IO want to tell “an original story about a character who happens to become James Bond.”
Emborg said that approach is made easier by the franchise’s many interpretations: with decades of books and films offering different takes, IO felt confident exploring their own version without worrying constantly about “doing it right.”
IO’s iteration of Bond does have a face — newcomer Patrik Gibson — and his relative youth is central to the studio’s intention to make First Light stand apart. The Hitman developers are drawing broadly from the franchise rather than mimicking any single film, book, or actor, producing a fresher, greener Bond who could attract a somewhat different audience.
“GoldenEye is a classic,” the 007: First Light director admits, adding that his ambition is to deliver a definitive Bond game — even if the end result is “very different” from Hitman.
Source: gamesradar.com
