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007: First Light will be less stealthy than Hitman because IO is pushing "forward momentum gameplay all the time"

LectureMaster

Or is it just one of Adam's balls in my throat?


Hitman developer IO Interactive has always seemed like an ideal studio for a 007 adaptation, for reasons that probably don't need specifying here. That said, IO has long been transparent about not wanting 007: First Light to simply be a Hitman game starring James Bond. The studio has also made clear its next game won't be an Uncharted-style action game, either - even if it really looks like one - making it something of an open question exactly what style of gameplay is to be expected.

Talking to Game Informer, Gameplay director Andreas Krogh compared 007: First Light's approach to stealth with how stealth is handled in the Hitman series.

"Hitman was a game where we thought about [stealth] as puzzle design. We're taking that same type of stealth into Bond," said Krogh. "But I will say an important difference is that in Bond, we are striving to do forward momentum gameplay all the time, both in combat and in stealth.

"Where in Hitman, we had some setups where we wanted you to use some time to stake out the situation and maybe poke a little bit at it to see what happens. In Bond, you can use time to observe a situation, but it's very evident there are options you can use right away, and you can just use them and see what happens and come forward. We want to reduce that decision-making time to always keep moving forward and be a little bit faster."

That checks out. While it's easy to draw parallels between Agent 47 and James Bond, the 007 IP in general is known for fast-paced chase sequences and explosive action whereas Hitman games are generally much slower paced. It sounds like IO is just trying to do justice to the respective IP.
 
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I mean, that's pretty much what I expected.

It's a 007 game. If I wanted a stealth game in the style of Hitman... I'll just go play Hitman.

And James Bond is not Agent 47.
 
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What they are saying is reasonable. Bond needs action too, which Hitman simply doesn't have when you are playing the game correctly. So I don't think anybody should be expecting 007 and Hitman to play exactly the same. The Hitman DNA is perfect for those moments when Bond is mingling at a party trying to scope out how to slip behind the curtains to where the bad guy is lurking.
 
We kinda figured it out from the videos that it's a mix of Hitman/Uncharted with stealthy missions and action ones. How is this even news? Who expected a full stealth game?
 
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We kinda figured it out from the videos that it's a mix of Hitman/Uncharted with stealthy missions and action ones. How is this even news? Who expected a full stealth game?
I wouldn't say I expected full stealth but Hitman 3s set of levels felt like testing grounds for this game. I do hope the social stealth sections aren't just "quiet time" though.
 
That's how it should be. I'm very excited about this game, but I'm still kinda fearful of the technical state of it. I hope it's optimized okay, the Glacier engine is great for Hitman but it'll be interesting to see how it handles all the action in this one.
 
Thought that gameplay showcase was self explanatory enough. Some minor stealth/infiltration turning into a car chase and a shootout at the end. Seems fine.
 
We'll see if they pull it off. I like aggressive stealth. Don't care for action shooters and that last gameplay section from 5 months ago was mid and overly scripted. I trust IOI though.
 
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Some of their marketing comments regarding "modern Bond" have been worrying, but I have to say, that State of Play trailer had me hyped.

Some stealth is good, but I wouldn't want to sacrifice Bond setpieces for an MGS or Hitman gameplay focus.
 
It'll be interesting to see if a stealth focused studio can nail the feel of an action game.

I'm expecting the minor stealth/infiltration to feel really good and the rest to fall flat. I have a feeling we're gonna see a lot of reviews that say "I felt like I wanted more out of this, action sequences were…okay".

I'll definitely give this a go, but I'm tempering my expectations. Loved the recent hitman games, so I'll have to completely drop that mindset going into this, which makes sense.
 
That said, IO has long been transparent about not wanting 007: First Light to simply be a Hitman game starring James Bond.
Have they though? It's literally the only reason anyone would even give a damn they're making a James Bond game.

That you can have a Hitman stealth sandbox with all the fun and flavor of that Bond IP's world/characters. I was already worried based on the first gameplay showing that there wasn't much of any stealth tools, so my interest is only further down to wait and see.

I'm fine with moments of complete action spectacle, especially anything involving a car, but I don't need another action game with stealth elements...AAA gave me that watered down form since the late part of the 360/PS3 gen.
 
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James Bond is a spy though. The whole thing around objectives is to not blow his cover.

Unless you're just making a cheesy action game with hiding elements, stealth still should be your primary approach. If you want an overly action game then Call of Duty got you covered.
 
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Yeah, because Brosnan jumping a motorcycle off of a cliff to commandeer an empty falling airplane and driving a tank through a city was so stealthy.
Sure, even ol' Moore had his action moments, but compare Sean Connery's first 30 minutes as Bond with Craig's. One's playing poker while smoking a cigarette and later bangs a pretty lady, the other chases a guy throughout half a city, blows up an embassy and is first page on the news of the next day.

Hardly tomato tamato.
 
Much less the stealth, the question is, will the game be even better than one of the most underrated Bond games to have ever released: Bloodstone, which also happens to be the last great Bond game released....that is the benchmark
 
Good. I always expect a mixture of stealth and balls to the wall on the rails action from 007. It's why we love it.

The initial reveal had me thinking this is hitman reskinned but that story trailer from the SOP has me interested again. I'll get it down the line for the campaign.
 
Maybe if the only Bond they've watched was Daniel Craig's.

Or Pierce Brosnan, whose most low-key Bond movie involved driving a tank through and destroying large parts of St. Petersburg.

Or Roger Moore's, who one time ripped a blade off of a snowmobile and snowboarded down a mountain as Soviets chased him on skis, as California Girls came on the soundtrack (after a laser battle in space in a previous film).

Just say you're talking about Connery, dude. Bond has been mostly an action series for 50 years.
 
James Bond is a spy though. The whole thing around objectives is to not blow his cover.

Unless you're just making a cheesy action game with hiding elements, stealth still should be your primary approach. If you want an overly action game then Call of Duty got you covered.

Exhibit A: How James Bond handles utilizing an alias for deep cover "spying".



Maybe if the only Bond they've watched was Daniel Craig's.
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James Bond is a spy though. The whole thing around objectives is to not blow his cover.

Unless you're just making a cheesy action game with hiding elements, stealth still should be your primary approach. If you want an overly action game then Call of Duty got you covered.
Have you watched the Bond movies? Most of the time he just strolls into the lions den with a punchline and a bottom slap. He's about as stealthy as John Wick.
 
Exhibit A: How James Bond handles utilizing an alias for deep cover "spying".



Of course you gonna use the films. You can even use Daniel Craig version if it makes your gotcha more autentic.
But anyway, he still a spy. Subtle approaches are more a definition of a spy than shooting popcorn action, where the public would end up being tedious without action scenes.

Have you watched the Bond movies? Most of the time he just strolls into the lions den with a punchline and a bottom slap.

Films tend to be need more of action scenes so it doesn't make the public bored. How long you guys gonna keep spamming "did you watch dah movies" thing? Movies and games are different things. If this the argument you guys can provide, Bond movies are no much different Call of Duty with stealth parts.
If I wanted to be like the movies I would say it should be like the movies.
 
Of course you gonna use the films. You can even use Daniel Craig version if it makes your gotcha more autentic.
But anyway, he still a spy. Subtle approaches are more a definition of a spy than shooting popcorn action, where the public would end up being tedious without action scenes.



Films tend to be need more of action scenes so it doesn't make the public bored. How long you guys gonna keep spamming "did you watch dah movies" thing? Movies and games are different things. If this the argument you guys can provide, Bond movies are no much different Call of Duty with stealth parts.
If I wanted to be like the movies I would say it should be like the movies.
This isn't a "gotcha" this is how it is. That's bond baybee.


Edit: When I wrote "bond", I meant "Bond, James Bond".
 
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James Bond is a spy though. The whole thing around objectives is to not blow his cover.

Unless you're just making a cheesy action game with hiding elements, stealth still should be your primary approach. If you want an overly action game then Call of Duty got you covered.
The public out there who's seeing the movies and will buy the game expect bombastic action scenes with some stealth sprinkled in, not the other way around. That would be fuckin terrible, nobody wants to play a Bond game with Bond sneaking for 20 hours like Sam Fisher.
The latest trailer was great, can't wait to play it.
 
The public out there who's seeing the movies and will buy the game expect bombastic action scenes with some stealth sprinkled in, not the other way around. That would be fuckin terrible, nobody wants to play a Bond game with Bond sneaking for 20 hours like Sam Fisher.
The latest trailer was great, can't wait to play it.

It doesn't need exactly to be "sneaking about 20 hours" though.Think of it like Mission Impossible for N64 where the approach is more subtle on the missions when the player has to play smart (like waiting to guards to look around to plant bombs or tracker). Deus Ex HR is another example of good stealth while not being boring (its great actually).
I'm still not convinced about the game, could be nothing different from the dozen of titles already launched. But I will be waiting to see it though.
 
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