Everyone seems distracted by the PlayStation announcement and the responses are the least favorable ones to the company. The next State of Play will be on the 3rd of September and PlayStation will center their attention to the new James Bond game, 007 First Light. And yes, over THIRTY minutes of new gameplay footage is promised. This means that there is an entire television episode worth of James Bond action to be watched and that is a good thing.
What is the game about? 007 First Light is the new game by IO Interactive, the same people who released the Hitman series. It is indeed getting a title from that style of games because Bond is a gentleman Hitman but with better suits, number one more refined style, and cooler gadgets. The game has been in development for a while and a State of Play is exactly the deep dive we need to finally see what they’ve prepared.
Now here’s the twist—when you look at the replies to PlayStation’s tweet, it looks like gamers are… Well, let’s just say they aren’t thrilled to be talking about State of Play Focus. One reply summed it up with “Is this what the infamous leaker was referring to? LOL.” There was a clear indication that people were expecting something much bigger.
And the questions continue. Multiple people are writing “Where is the showcase!!!” and are demanding first party titles. As in, someone literally wrote in all caps “I WANT FIRST PARTY GAMESS”, which is justified. Another user added, “If y’all didn’t waste so much time and money on live service games, you wouldn’t have to resort to hosting State of Plays with third party titles.” A bit harsh, but there is a point to it.
There’s this back-and-forth about PlayStation fans being desperate for PlayStation Studios games update. One of the comments expressed some kind of expectation for updates on Wolverine and the leaked Venom game. Meanwhile, PlayStation is like, “Hey! Look at this cool Bond game that we didn’t actually work on!” It’s… an odd choice.
Regardless, a few people remain more positive. Among the responses, there are mentions from some Bond game fans. One particular user said he is “psyched for 007” and mentioned the game having Uncharted-like gameplay that he hoped for since the release of Uncharted 4 and Lost Legacy. It is a hopeful sign because there is a chance the Bond game can be truly special if the developers managed to copy some of the Uncharted games’ magic.
There is, as well, some confusion in the replies — someone asked “Infamous First Light?” which is not a weird question to ask considering Infamous First Light was a PS4 game. No though, this time the topic is James Bond, not superheroes.
The scheduling of this State of Play is interesting, as we are moving towards the fall season, which normally includes major game reveals. But rather than having a showcase with multiple titles, we are getting a deep dive on one, which is a third party title. It makes you wonder if there is a chance for a bigger showcase in September, which is a bit more hopeful.
While some of the replies are getting pretty spicy, another user said “You ruined your first party studios with DEI bullshit…..playstation has no games,” which is a different problem altogether. That is a separate matter, but it does show how some of the more hardcore PlayStation users feel about PlayStation as a brand.
Meanwhile, there’s a completely different kind of discussion happening with the casting of the Bond game. One person in the chat said “That’s Moneypenny” and another asked if she is going to be a Bond girl. I didn’t even know they revealed the characters yet. This really shows how much we need those deep dives to clear out the confusion.
The international audience is chiming in as well: one person asked about Brazilian Portuguese support and rather dramatically questioned if IO Interactive is “FUCKING BROKE,” which might be a bit over the top but is fair, especially when waiting for localization news.
Having thirty minutes of gameplay certainly helps clarify what the game has to offer, and it’s certainly the right type of content to showcase it. If the game turns out to be great, I think the hype would have been created in an appropriate manner. On the other hand, if the game is average, I do think there will be a lot of letdowns, especially considering all the expectations.
The funniest part is the overwhelming number of people claiming “just release the game now lol” to the thirty-minute gameplay showcase. I can’t understand, why watch the brand showcase when you can get the product? Oh, wait, the game isn’t out yet. I assume the bond will have a lot of people watching the gameplay reveal on September 3rd.
This reminds me of those extended trailers studios do that are basically half the movie. They either show to get hype or don’t. But thirty minutes is an emotional commitment to the experience. So, fingers crossed it’s good!
If you want to check out this Bond game, mark September 3rd on your calendar. Regardless of whether you are hyped or doubtful, thirty minutes of gameplay will determine whether this game will fall into the category of GoldenEye or the other forgettable Bond game.
