Return Fire

IO awkwardly welds together two schools of game design.

The magic of 007 First Light is in the bluff. When IO Interactive's young James Bond is caught out yet again trying to sneak through some restricted area, he has numerous ways to resolve the situation. Gadgets. Fists. Guns. Whatever's lying on the nearest surface. But the most novel, and in some ways most satisfying, is simply to blag it. Pressing Circle (on PlayStation) will cause Bond to blurt out some impeccably improvised lie, stunning guards into second-guessing their suspicions and opening a brief window for Bond to slip by. Read more

Moon's haunted. We're living on the remains of a long-dead mausoleum, built to honour the bones of this city's previous avatars, clinging on to the hope that the moon won't eradicate every last bit of us. This particular moon belongs to the planet Amber, and our city is named for the deep subterranean spire that defines our core. Amberspire does not belong on the moon, but in this universe, it is locked in eternal war with the four horsemen of ecological warfare: rust, fog, water, and grass. Read more

EA’s latest Bond romp is a ferocious misfire—aiming low and tragically hitting its mark.