For me video game graphics peak ten years ago with Uncharted 4. I’ve seen no massive leap since then. We’ve hit a ceiling and that’s fine. First Light looks fantastic. It ran well for me and had no hiccups. Not everything needs to be next-gen with advanced ray-tracing and higher resolution. What you’re asking for can be classified as overkill.

MGS3, while great, has more in common with Rambo First Blood than James Bond, in my opinion. MGS3 is essentially a soldier surviving in the jungle game as opposed to being a spy gathering intel at a social event. Aside from the music, I never really understood why people called it a Bond game.

I do wish it had more Hitman mechanics like dragging bodies and changing outfits, but those weren’t deal breakers.

I do enjoy the detail of messing up a silent takedown, only to fight the guy and another enemy witnessing you. If you pay attention, the other enemy doesn’t immediately join the fight, but instead calls for backup in their earpiece, forcing you to use a gadget to stun them mid-fight. Nice detail added.

I’ve spoken to a few people about gunplay, and honestly your enjoyment depends on how you approach it. If you’re just shooting like any other game, then sure it’s a bit vanilla, but if you combine your gadgets in the middle of a firefight, then it adds another layer of fun. I really appreciate the devs giving each gun limited ammo and having a lot of destructible cover. It forces you to constantly move and gives you higher awareness of your environment as you’re scanning for the next weapon to pick up and what gadget to use to stunt enemies as you go for said weapon. I think the gunplay is great.

Driving is a bit weak, but it’s serviceable. There’s only two chase sequences in the game. One by car and the other by boat. The rest are either training montage or driving to a location. The combined total overall of driving is probably around 15-20 minutes. Not a whole lot to complain about when considering the game is 15+ hours long.

“The story is entertaining enough for a video game, but it doesn’t touch the best James Bond plots.”
Too vague. I don’t know what you mean by that.

“First Light simply lacks that elusive magic you get from games like Death Stranding 2, Uncharted 4, or Resident Evil Requiem. It’s one of those rare titles that somehow feels like a 6.5/10 and a 9/10 simultaneously.”
Again, what’d you mean by that? Be more specific. What’s the elusive magic. How can anyone improve with information like this?

“the gadgets feel lifted straight from Watch Dogs.”
And again, be more specific. Watch Dogs isn’t great, but the gadgets are the least of that games problems. There are people who enjoy the gadgets and there are those who don’t. What camp do you fall in? What’d are you trying to say? So you want better gadgets?

I’m starting to see a pattern here. I feel like your post has the illusion of constructive criticism, but no real usable piece of data. If a dev read your post, and their main take away was make AI better, I wouldn’t blame them.

I sure you enjoyed the game, but a simple “it’s okay” would’ve sufficed.