When you think of Ian Fleming’s famous secret agent, James Bond, you generally don’t realize that he is just like every videogame protagonist.
The formula for most James Bond movies is pretty well established. He gets briefed by M, has some playful banter with Miss Moneypenny, gets some weapon upgrades from Q and then whisks off to a series of exotic locations to take down armies of terrorists armed with just his wit and his Walter PPK. He’ll have friends and contacts who help him along the way, and who provide the color for which Bond’s machismo can reflect off. The series is famous for buxom ladies with ridiculous names and usually a fast car or three. If he doesn’t have a vehicle readily available, he’ll just jack one from an unsuspecting motorist. Sound familiar yet? Graeme Virtue lays out the uncanny comparison between Bond and your typical videogame protagonist in issue 241 of The Escapist:
Once you start to associate Bond with modern videogames, circumstantial similarities pop up everywhere. Both often feel clunkily written and/or slightly unfinished. Both regularly face charges of misogyny but do not seem that bothered by them. Both seem happy to trot out the same formulaic plots with minor cosmetic changes every two years or so.
Check out the rest of Why Gaming Owes Bond and you’ll never be able to see 007 without believing that he was the blueprint for almost every action/adventure videogame protagonist you’ll play this year.
