Site MapThe Evolution Of Bond Cars In Video Games
Hello James, I see you’re driving a pixelated Aston Martin
By now it’s tradition. Pretty much every time there’s a Bond movie there is also a video game that follows closely behind. In fact, video game companies have been making Bond games for nearly forty-years. (The first one is more “interactive fiction” than a video game as we know them today, but still.)
When Shaken But Not Stirred came out in 1982, it didn’t have any fancy graphics, or a car, or anything really. The real sparks didn’t start until GoldenEye 007 in 1997. This Nintendo 64 game was actually the fourteenth video game adaptation for Bond, and it started a sea of change for the way video games could be played.
It may seem quaint now, but the idea of a first-person shooter on a console system that ran as smoothly as it did was not something people were expecting. It was enjoyed so much, in fact, that fans still gather in groups to play the multiplayer version of the game. There is also no shortage of cars in the game and for their time they look pretty good.
Our favorite has to be the Czech Tatra 603, seen below looking very Soviet block. The car was unplayable but you can see it parked in the streets of Moscow during the street mission.
In our humble opinion the best Bond cars in videos games are racers that include famous 007 cars from the movies. For instance there’s the James Bond LDC for Forza Horizon 4 where you can drive 10 different cars from past Bonds. This is because racing games are built for you to be able to get a feel for a car - that’s their only job. Whereas if you shoehorn a car into a rushed game that has to come on the heels of a movie to maximize exposure, then you’re not really doing the car any justice.
You can race as the “Wet Nellie” in Forza Horizon: 007.com
Sure, the cars in these games don’t have all the deadly and preposterous gadgets in them, but they rarely do in the shooter versions either if we’re honest, and that’s not what we want anyway! We are gear heads, so we want to drive the car, not take on a killing spree. (Hopefully).
Other games we think Bond cars are worth visiting in, include 007 Racing (2000) a game devoted to Bond cars but lacks some of the finery of more modern racers, and James Bond racing skins in Rocket League. It’s so fun to jump really high in the Valhalla.
One thing is certain – we've come a long way since Shaken But Not Stirred and, before you know it, Bond video game cars might start looking so real that you might begin to believe you’re 007 himself.
