The Living Daylights is a 1987 run-and-gun title developed by Domark and Richard Naylor. The game was released for a variety of platforms including the Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum, as an adaption of the James Bond movie of the same name, marking the start of Timothy Dalton’s short run as the character.
After Domark’s previous Bond title A View to a Kill was a critical flop, the studio went in a new direction with this release. However, it wasn’t quite enough, with many criticizing the game’s repetitive nature.
The Living Daylights Premise
©Screenshot from The Living Daylights.
Most will find that the gameplay in The Living Daylights is extremely simple and repetitive, even when compared to other titles of the era. In the game, you play as spy James Bond, in a series of horizontally scrolling levels. Bond moves around the middle area, and you have to control him to avoid rocks, potholes, and other distractions. Along the way, he’ll encounter enemies who pop out from various areas in each level. You’ve got to shoot them before they shoot you. While the set dressing of each level might change, the core gameplay remains the same throughout.
There is one feature that breaks up the gameplay. In between each level, you have the opportunity to choose your loadout for the upcoming mission, although this only has a small effect on gameplay. These loadout selections give you a five-second time limit, too, so you’ve got to think fast to pick the right equipment.
The Living Daylights Main Characters
©Screenshot from The Living Daylights.
Although The Living Daylights is an adaptation of the 1987 film of the same name, the technical restrictions of the era mean that it isn’t able to follow the plot to the same degree. As a result, the game never expands on its characters, instead choosing to be a mindless run-and-gun experience.
The Living Daylights definitely assumes you know who protagonist James Bond is coming into the game, and it’s a fair assumption. Beyond Bond, there’s not much to speak of character-wise here.
The Living Daylights Titles in the Series
©Screenshot from The Living Daylights.
Over the years, the quality of James Bond games has varied massively. At worst, they have been cheap cash-ins looking to make a quick buck from the series’ never-ending name value among audiences. At best, they’ve been genre-defining (particularly GoldenEye 007). Because of this, it’s hard to know exactly what kind of experience you’re in for before booting up a James Bond game.
Despite the character remaining immensely popular among movie-going audiences, we’ve not seen a James Bond game in over a decade now. After a string of mediocre releases, Bond games were put on ice for a while, although a return (tentatively titled Project 007) has been confirmed to be in the works at Hitman developer IO Interactive.
While the lack of games in recent years is obviously disappointing, let’s hope putting it in the hands of a great developer like IO Interactive is a step toward getting some top quality James Bond titles.
- Shaken but Not Stirred (1982)
- James Bond 007 (1983)
- A View to a Kill (1985)
- James Bond 007: A View to a Kill (1985)
- James Bond 007: Goldfinger (1986)
- The Living Daylights (1987)
- Live and Let Die (1988)
- 007: License to Kill (1989)
- The Spy Who Loved Me (1990)
- Operation Stealth (1990)
- James Bond Jr. (1991)
- James Bond 007: The Duel (1993)
- GoldenEye (1995)
- GoldenEye 007 (1997)
- James Bond 007 (1998)
- Tomorrow Never Dies (1999)
- The World is Not Enough (2000)
- The World is Not Enough (2000)
- 007 Racing (2000)
- The World is Not Enough (2001)
- James Bond 007: Agent Under Fire (2001)
- James Bond 007: Nightfire (2002)
- James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing (2003)
- James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing (2004)
- GoldenEye: Rogue Agent (2004)
- James Bond 007: From Russia with Love (2005)
- 007: Quantum of Solace (2008)
- GoldenEye 007 (2010)
- James Bond 007: Blood Stone (2010)
- 007 Legends (2012)
- Project 007 (TBA)
The Living Daylights Cheat Codes
©Screenshot from The Living Daylights.
We’ve got to be the bearer of bad news when it comes to The Living Daylights. Unfortunately, this game simply doesn’t have any cheat codes. The gameplay is rather limited, so it makes sense that there isn’t much opportunity for cheats to change much.
However, the complete lack of third-party cheats is a surprise. Trust us – we’ve looked. With so many James Bond games released over the years, it just seems like other, better, games were prioritized by fans of the franchise when it came to making cheats. It’s a shame, but in this scenario, it’s just how it is.
The Living Daylights Cheat Code FAQ
©Screenshot from The Living Daylights.
Does The Living Daylights Have Achievements?
No. The Living Daylights has never had any form of modern release, meaning there has never been an opportunity for the game to have achievements, how they exist today.
The image featured at the top of this post is ©Screenshot from The Living Daylights..