The wait is finally over. IO Interactive – the masters of stealth behind the modern Hitman trilogy, have dropped 007 First Light, an ambitious origin story tracking a 26-year-old, pre-00 James Bond (played brilliantly by Patrick Gibson) from his days as a naval aircrewman to his gruelling MI6 training and first major field deployment.
Having spent the last few days globe-trotting from London to Malta, Vietnam, and Slovakia, we have broken down the 10 things we absolutely love about this definitive return to form for gaming’s greatest secret agent.
1. It’s a Genuine Origin Story, Not Just a Greatest Hits Collection
Instead of re-treading the familiar beats of an established, indestructible super-spy, First Light gives us a young, raw, 26-year-old James Bond. He’s cocky, stubborn, and regularly defies direct orders from MI6. Watching him earn his stripes alongside a stellar reimagined cast—including a gruff mentor in John Greenway (Lennie James), M (Priyanga Burford), and Moneypenny (Kiera Lester)—adds a layer of vulnerable narrative texture that video game Bond has sorely lacked for decades.
2. The Genius “Bluff” Mechanic
Nothing ruins the spy fantasy faster than accidentally stepping into a restricted zone and immediately triggering a chaotic, base-wide shootout. IO Interactive solves this with the new Bluff Mechanic. If a young Bond is caught out of bounds, you can use his silver tongue to talk, charm, or smooth-out a cover story to de-escalate the suspicion before anyone reaches for an alarm. It rewards social deception just as much as hiding in the shadows.
3. Visceral, Arkham-Style Hand-to-Hand Brawls
When things do go south, Bond doesn’t have to default to a firearms bloodbath. The melee combat is a heavy, rhythmic delight heavily inspired by the Batman Arkham and Uncharted games. You can parry incoming strikes, sidestep heavy grabs, and seamlessly chain gadget attacks directly into your combos.
4. High-Stakes Environmental Takedowns
The physical combat gets truly cinematic when you involve the scenery. The game is packed with contextual takedowns that let you smash a mercenary’s head into a marble countertop, shove a guard over a high balcony railing, or use surrounding physics to turn an ordinary office space into a brutal, choreographed action sequence straight out of a Daniel Craig film.
5. A Playbook of Hilariously Effective Gadgets
Q-Branch is out in full force, supplying reusable gadgets that function as dynamic systems rather than scripted, one-off gimmicks. Beyond the Q-Lens (which tracks guard patrol routes and camera cones) and a hacking smartwatch, the crowd favourite is a discreet nausea-inducing dart gun/phone peripheral. Watching a high-security guard suddenly become violently ill, forcing him to abandon his post so you can sneak past or pickpocket his keycard, never gets old.
6. Giant, Hitman-Style Sandbox Maps
IO Interactive brought their absolute best level-design DNA to the table. Major chapters drop you into massive, sprawling, non-linear sandboxes. Whether you’re infiltrating a high-stakes chess tournament in Slovakia or a research camp in Mauritania, you are handed total agency. There are dozens of entry points, hidden paths, disguises, and multiple ways to achieve your objectives.
7. Breathless, Uncharted-Style Set Pieces
While the Hitman games were slow, deliberate puzzles, 007 First Light balances that patience with incredible kinetic momentum. The game seamlessly transitions from quiet infiltration into high-octane blockbuster set pieces. One minute you’re creeping past security cameras; the next, you’re scaling a collapsing mountainside, sprinting through massive explosions, or hijacking a plane mid-flight.
8. The Gorgeous Malta Training Montage
Early in the game, Bond undergoes gruelling MI6 training in Malta under the strict eye of John Greenway. Rather than delivering a boring tutorial, the game styles this as a fast-paced, highly engaging training montage. You are thrown rapidly between platforming, high-speed driving, stealth, and combat challenges that perfectly map out the complex control scheme without ever slowing down the narrative momentum.
9. Q-Branch Serves as a Living, Breathing Hub
Between missions, you return to MI6 Headquarters – specifically a incredibly detailed Q-Branch hub. It functions as a playground of spy craft. You can chat with Moneypenny, test out wacky ongoing experiments, chat with Selina Tan (Gemma Chan), and even accidentally break expensive prototype equipment to hear Q’s exasperated reactions.
10. The Endless Replayability of “TacSim” Mode
Once the stellar 25-hour campaign rolls credits, the game introduces TacSim (Tactical Simulator) missions. Modelled after classic Metal Gear Solid VR missions, TacSim lets you revisit the game’s core locations with entirely new parameters, modifiers, and targets. It features a deep RPG progression system: you start with your arsenal locked, earning intel points from high scores to gradually buy back your favourite weapons, suits, and gadgets for ultimate creative freedom.
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