Seeing IO Interactive at the helm of a new James Bond video game is like watching two pieces of a jigsaw perfectly slotting together. It’s a pairing that just makes sense given the Danish developer’s track record, having recently wrapped the Hitman: World of Assassination trilogy. Each game had players running a gauntlet of stealth missions, visiting stunning locales around the globe while switching disguises and employing a deadly arsenal of high-tech gadgets. In many ways, 007 First Light feels like an evolution of the Hitman formula, though it’s one that forges a new path for the studio, stepping away Hitman’s non-linear level design in favour of a more guided, cinematic experience. It’s certainly a change of pace for IO Interactive, though one the studio effortlessly adapts to.
Not a James Bond fan? That’s a-okay. While there are definitely nods to the blockbuster spy films and Ian Fleming’s original novels, First Light requires zero prior knowledge of the 007 universe, offering a completely new take on familiar settings and characters, taking place in a contemporary world and updated for a new generation.
Given the level of prestige surrounding Bond – and the sheer volume of cherished source material – it takes a brave team of writers to tackle such a project, especially when you mention the words “origin story”. Thankfully, James Bond actors have passed the torch plenty of times over the decades, so seeing a new face is hardly jarring – especially as the films look for their next star. If anything, it’s quite refreshing. Patrick Gibson’s rendition of the British super spy is no less charming or resourceful, and his youth and inexperience add interesting dimensions to a character that has been a constant throughout many of our lives. He’s supported by a team of mentors, handlers, and fellow agents who you can’t help getting attached to, mainly thanks to stellar performances from Kiera Lester (Moneypenny), Noémie Nakai (Isola Vale), and Lennie James (John Greenway) to name a few.
007 First Light kicks off with a fumbled covert mission in Iceland, Bond serving as a crewman who survives when the SAS aircraft he’s aboard gets shot out of the sky. Thrust right into the thick of it, he has to infiltrate a compound overrun with mercenaries (with a little help from MI6 taking over his radio comms) and stumbles upon a highly valuable “asset”. Having defied all odds as a complete unknown, Bond’s performance lands him a fast-track pass into MI6’s spy training program as the organisation prepares to reboot its previously shuttered 00 initiative.
Iceland is the first of two tutorials, the cinematic opener followed by a series of intense drills that take place in Malta, schooling players on the game’s fairly deep and creative web of mechanics. These play out in a montage-style fashion as Bond flits between the firing range and fisticuffs before practicing stealth and even getting behind the wheel. Needless to say, IO Interactive spends a fair chunk of time onboarding players and it works pretty well, reinforcing those early story beats while teasing more advanced gameplay concepts.
If you’re expecting First Light to line up one bombastic gunfight after the next, then you’re in for a surprise. Sure, it has those, but there’s also plenty of non-combat exploration segments, usually taking place within gorgeously rendered locales that have you hunting for clues, navigating your environment, and interacting with other characters. The comparisons to Hitman are hard to shrug off in these moments, especially given the game’s world-class environmental designs with hundreds of NPCs milling around. Not only do locations look stunning and well-crafted, they also feel organic and lived-in.
Naturally, as you cross off objectives and push the story forward, the game’s focus will narrow, though there’s usually multiple pathways and solutions. At various points you’ll be able to eavesdrop on conversations to get hints for overcoming an obstacle, for example, and are then able to pick which opportunities to follow up. This freedom of choice is reflected in the more action-heavy scenarios, many of which can be approached depending on your preferred playstyle, whether you want to play around with Bond’s gadgets or get up close and personal. Complete stealth is often an option, tasking players with tracking enemy movements and quietly taking them down without being spotted, but there’s always the fallback of all-out action if you need it.
That’s aided by the handy Q-Lens, creating an overlay that highlights hostiles as well as any resources and other points of interest at the tap of a button. In addition to simply hacking electronics remotely, the gadgets you equipped from the full set of options will determine how you can interact with these points of interest. For instance, you can fry padlocks using a laser, shoot chemical darts at people to make them queasy, drop smoke bombs or stun mines, and more. Such actions help to manipulate and incapacitate foes, but they’re far from the only weapons in your arsenal. Bond’s gift of the gab can also help avoid tough confrontations, shouting to lure guards from their posts or just bluffing your way through checkpoints and confrontations.
Melee combat is highly effective with IO’s fighting system sitting somewhere between Uncharted 4 and the Batman Arkham trilogy. Red and yellow icons appear on enemies to telegraph what they’re about to do, forcing players to react with either a well-timed parry, a dodge, or a combination of the two, usually followed by a punishing counterattack. Waiting for your target to throw the first punch can be effective, though First Light does encourage players to go on the offensive, giving you the option to grapple enemies and lob projectiles that are within arm’s reach. During fistfights, Bond will make use of his surroundings, slamming grunts into walls, hurling them over tables, kicking people as you vault over objects, or even barging them off ledges. While the game’s melee segments aren’t especially challenging, the level of immersion and interactivity make them an enjoyable highlight.
The same can’t be said during First Light’s shooting sequences. There are some parts of the game where gunplay is inevitable, forcing Bond into cover as enemies close in, spraying bullets in his direction, and they can become trial-and-error scenarios. Looking back to Hitman once more, and while Agent 47 had a glorious glut of firearms at his disposal, gunfights always felt like a last resort, the weapon handling in those games being fairly barebones. This is something the team at IO Interactive have clearly worked hard on addressing and while long ranged firefights aren’t as engaging as those close quarter encounters, there’s still a certain flow and flair to them.
This is thanks to both Bond’s array of gadgets and a Focus meter that can slow his perception of time. As limited ammo runs dry, you can fling a gun at an enemy to stagger them for a quick takedown, Bond seamlessly snatching their weapon in the process. Players going for a nonlethal playthrough can even nullify targets by performing leg shots or disarming enemies – these often happen dynamically, and it’s a lot of fun to see guns go flying into the air. On the flipside, there are plenty of explosives and other hazards that can be fired at to wreak havoc, becoming somewhat of a necessity when facing larger platoons of armoured mercenaries.
Driving sections are another part of the game where we see IO Interactive forced out of its comfort zone. The vehicle handling here is serviceable: a bit floaty at times, but it gets the job done during First Light’s infrequent car chases. They’re fun spectacles that help break up the on-foot action but also feel like an exercise in box-ticking, given how flash motors play such a core role in every Bond caper.
Still, they provide yet another cluster of gameplay set pieces that the developers carefully arrange into a mosaic that’s spread over the roughly 15 hour story – a very healthy runtime for a single player action game. The frequent shifts in gameplay, pacing, and locale are designed to keep players locked in while fully immersing them in 007’s world, populated by interesting, likable characters with depth. The narrative here is also intriguingly layered and topical with a smattering of pivots and surprises to keep players on their toes. Again, this is elevated by strong writing and performances that some may even find preferable to the more recent run of Bond films.
And, after the credits roll, there’s still more to do. First Light features a bevy of small self-contained missions as part of its Tactical Simulations game mode that are split between Escalations and Operations. The former are multi-part gauntlets that tend to focus on a particular set of gameplay mechanics, such as brawling your way through the Malta training drills. Operations, on the other hand, repurpose some of the larger open-ended battlegrounds from the campaign, cramming them with enemy patrols to either fight or sneak around. What’s particularly interesting about the TacSim mode is the way it handles progression. At first, all you have is your Q-Watch and service pistol, but by completing simulations and their challenges, you’ll level up and earn points that can be spent to unlock new gear and even upgrade gadgets, helping to refine your playstyle over time. IO Interactive has plans to expand the number of TacSim missions post-launch, giving agents a reason to check back in with Bond over the coming months.
