What We Learned About 007 First Light

Yesterday, Sony hosted a State of Play presentation dedicated to the next big James Bond game — 007 First Light. IO Interactive showcased a fairly long segment of the first mission without commentary, followed by a detailed breakdown of the project’s key gameplay features. We’ve gathered the most important details in this article.

The showcased mission takes place in a luxurious Slovakian hotel during a high-society party attended by European philanthropists. This is the game’s first major assignment and James Bond’s debut as a trainee in British intelligence. He arrives at the event with his team, tasked with locating Agent 009, who betrayed MI6 and now poses a threat to national security.

Since Bond is still just a rookie, his colleagues don’t trust him with critical responsibilities. Instead, they instruct the future 007 to stay in the parking lot and guard the car while they infiltrate the mansion undercover. However, Bond notices a hotel worker throwing a suitcase off a balcony — a suspicious act that piques his curiosity. Ignoring direct orders, he decides to investigate personally.

The first half of the mission plays very much like a Hitman game. To track down the suspicious hotel staff member, Bond needs to infiltrate the building. Without an entry pass, he must rely on trickery reminiscent of Agent 47 from IO Interactive’s earlier projects. In the demo, Bond first turned on a water hose to distract one guard and then picked up the lighter the guard left behind. Later, Bond used the lighter to ignite a cart full of dry leaves, drawing away another guard and allowing him to sneak into the hotel through an open second-floor window. Notably, the player spotted the window using a scanning mode that highlights points of interest.

Inside, Bond receives a tip from the bartender about where his target might have gone, but the developers skip ahead at this point and cut straight to the action. Bond, accompanied by a woman who introduces herself as a French intelligence officer, gives chase in a car pursuit after Agent 009. The chase ends with the rogue agent reaching a mercenary base, and Bond follows him, gunning down dozens of enemies with pistols, rifles, and shotguns.

The protagonist eventually boards a plane where 009 is hiding. The mission ends as the aircraft loses stability, throwing Bond out without a parachute, forcing him to continue the pursuit in free fall.

The gameplay snippet highlights the dual nature of the project. 007 First Light can best be described as a hybrid of Hitman and Uncharted, where the game seamlessly shifts from methodical stealth to cinematic action set pieces reminiscent of Nathan Drake’s adventures. It’s a fitting structure for a James Bond game.

During undercover missions, when Bond tries to stay unnoticed, players have several options for how to approach objectives. Some choices aren’t obvious, making it worthwhile to eavesdrop on conversations between secondary characters: certain NPCs may reveal valuable intel that helps refine your plan.

Observation also plays a vital role. By carefully examining the environment, Bond can discover (or pickpocket) useful items like badges and keys to access restricted areas. In such high-security sections, stealth becomes crucial. However, being spotted doesn’t always mean a firefight is inevitable. Players can try bluffing: the charming protagonist may claim he’s just part of the staff. Sometimes, enemies will actually believe him.

Bluffing, along with abilities like luring guards for silent takedowns or slowing time for precise shots, consumes Bond’s special “instinct” meter. This resource replenishes during missions as the player completes objectives and eliminates enemies.

Naturally, a James Bond game wouldn’t be complete without spy gadgets. Alongside the smartwatch that activates the aforementioned environment scanner (and doubles as a minimap), Bond has access to several other toys. These include a laser that can cut through locks or sever a chandelier to cause a distraction, as well as smoke grenades and toxin darts that temporarily incapacitate enemies.

If things go sideways and Bond’s life is at risk, he gains a “license to kill,” allowing players to unleash chaos without restraint.

Combat is the element that has evolved most compared to IO Interactive’s previous projects. Hand-to-hand brawls and shootouts look stylish and varied, with smooth transitions between melee and ranged combat.

Bond uses whatever he can find to beat his enemies — whether it’s grabbing and throwing a billiard ball or a soda can — and he takes advantage of the environment, like tossing foes over railings. Without missing a beat, he can switch into gunplay, picking up a nearby shotgun and continuing the fight.

The developers avoided making a conventional third-person cover shooter. Instead, the game is designed to encourage constant forward momentum even under heavy fire. Out of ammo? Bond can throw his empty gun at an enemy and instantly dive into melee combat to secure a fresh weapon. It’s all in the best traditions of Hollywood action films.

While the gameplay shown looks engaging overall, a few issues stand out.

First, the technical state of 007 First Light is concerning. On PS5, the game clearly runs at a less-than-ideal resolution and suffers from frequent, significant performance drops. Imagining how it might run on Nintendo Switch 2 is worrisome. To be fair, there’s still time before release, so hopefully the developers will prioritize optimization.

Second, the AI behavior is troubling. NPCs seem oblivious to Bond’s presence even when he makes loud noises — like climbing through a window just a meter away from a guard. Given how important stealth is, this aspect will hopefully be refined.

Finally, the mission shown had far too many explosive barrels scattered around. It felt more like a mid-2000s action game. Yes, explosions look flashy, but mechanically they add little to the experience.

Beyond the gameplay details, we finally learned the official release date of 007 First Light. The game is set to launch on March 27 next year for PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch 2.

Did you watch the gameplay demo? What did you like, and what didn’t impress you? Share your thoughts in the comments.