The James Bond franchise is nothing if not a spectacle: Aside from the explosions and gun fights, even its calmer moments are dripping in the pomp and glamour of elite ostentation and luxury locales. Bond, however, has always been an odd mascot for the espionage profession, which ordinarily operates under silence and shadows. With 007 First Light, an origin story from Hitman developer IO Interactive, that spectacle rivals any of Bond’s cinematic adventures. Across 20 some hours with the game, that breathtaking spectacle punctuated one of my favorite action games in years, one filled with exhilarating combat and an incredible variety of missions.
The game starts with Bond, still merely a British soldier, called in with his squad to check in on unresponsive scientists operating in the frozen wilderness of Iceland. The squad is shot down and only Bond survives. The opening sequence is, unfortunately, extremely generic, but it does its job in setting up Bond’s future. Despite the improbable odds, he succeeds, but not without killing several bad guys and blowing things up. It’s this, combined with his refusal to leave people to their fate, that garners the attention of “M,” the new head of the reinstated “00” program of MI6 (the United Kingdom’s foreign intelligence service). Bond joins the recruitment program and starts training, under the guidance of the irascible Greenway, played by The Walking Dead’s Lennie James. To say more would spoil the otherwise enjoyable plot, but the story explores everything from double agents to the rise of AI and corporate control of humanity.
Don’t let his recruit status fool you: This is James Bond. He is charming, funny, an incredible fighter, highly intelligent, and surprisingly emotional and caring. No doubt much was drawn from Daniel Craig’s turn as the character, though there is no relation to the films. More importantly, playing as Bond feels incredible, as he is highly responsive, agile, and adaptive. In melee fights, he’ll not merely punch and kick when you press the “hit” button, he will also throw enemies headfirst into walls and windows if they are nearby; he will grab smashable objects to destroy on their heads; he will charge them. First Light is powered by the Glacier engine, the same tech behind the Hitman series, creating an ultrarealistic environment, with breakable objects and interiors; papers fly, smoke lingers, objects spin and roll. Like Bond himself, the environment is incredibly responsive.
What really makes First Light work is the variety in missions. We go from tracking government workers in underground London nightclubs to a sprawling, multilevel Slovakian castle hosting a major chess match to uncover a double agent. And, in keeping with Bond tradition, each mission escalates, often in unexpected ways. At one point, Bond engages in a car chase that ends up chasing down and destroying a plane; another mission has you navigating a pirate den in a fictional Mauritanian city, having to raise $100,000 by participating in a range of illegal activities, from fist fights to gambling.
I should note that the pirate den is where you meet Bawma, played by Lenny Kravitz. Oddly, he’s being touted by some places as the main antagonist, when he is not only not a villain, let alone the main villain, but also has a total screentime of about five minutes. It’s not a huge loss, though: Kravitz’s performance is terrible, and his American accent jarring.
Though it comes from the team that made Hitman, I very rarely had to wear disguises or deceive my way into places — a frequent occurrence in Hitman that would also make a lot of sense for an espionage game. Instead, Bond finds other methods, usually grates and sewers, to enter spaces. I used disguises twice in my entire playthrough. Stealth is still your primary method of approach, but there is no insta-fail state. Bond can make quick work of multiple enemies, but it felt “wrong” to me when I failed stealth. If, like me, you choose to load a checkpoint to keep your stealth streak, be prepared for strangely long loading times and very annoying checkpointing. I couldn’t tell if IO even wanted me to focus on stealth, given the checkpoints before long unskippable conversations or before extensive platforming sections.
Image: IO Interactive
Before every mission, like in the films, Bond is kitted out by Q, the head of research at MI6 headquarters. Here, you can also speak to colleagues, hear conversations about your missions, and so on. It made MI6 not merely a faceless entity but alive with people you come to know. This becomes important for later developments I’d rather not spoil. You can take at most three devices into each mission, ranging from the laser watch to nausea darts. Every device is useful. Padlock on a door? Laser it. A guard is blocking a hallway? Shoot him with a nausea dart. Your choices directly impact how you’re able to approach situations in the field. During missions, you will encounter various “opportunities,” which make a return from Hitman. You may overhear a conversation about a reporter running late, then assume his identity to get into restricted areas; one time, I managed to fleece an ID card off a man all because I overheard his friend’s name.
First Light’s variety kept me on my toes, never once allowing me to guess where the game would go. The spectacle and set pieces rival even Uncharted, without ever once making me feel like I was merely a spectator. It’s not the Hitman-like game I initially expected given its developer; instead, it’s one of the best action games I’ve ever played, one that leans into the elements that have made Bond so enduring. And with the future of the film franchise up in the air, First Light is coming at exactly the right time and clearly in the right hands.
007 First Light launches on the PC, PS5, and Xbox on May 27th; a Switch 2 version is also in the works.